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Does the world have enough lithium to move to electric vehicles?

hannahritchie.substack.com

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Re: Does the world have enough lithium to move to electric vehicles?

#391

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most people shouldn't need to own a car. I don't mean that in a "self driving will save us" way. But that a personal car is parked 95% of the day. In a city huge areas are used for storing these blocks of metal not in use. More accessible car sharing could make less people feel the need to own a car.

Unless you have a family. It has to be there when you need it. Here in Québec we had an elected official who used to preach against cars and then once she got elected bought a SUV because, like everyone else with kids, she needed it for her family. The "you shouldn't need to own a car" attitude is arrogant and authoritarian in nature.

I have two kids and no car. Not every family needs a car.

Re: Does the world have enough lithium to move to electric vehicles?

#392

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most people shouldn't need to own a car. I don't mean that in a "self driving will save us" way. But that a personal car is parked 95% of the day. In a city huge areas are used for storing these blocks of metal not in use. More accessible car sharing could make less people feel the need to own a car.

Unless you have a family. It has to be there when you need it. Here in Québec we had an elected official who used to preach against cars and then once she got elected bought a SUV because, like everyone else with kids, she needed it for her family. The "you shouldn't need to own a car" attitude is arrogant and authoritarian in nature.

I have two kids and no car. Not every family needs a car.

Re: Does the world have enough lithium to move to electric vehicles?

#393
post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That would be a great place to live, and several decades from now, it may exist. Several decades from now is too long to wait for an energy transition.

We went from "We're going to the moon" to landing on the moon in under a decade. We could make this transition that fast if we really wanted to, the problem is there are a whole lot of entrenched interests in not making this transition.

Going to the moon required building a couple of rockets. Changing how most cities look like requires a lot more material and a lot more manpower.

Re: Does the world have enough lithium to move to electric vehicles?

#395
post #376

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pretty much, yes. I think there are sorts of serious flaws in the belief systems that used to be called 'global warming' (which is now renamed 'climate change' as the 'warming' science didn't make sense). Tire particulates are a huge polluting issue, compounded by the disastrous mistakes being made in trying to force heavy electric battery powered vehicles on everyone.

OK thanks! I’ll disregard your opinions on the matter.

I suggest you wean yourself off your belief systems and do some reading up on causes of pollution!

Re: Does the world have enough lithium to move to electric vehicles?

#396

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How about the fact that America's most walkable and transit-accessible neighborhoods are also the most expensive and highest demand? People want this kind of development, they flock to it, and they are willing to pay astronomically high prices to get it. The government keeps the supply low with exclusionary zoning that makes all types of construction except car-centric single family housing illegal.

You have evidence of that claim? I took a look around me. The most expensive and highest demand areas are actually not transit accessible at all and walking is not really feasible as the houses have lots of land and are very spread out. I am in the Sacramento area for reference.

I would add that the most expensive are the areas with biggest density, naturally with this kind of traffic a city council would create as many means of transportation as possible.

Re: Does the world have enough lithium to move to electric vehicles?

#397

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not, GP is wrong and making a deceptive argument. The energy grid is already lower carbon than gasoline powered ICE vehicles, especially with natural gas taking over a lot of the energy production. But it's only going to get even better as more and more renewables come online. It's easier for your giant utility company to have the capital to build out a solar farm to power your car/house/etc than it is for you a…

I'm not trying to make a deceptive argument. I may be wrong, but I stated what I thought was an important point: you need generators to decarbonize, not merely a switch to electric cars. Electric cars are an enabler for decarbonization, agreed, but focusing only enabling technology is not enough. It must be coupled with changes in energy generation to achieve a significant reduction in carbon dioxide emissions. I fea…

Why do you focus on a state that has one of the dirtiest electricity production and one of the lowest rates of EV sales in the US?

If we focus instead on electricity production by source in the USA between 2011 and 2021: Electricity produced...

with oil: 42TWh => 35TW (-16%)

with coal: 1730TWh => 900TWh (-48%)

with gas: 1010TWh => 1580TWh (+55%)

with solar: 2TWh => 164TWh (+8900%)

with wind: 120TWh => 378TWh (+215%)

with nuclear: 790TWh => 780TWh (-2%)

with hydro: 310TWh => 250TWh (-20%)

So not only was 600TWh of dirty coal replaced by cleaner gas, the amount of electricity produced with fossil fuels dropped by more than 200TWh. Meanwhile, electricity production by renewables significantly increased.

Or in other words, if you had bought an EV in 2011 and driven it until now, it would have gotten cleaner every year, which is not going to happen with an ICE.

Source: our world in data, numbers slightly adjusted for readability.

Re: Does the world have enough lithium to move to electric vehicles?

#398
post #324

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is the sort of elitist fantasy nonsense promoted by the WEF that completely disrespects the average person and family.

European families seem to do OK using public transit.

...only in big cities. Rural areas including the suburbs of the 100k's still depend heavily on individual transport...

Re: Does the world have enough lithium to move to electric vehicles?

#399

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's not true at all - driving on two wheels is inherently more dangerous, increasingly so the faster you go. Not to mention that the older/less fit you get the harder it is to react to these situations (tire slipping, hitting holes, stuff hitting you in the face, pedestrians jumping in front of you) I've said this before - if I put a child seat on a motorcycle I would get social services called instantly. Puting i…

E-bikes have a top speed where crashes are rarely dangerous unless they involve a car.

>Overall, the report concludes that the main culprit in all bicycle (regular and electric) injuries was the rider’s own behavior (44 percent) — a steering error, for example — while 32 percent was road conditions. And the majority of these accidents affected only the rider. Two-thirds of the 110,000 traffic victims treated in Dutch hospitals last year were cyclists, VeiligheidNL says. The survey was conducted with hospitalized riders between July 2020 and June 2021.

https://www.theverge.com/2022/4/13/23023361/e-bike-injuries-...

This is in Netherlands - Mecca of bicycle infrastructure.

I mean how is this even controversial - riding on two wheels vs driving on 4 between a steel cage is inherently more dangerous - you have to be a zealot to deny that.

Re: Does the world have enough lithium to move to electric vehicles?

#400

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Utrecht is not representative of common reality. It is also not much representative of "market forces", cars have to respect very strict "Urban Access Regulations" (similarly across Europe, but in Holland in particular) Not that it is bad in general, but Utrecht is not a good example of what will happen around the World and actually make a difference. China + India will soon be inhabited by 3 billion people combine…

Small note - Utrecht is not in Holland.

Right, I translated in my mind from Italian Olanda.
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