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Tire dust makes up the majority of ocean microplastics

thedrive.com

161–170 of 635 posts

Re: Tire dust makes up the majority of ocean microplastics

#161
post #7

It’s great to bring this problem up. But the focus on EVs is a distraction. > EVs tend to shed around 20 percent more from their tires due to their higher weight and high torque compared to traditional internal combustion engine-powered vehicles. It’s covered in this panel discussion on Fully Charged: https://youtu.be/LeHakmL6eEc?si=ebBAn8RSDhmmLfHI Fleet operators don’t see any significant difference in tire wear. E…

> What we need to focus on is infrastructure for walking, biking and public transportation And busses, light rail, intercity trains. But America associates one-car-per-person with all kinds of twisted politics and self-esteem anxiety. We need a psyops program to wean people off cars, and it will take a decade or more. Just look at the anger in any HN thread that is critical of cars, it runs deep.

> look at the anger in any HN thread that is critical of cars

On the other hand: https://old.reddit.com/r/fuckcars

Re: Tire dust makes up the majority of ocean microplastics

#162
post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Last mile can be resolved with drones and bikes. I wouldnt even be opposed to consider going back to horses.

Are horses actually environmentally friendly? I know that having a pet dog can be one of, if not the most, un-environmentally friendly things a person can do due to the amount they eat, so I could imagine horses having the same problem and not being as good as electric cars yet alone electric bikes, but I don't know anything about horses so maybe they're very efficient eaters? I do know that back before cars, places…

Yep, horses are massively expensive to own. Aside from required caloric intake, think living space, waste disposal, pests, specialized care (farrier), vet bills, tack, grooming. Ugh.

Re: Tire dust makes up the majority of ocean microplastics

#163
post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wouldn't mind walking to the store now and then but usually I make fewer trips for more than I could carry.

So you're going to drive a multi-ton vehicle instead of bringing a folding cart?

I have a wheeled shopping cart thing (not sure what to really call it, but it’s the standard one). I can only fit some milk and a few things in there, it is no where near as capable as my car. I still use it, since I don’t like driving to the store (we live near 3 big grocery stores, and a soon to be closed city target), and it’s useful for getting snacks to school when it’s my turn, but I don’t see it as a car replacement.

Re: Tire dust makes up the majority of ocean microplastics

#164
post #34

Typical hackernews to have threads full of well meaning but ultimately misguided people saying ah we have some technological solution for this. The solution to this problem and every other problem caused by driving is not driving . Period. Not driving doesn't require any new technology, it just requires getting serious about alternatives to driving. (safe, separated bike ways, ebike and micromobility subsidies, rail,…

In other words: you're proposing to replace a set of possible, if difficult, technological solutions, with an near-impossible social solution. I'd call that misguided. Technological solutions tend to be discussed because they can be implemented. Social solutions may work better, but only in imaginary la-la land where they can actually be put into practice. In the real world, you can't " just " get people to not drive…

Sure you can. Teach your kids cars are stupid and bad and stop driving so much yourself. Trickle-down culture is real, economics not so much. Also your lauded tech solutions rarely do shit but create more problems and the businesses we hire to implement them lie about the problems until we've all got cancer, no air, and no water.

Minimizing driving and making it a cultural value that it's a tool to be used sparingly seems reasonable and about the only solution I can actually trust when you have a culture of selfish assholes and a society with nothing underneath it but a pit of spikes.

Re: Tire dust makes up the majority of ocean microplastics

#165
Can someone explain why rubber - not a plastic - makes up the majority of plastic in the ocean? They do say "synthetic rubber", but from what I am reading those are also not considered a type of plastic. Not that the definition matters too much, but I think it's important not to use language that could be construed as being purposefully disingenuous to make an argument seem more dramatic, since doing so undermines the argument.

Re: Tire dust makes up the majority of ocean microplastics

#166
Has anyone here ever lived near a freeway or even moderately busy road?

I made the mistake of renting next to the freeway. Noise was perfectly tolerable, but I could not use my back porch, because after just a few weeks, everything had a fine coating of black dust. I could not keep my windows open in the summer. I was certainly breathing this vile shit the entire time I lived there.

This doesn't surprise me in the least. Every time it rained you could see streaks of black sediment trails where rivulets would collect and concentrate it. It flowed completely unfiltered straight into the ocean. Poison.

The negative externalities around cars are incomprehensibly huge. And yet, we have more of them than ever, they are getting bigger and bigger, and they laugh in our face with "green leaf" or "PZEV" decals. It's demonic.

Re: Tire dust makes up the majority of ocean microplastics

#167
post #7

It’s great to bring this problem up. But the focus on EVs is a distraction. > EVs tend to shed around 20 percent more from their tires due to their higher weight and high torque compared to traditional internal combustion engine-powered vehicles. It’s covered in this panel discussion on Fully Charged: https://youtu.be/LeHakmL6eEc?si=ebBAn8RSDhmmLfHI Fleet operators don’t see any significant difference in tire wear. E…

Sounds like a lot of hand-waving to rationalize a downside of EVs: they are heavy and chew up tires.

The downside applies to "heavy vehicles" more generally, which includes most battery-bearing EVs in addition to most pickup trucks and SUVs driven in the US.

Re: Tire dust makes up the majority of ocean microplastics

#168

With the continued shift to EVs, petrol taxes just don't make sense as a form of taxation to pay for roads. I think we should be shifting entirely to a gross curb weight tax for all vehicles. The fourth power law states that the greater the axle load of a vehicle, the stress on the road caused by the motor vehicle increases in proportion to the fourth power of the axle load. Meaning heavier EVs cough hummer , are doi…

Just let’s please not require a government-approved mileage tracking device to make sure that each vehicle is charged it’s fair share. That’s one really nice property of gas taxes they will be hard to replace without going full dystopia, and there is a significant contingent that doesn’t give a shit about the privacy and security implications.

Every car already has a way to track its own mileage without requiring GPS

Re: Tire dust makes up the majority of ocean microplastics

#169

With the continued shift to EVs, petrol taxes just don't make sense as a form of taxation to pay for roads. I think we should be shifting entirely to a gross curb weight tax for all vehicles. The fourth power law states that the greater the axle load of a vehicle, the stress on the road caused by the motor vehicle increases in proportion to the fourth power of the axle load. Meaning heavier EVs cough hummer , are doi…

Just let’s please not require a government-approved mileage tracking device to make sure that each vehicle is charged it’s fair share. That’s one really nice property of gas taxes they will be hard to replace without going full dystopia, and there is a significant contingent that doesn’t give a shit about the privacy and security implications.

A tire tax would also work, except for the unfortunate safety implications.

Re: Tire dust makes up the majority of ocean microplastics

#170
post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> What we need to focus on is infrastructure for walking, biking and public transportation And busses, light rail, intercity trains. But America associates one-car-per-person with all kinds of twisted politics and self-esteem anxiety. We need a psyops program to wean people off cars, and it will take a decade or more. Just look at the anger in any HN thread that is critical of cars, it runs deep.

Be willing to enforce civility in public. In Japan 7-year-old kids can ride the subway; here we have junkies burning fentanyl, vagrants with pitbulls, and "showtime". Gee, why wouldn't I want public transit to be an inseparable part of my life?

You are conflating two vastly different issues as part of pro-car propaganda. There is a drug epidemic AND there is a homeless crisis.

Those have nothing to do with investing in public transportation.

Your agenda is showing, lay off the NewsMax, my friend.

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