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Tire dust makes up the majority of ocean microplastics

thedrive.com

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Re: Tire dust makes up the majority of ocean microplastics

#271

Post by jillesvangurp »

modeless wrote: post #2

I'm glad people are looking at how to reduce the impact of tire dust. I expect we can make big improvements because it's not something we've optimized for yet. Not mentioned in the article is that EVs also dramatically reduce brake dust because the brakes are hardly used compared to an ICE car.

Also EVs have no tail pipe emissions. At all. An ICE vehicle converts 100% of it's fuel into toxic tail pipe emissions. The tire dust is marginally the same for the same weight. We are not talking a new set of tires every other month for EVs. And there is very little brake dust indeed. So, what are we really talking about here exactly?

Well that's more complicated. Articles like this don't come out of the blue. There's an extremely well funded effort by fossil fuel and ICE car manufacturing companies to spread FUD about EVs. They are looking at double digit percentage drops in demand for their product in the decade ahead. That's going to impact them financially in a big way and they have a huge financial interest in slowing that down. And their tool of choice is misinformation. Little white lies, lots of half truths, twisted facts, lies by omission, etc.

That's not to say tire particles in ocean water aren't an issue. But the reality is that most of those particles come from ICE vehicles right now.

Re: Tire dust makes up the majority of ocean microplastics

#272

Post by bedobi »

avalys wrote: post #148
d0gbread wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Chicken and the egg. You can't really make people not want cars without better alternatives, which requires investments that aren't being made. I want a car, because I need a car. But put in a few bullet trains and offshoots, a business model for vehicles that enables access to a $100/month consumer fleet of shared vehicles so I can grab a truck, minivan, whatever as needed, and I will happily skip ownership.

This is a fantasy. In general, people don't want a shared vehicle. If they did, everyone would own a 5-year-old Toyota Camry, and not luxury pickup trucks, sports cars, Mercedes and BMWs, etc. The idea that these people are just sheep blinded by marketing is ludicrous. You might spend $5 on a beer instead of $4 because of marketing. You buy a $60,000 new vehicle over a $15,000 used one because it's a good product tha…

in places where people don't need to buy neither a $15 or $60k private automobile, they don't buy any of them, they just ride the train or a bike like normal people do

visit tokyo, paris or any other transit oriented city and see for yourself

Re: Tire dust makes up the majority of ocean microplastics

#273

Post by bdcravens »

richjdsmith wrote: post #23

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…

Texas is applying an annual surcharge on EV registrations of $200/year (as a dual EV family in Texas, I can't disagree with the logic)

Re: Tire dust makes up the majority of ocean microplastics

#274

Post by xnx »

sesuximo wrote: post #75
kylebenzle wrote: post #15

I worked on a phd for 4 years looking into this problem indirectly and for a decade at Ohio State they have had working solutions to the tire dust issue but it is IMPOSSIBLE to get funding. A Billion dollar industry and NO ONE cares about cleaning it up if it means increasing costs by 5% or more. It has been WELL KNOWN for 50 years! We are basically aerosolizing carbon in MASSIVE amounts right where we live and work.…

If I want to buy a good-for-the environment tire, what should I buy? I don’t care about the price unless it’s insane

Keep your tires properly inflated. Go easy on the accelerator and brake pedal. You'll be doing much more than the average person.

Re: Tire dust makes up the majority of ocean microplastics

#275

Post by BowBun »

badtension wrote: post #249
mlsu wrote: post #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 le…

That's why so many people are cautious about "EVs to save us all", to put it mildly. We are so focused on climate change and greenhouse gases that we do not see a lot of other issues and may exacerbate some of them in the process of decarbonisation.

Agreed. Even solar + wind - when the buzz started it was all rainbows and butterflies because we found a silver bullet to energy!

There is no such thing as free lunch. If you start absorbing massive amounts of solar, you will have some effect on the environment that we have absolutely no clue about. Same with interfering with wind patterns and ocean currents, which would happen with energy generation at true humanity-scale.

Critical thinking left the room a long time ago.

Re: Tire dust makes up the majority of ocean microplastics

#276

Post by valianteffort »

dlahoda wrote: post #256
badtension wrote: post #249

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's why so many people are cautious about "EVs to save us all", to put it mildly. We are so focused on climate change and greenhouse gases that we do not see a lot of other issues and may exacerbate some of them in the process of decarbonisation.

EV bikes sure. price and weight of good EV bike dropped for last 5 years.

I don't know where you live but everything is too far apart in American suburbs. How you would fix that without tearing it all down? And it's totally impractical for transporting a family around.

Road tripping. Visiting far away family. Day at the lake or beach. Going camping. How do you convince people to give all of that up and just be content with whatever is 15min away.

Re: Tire dust makes up the majority of ocean microplastics

#277

Post by whaleofatw2022 »

sesuximo wrote: post #75
kylebenzle wrote: post #15

I worked on a phd for 4 years looking into this problem indirectly and for a decade at Ohio State they have had working solutions to the tire dust issue but it is IMPOSSIBLE to get funding. A Billion dollar industry and NO ONE cares about cleaning it up if it means increasing costs by 5% or more. It has been WELL KNOWN for 50 years! We are basically aerosolizing carbon in MASSIVE amounts right where we live and work.…

If I want to buy a good-for-the environment tire, what should I buy? I don’t care about the price unless it’s insane

Something with a low durometer that rides harsh. Ironically may be worse gas mileage than other tires.

Re: Tire dust makes up the majority of ocean microplastics

#278

Post by luis8 »

BowBun wrote: post #275
badtension wrote: post #249

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's why so many people are cautious about "EVs to save us all", to put it mildly. We are so focused on climate change and greenhouse gases that we do not see a lot of other issues and may exacerbate some of them in the process of decarbonisation.

Agreed. Even solar + wind - when the buzz started it was all rainbows and butterflies because we found a silver bullet to energy! There is no such thing as free lunch. If you start absorbing massive amounts of solar, you will have some effect on the environment that we have absolutely no clue about. Same with interfering with wind patterns and ocean currents, which would happen with energy generation at true humanity…

Looks like nuclear with proper waste disposal is they way to go

Re: Tire dust makes up the majority of ocean microplastics

#279

Post by userbinator »

mlsu wrote: post #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 le…

That's more likely to be brake dust.
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