I ran into this the other day — some guy saying some of the things I’ve considered for a while now. Electric cars. Two big points — electricity comes from somewhere and batteries come from somewhere. It all uses energy, and somewhere along the line, the production of the car itself is going to use a lot of energy itself (It kind of reminds me of the vegan conundrum — the fact that the machinery used to harvest what the vegan eats kills millions of animals hiding in the fields being harvested).
But back to the point. Batteries use metals that can’t be found just anywhere. They’ve got to be mined. They’ve got to be transported. And then batteries wear out. All of that has to be reclaimed.
I’ve got a friend who’s a big fan of electric. It’s not just about the battery. Maintenance is different. You’re not changing the oil, for example. This same friend will tell you that you get the worst of both worlds with hybrids — you get all of the maintenance and problems of a conventional car with an underpowered battery. On the other hand, the guy in this video thinks they’re a good bridge to a time where battery technology has improved enough to go it alone.
I can really see the angle here, but I would have to look at the math to be sure. One disappointment — he didn’t say a word about nuclear energy, which is cleaner and is much safer than it was in the Chernobyl and Three-MIle Island days. And we’ve learned a lesson more recently from Fukushima too. I see nuclear energy as a bridge to renewable energy sources that deserves more consideration.
The one thing we must do though is slow down the burning of fossil fuels.