Did You Know ?

Nikolai Tesla was trying to figure out a way to transmit electricity without wires. Also we need a more dependable and reliable way to generate electricity such as nuclear power plants.

 

Canada is a "well armed country", some say
That one made me laugh

 

Actually it was your #3 is what killed the idea. Mr. Tesla wanted everyone to be able to access electric power even where power lines did not exist for low cost maybe even free. Power to the masses (sounds straight out of the 60s doesn't it). His financier, Westinghouse, was only interested in profit. Since there was no way to put a meter on who and how much electricity anyone was using electricity Westinghouse "pulled the plug" (no pun intended). This information is from a biography about Tesla I have and read. You're correct that Tesla was BRILLIANT but a very bad businessman as he was too trusting a soul. He died poor in a rundown hotel. Upon his death "government men", yes they were wearing black, broke into his room and his safe and took god-only-knows what that was in there. Had he been a better businessman and less a trusting soul maybe all of humanity could/would be better off.

 

too bad they didn't have Scotch tape back then.

 

Battery technology is improving.

 

Another thing to think about is that new battery technology will make lithium batteries obsolete. Suddenly that expensive EV is now an expensive paperweight. I'm not even talking about home storage batteries or massive storage facilities for towns/cities. Just as suddenly the demand for recycled lithium will drop. You will have all these dead/used lithium batteries laying around with no one wants to touch. There's the initial expense to buy lithium batteries and then there will be the expense to replace it all. Lithium will go the way of whale oil when it was replaced by cheaper and more abundant kerosene. Almost overnight the whaling industry collapsed and so will the mining and recycling of lithium. And kerosene went the same way when electric lights came out. What I'm trying to say is before running to make everything electric better have the technology and infrastructure in place first. Last but not least is "where does the electric power come from" that used to recharge all these batteries? For the most part people are replacing gasoline and diesel with coal or natural gas. Solar, wind and hydro plants make up a smaller percentage of power generation.

 

Are they really shutting down fossil fuels en masse?

Nonsense. All products break down. CRT monitors or tube televisions were replaced by LCD panels. Hard drives were replaced by SSDs. etc.. Technology improves.

Whaling industry almost caused the extinction of whales. It had to end.

Internal combustion engine vehicles will be replaced by alternatives that don't poison us to death. Slowly but surely.

 

I think that you are missing the/my point.

 

Your first point is the point I was trying to say/make. Let's wait until we have an viable alternative to everything lithium without the environmental and human costs. Cadmium used in NiCad batteries was extremely toxic and killed the factory workers and was banned. Next came NiMH but those had a problem with "memory" and fell out of favor. Now we have lithium batteries with massive environmental damage and inhumane working conditions in it's acquisition and production. Lets just slow down a bit as a better alternative to making everything lithium battery powered is found. Maybe more than one alternative.

True that kerosene hasn't completely disappeared it's just not as common as it once was. It is still used for heaters and lighting, think Amish and isolated cabins, just in very limited use.

 

I knew that about kerosene. Did not want to fill the post with a lot of detail making it a long and boring post that no one would want to read. I was trying to make the point about the "evolution" of technology. Since it is evolving so rapidly it would be unwise to jump on the first "new thing" that comes along. THAT'S my point!! Nothing to do with the posts of Neophyte. Focusing on one tiny aspect of a post while ignoring the "big picture" doesn't help anyone.

 

Back to politics? I was talking about a sensible and forward looking approach to the transition away from fossil fuels not blindly follow like a lemming.