Good News......

[ToraToraTora]

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/jun/28/nissan-expected-to-announce-plans-to-build-battery-gigafactory-in-sunderland

[MartinMillar]

Yes it’s good news unfortunately Mrs and Mr Average will struggle to afford the vehicle.

[ToraToraTora]

yes for now but they'll drop when every man and his dog is churning them out.

[Sunk]

Electric cars are a false remedy. You said so yourself Tora

// Are they more damaging to the environment that the petrol/diesel ones? I mean the electricity has to be generated from fossil fuels mainly (in our case anyway) so surely lots of energy is lost in generating the electricity, so is it not better to have the cars powered directly by fossil fuels? Is the whole electric car thing a false remedy? //

[ToraToraTora]

well sunk, yes they are if we are using fossil fuels to generate the power. I hope that wont always be the case. It seems to be the way we are heading though but huge problems need to be overcome infrastructure wise, recharging for street parkers for example.

[Sunk]

More electric was generated from renewable sources last year than from fossil fuels.

[ToraToraTora]

That's great sunk, does not change my statement above, it's better to use the fossil fuels directly if that is what we use to generate the electricity. Hopefully one day we will be fully using renewables and nuclear power. Then great, I am on board with lecky cars but I am still concerned about infrastructure, range etc You seem to be trying to pick a fight sunk, I'm pretty much agreeing with you.

[ToraToraTora]

when I says "it's better" I mean its a more efficient use of the energy.

[Spicerack]

^Worldwide or in the UK?
Doubt people will own 'personal' cars when they're all electric. Cept the very rich.

[ToraToraTora]

I think petrol cars will be around for long time yet, just fewer and fewer as they make less new ones. Diesel cars will die quicker. They'll start road pricing at some point to offset the reduction in VED. Expect a hike in CED for diesel soon.

[ToraToraTora]

CED = VED

[mushroom25]

// More electric was generated from renewable sources last year //

is Drax included in that category?

[ToraToraTora]

no, Drax is the most disgusting violation of any sort of eco friendly aim. I hate it with a passion I cannot understand how anyone thinks it gets anywhere near being carbon neutral. Should be closed pronto an absolute disaster.

[andres]

How will the used batteries be disposed of?

[ToraToraTora]

same as now andres. They pay good money for them at the scrapper.

[ToraToraTora]

the metals used are extremely valuable they recycle thoroughly because it costs a lot more to mine new ones.

[ToraToraTora]

this is a decade old but it gives you an idea of the recycling process:

[andres]

Excellent video but I thought that electric batteries contain toxic poisonous waste that could be hazardous and dangerous .

[ToraToraTora]

well the acid is neutralised by alkaline and effectively becomes water the rest is metal and plastic and is reused as shown in the video. The newer batteries will have a similar process. Lithium for example is very valuable and will be recycled

[New Judge]

//...is Drax included in that category?//

Yes Drax is included in the "renewables" category and it is a massive deceit.

Last year Drax burned the equivalent of 14 million tons of green wood. That's about half a ton a second. The vast majority of this fuel is sourced from mature trees felled in the USA and Canada. It is processed into pellets using an industrial process, part of which involves driving moisture from the wood and crushing it and it is hugely energy hungry. Here's Drax's own take on that process:

https://www.drax.com/sustainable-bioenergy/this-is-how-you-make-a-biomass-wood-pellet/

After that the finished product is shipped 5,000 miles to the UK where it is carted from various ports to Drax by up to seventeen of the largest trains in the UK every day.

Burning wood is nowhere near as energy efficient as burning coal and the emissions produced are greater per Kwh and just as harmful (but not included in the UK's emissions total). The Yorkshire and Midlands power stations were built where they are because they were a few miles from productive coal mines and could be fed with minimum transport costs.

The "renewable" description of burning freshly logged and processed wood is a confidence trick of epic proportions. For the privilege of conducting it Drax received £2.5m in subsidies last year (paid for by all energy consumers) which it will use towards converting the remainder of its plant to burning wood. Drax produces around 5% of the UK's electricity and to say its fuel is "renewable" and its processes sustainable is, like Mr Hancock last week, taking the gullible public for complete fools.

[ToraToraTora]

Judge: "Yes Drax is included in the "renewables" category and it is a massive deceit." - yes judge is correct, I said no because I don't count it in that category but for some reason known only to a few it is counted as renewalble I agree with everything the judge says on Drax.