Go ahead, punch yourself in the d*@!&

When someone says they don't drink coffee

 

ROTFL!

 

I pick up my trash yet I terrorize as many fish species as possible with my boat that gets 2 mpg. Pretty much your standard hypocrite here!

 

Funny thing, I really like Tesla's. They're beautiful cars and if you've ever driven anything electric you'll know how great these things probably accelerate and handle. They look very well built so I doubt they'll wind up on top of a scrap heap of Yugo's. I'm also a casual Musk fan. Elon, not the cologne.

OTOH, it takes a considerable amount of rare earth metals to make these cars. China has a practical monopoly on these elements. Aside from the massive scarring from the mining necessary to extract these elements, their inherent scarcity, or waging war for continued access to them, I'm not completely sold on the narrative that these vehicles will be better for our environment over the long (or short) term. I just don't know. I remember when a lot of "clean energy" heads thought nuclear power was the big solution to belching factories. Similar people thought damming rivers for hydroelectric power was a great idea. Now, those same types of people are reassessing their previous notions. My point being, is that people have rarely proven capable of thinking about the future, although that is the exact flag they purport to wave.

Please don't take this as me being anti-this or anti-that, I'm only stating the facts I know. And I am aware that doing nothing is not the answer.

I don't want to slam Tesla's, but unfortunately they are a statement for a stereotype. Nobody has the same reaction to a Chevy Volt or a Nissan Leaf as they pull alongside. It's a shame, but it's a fact.

 

I agree with a lot you posted kidde. I like Elon too, I always thought if he didn't push his company the way he did, and if it didn't generate so much interest, the other auto companies would not have even been trying to produce electric vehicles at all. Not in the bottom line for investors.
But as far as his idea of electrodes in our brain or whatever, and whatever the hell his kids name is, he could be a little flaky too. But he has a booster rocket that re-lands on the pad (not 100% but I don't see NASA pulling that shit off.)
Yeah, and it does take a lot of minerals and resources to make those batteries, not exactly eco friendly, but you need the technology first before you can start improving on it. Look at the combustion engine and how far it's gone in such a short time, much better in performance, mileage, and emissions.
I have no answers for energy, nuclear or otherwise. We are definitely all hypocrites. Hate the factories but use their products.
It shouldn't be all or nothing though, like many issues in life.

 

For autos we either need to go full electric (ultimately) or a combination of alternative, low-emission, renewable fuels and hybrid tech. Full electric should be our ultimate goal, with solar power fueling the grid. But that's a long, long way off... Right now we could go hybrid and alt fuels until we're there, though.

 

I haven't given it a lot of thought because thinking makes my head hurt. But my initial thought has been that our country is sitting on the largest natural gas reserves in the world.

Natural gas has been proven to be a very clean fuel, easy and cheap to extract and process, and is plentiful. Most "green" cities and countries have much of their government-owned fleet already operating on LNG. I'm surprised that the private sector hasn't translated it into daily drivers, or tractor-trailers. The technology already exists, and is proven. The only reason I can think of is that Big Oil has got some hella lobbyists.

If not a 100-year solution, at worst converting vehicles to LNG is a darn good bridge until the other technologies start catching up. And wind, solar and battery tech has historically been slow going. A start-up for LNG conversion could, in theory, be phased in pretty quickly.

Just my dos centavos

 

California is trying to do away with LNG too. Supposed to stop putting gas hookups in new homes some time in the next decade. Totally stoopid.

 

Just for kicks I did some google searching on this, and I think you hit the nail on the head with: The oil lobby.

I read an article where a guy was driving a Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) Ford F-250 and said it felt just like the real thing. In most parts of the world you can already buy a CNG powered car. I also read where you can buy a CNG Honda in the US and have a filling station installed in your home that hooks to the LNG line coming from the utility.

Maybe someday gas stations will go away and everyone will be charging and filling their cars at home. But not until legacy oil decides to get on board.

 

It needs to be an industry transfer... scaling down oil production (we still need petroleum and petroleum products) and scaling up other technologies. The big guys divest, and invest, and the workforce will shift with it.

 

Damn that sucks. California is getting rid of everything that's good, but refuses to get rid of anything bad. They're like their own island.

I really miss cooking with gas. And heat too. 98% of everything here is powered electrically. Cooking on electric stove tops and ovens suck sweaty balls, gas is just way more efficient. I don't think I ever had an electric stove or heat living in SoCal.

 

Right! How many times have you heard the phrase "now were cooking with electric!"?

Precisely zero times.

 

Said no one...ever.

 

Another thing: I needed a new hot water heater a few weeks ago, so I'm like, let's upgrade to tankless! Turns out I would need to re-wire my house to have 3 220v lines hardwired to the water heat to work. Gas is like 1000% more efficient. Next house will 100% have gas. If not, I'll have it installed.

 

Just saying, there's a handful of clean and immediate alternatives out there, while other technologies play catchup. It's foolish to get caught up in what the talking heads are attempting to sell us. There's no such thing as altruism or philanthropy, because everyone has a self-serving agenda in one form or another.

Think with your mind, not with your ears

 

I couldn't give two squirts when it comes to heating water, the house, etc. but there is nothing that compares to cooking with gas that I have seen. If there is an alternative that has the same temperature control that doesn't require specific cookware, I'm all ears.

 

Every large appliance in my place minus the a.c runs on gas. Heater..water heater..stove..oven..my gas bill is roughly 40$ per month here in Florida

 

Didn't you say that you've got one of those air fryer/pressure cooker things? That thing is getting used like a whore on Nickel Night around here.

 

Yeah, it gets used quite a bit, but I also do a lot of cooktop stuff, sauté, simmer, braise, etc. I worked in the restaurant biz for a number of years, front and back of the house, so I have some kitchen chops that keeps me happily married.