Dilbert_X wrote:
globefish23 wrote:
Jay wrote:
You do understand that every joule of energy has to come from somewhere right? Whether it's from burning gasoline in the engine, or coal in a power plant to fill a battery, the energy ultimately comes from carbon. If you ride on a train, you have a carbon footprint from the overhead electric lines. Just because it is out of your immediate vision does not mean it doesn't exist.
Yes, but you can produce energy with hydro, wind and solar power in a power plant without a carbon footprint.
You can't do that directly in a car or a train.
Power plants are also more efficient with up 90% efficiency from cogeneration and use of both electricity and heating.
Also, renewable sources (like biomass) is also preferable to burning gas and oil.
We need the latter for much more than producing energy and driving cars.
Synthesizing plastics or producing chemical and pharmaceutical products from wood on the other hand is still near impossible.
So, the only logic step is to further increase sources like hydro and wind power as much as possible and wherever possible.
Not by ignoring it all and looking for ways to find and extract for oil and gas.
I guess Jay didn't do thermodynamics.
So many 'engineers' who don't understand the basics /fwp
Somewhere on this site is a really cool new powerplant they are building in Arizona to use solar and thermal power...
Also, I think the benefit of a train is not that is has NO footprint, I think the benefit of a train is that a mass of people can use a smaller combined footprint than if they each drive individually... But I have never been on a train, so what do I know?
But I do agree with Jay though. I don't think we are to the actual point of "saving" power by using a different format just yet, but I think everyone is finally getting on board with trying to get us there. You know, except the big oil companies.
I remember reading a lot of reports about the early electric cars using so much power from plugging into your house that 1) The power plant was hitting the environment as hard as your gas would be, and 2) Your electric bill was much much higher than your gasoline bill would have been, meaning you still lost money.
Now it is the same thing, but with the production of the batteries. We have to keep trying new things and new tech and get this problem solved, but I don't think it is HERE yet. Maybe just around the corner it will start heading in the right direction though. And at least now it is looking for the right direction instead of "status quo, straight ahead, full speed."