Is it the death knell for the combustion engine?

[Martin P]

The real problem stems from the fact that our insignificant little planet on the edge of one of many solar systems is vastly overpopulated . We can all tread as lightly as you like but it aint going to make one jot of difference

 

[Fisherman]

The real problem stems from the fact that our insignificant little planet on the edge of one of many solar systems is vastly overpopulated . We can all tread as lightly as you like but it aint going to make one jot of difference

Whilst I agree that we are over populated and that's set to get worse, there is much we can and must do about how we live. It's simply not an option to say that we can't make any difference, of course we can, and of course we must. Doing nothing, burying our heads in the sand and hoping it will sort itself out, is not an option.

 

[Martin P]

Of course. We need a futile gesture at this stage of human evolution

 

[trevskoda]

There are not enough electric points at the moment and how do they propose that people living in terraced houses charge their cars. Car parks are going to have to have electric charging points for each bay so who is going to pay for all this. I have already seen a cable across a pavement to an electric car. Read the other day that someone takes his car to the Council recharging point round the corner rather than use his own electric to charge up because the Council one is free.

Street lamp post will be cabled for charging.

 

[Martin P]

One of my clients has a Tesla.
They cant get a cable to it at home because it would have to cross a neighbours who wont allow it.
She had to go to Warrington from Bicester last week. She said she would have to stop to charge twice on the way. 40 mins per stop.
Electric cars

No thanks

 

[harrow]

There are not enough electric points at the moment and how do they propose that people living in terraced houses charge their cars. Car parks are going to have to have electric charging points for each bay so who is going to pay for all this. I have already seen a cable across a pavement to an electric car. Read the other day that someone takes his car to the Council recharging point round the corner rather than use his own electric to charge up because the Council one is free.

I understand there are about 8 different charging points and you have to have a different account to use each one. Its not going to be easy.

 

[mariesnowgoose]

There is a well known phrase, it goes 'shutting the stable door... '

 

[GreggBear]

Whilst I agree that we are over populated and that's set to get worse, there is much we can and must do about how we live. It's simply not an option to say that we can't make any difference, of course we can, and of course we must. Doing nothing, burying our heads in the sand and hoping it will sort itself out, is not an option.

Agreed something needs to change, but commonsense should prevail. Hit the big polluters first & hard. If they make billions in profit, that should be used to change things, not taking the last penny from you & I.
Our local primary school is awash with cars twice a day, as are every school. Many of them can be seen through the day parked within walking distance of the school. Many primary schools have been closed forcing more parents to travel further to a school. This is labelled "progress". Progress is not really progress when it causes environmental damage. Too much short term gain for those at the top, then blame us all when it goes tits up!
We will not kill the planet, we will just end up extinct like the dinosaurs before us, nature will see to that. All we're doing is speeding the process up.....

 

[Fisherman]

Electric cars

No thanks

Dead planet, no thanks.

These are issues that are in their infancy and will improve.
You talk as if electric cars won’t improve, that battery technology won’t improve, that infrastructure won’t improve, if you were around in 1886 no doubt you would have been telling us where will all the roads come from, where all the filling stations come from, and how will we ever make enough of them for everyone. Let’s stick to using steam trains and horses to get from A to B.

 

[Moped]

Check the carbon footprint for motorhome and airline travel.

For a motorhome to Alicante and back from Birmingham = just about 0.4 tonne total for the 1200 mile round trip and several months in Spain.

For airplane travel for 2 people for the same return trip = 1 tonne total and 1 or 2 weeks in Spain.

Maybe this point should be made to the government by the various motorhome interest groups?

 

[Fisherman]

Check the carbon footprint for motorhome and airline travel.

For a motorhome to Alicante and back from Birmingham = just about 0.4 tonne total for the 1200 mile round trip and several months in Spain.

For airplane travel for 2 people for the same return trip = 1 tonne total and 1 or 2 weeks in Spain.

Maybe this point should be made to the government by the various motorhome interest groups?

Moped, all forms of transport world wide make up just 14% of CO2 emissions.
The last thing we want to do is ask for special treatment for motorhomes whilst everyone else has to change.
I have no doubt that flying will become much more expensive in years to come.
Thats how I reckon they will attempt to limit flying.
The days of cheap flights, weekends in New York will be a thing of the past.

 

[Robmac]

As a boat owner, I have been looking at alternative means of propulsion.

Electric outboards are coming on in leaps and bounds with the likes of Torqueedo making more and more efficient motors. The difference between a boat and a motorhome (apart from the obvious!) is that if a boat runs out of charge, you can simply drop the anchor and let the solar panels do their work and you are in nobody's way even if you are there for a couple of days. They can also use wind generators or even pedals as a source of power.

Eventually I can see me going for a small sailing boat with an electric outboard and use a combination of the two.

In the interim, I can see taxation as a big threat to conventional motorhomes and private vehicles in general with a big move to public transport being further 'encouraged'.

Sadly, that will not help us.

 

[sparrks]

There are not enough electric points at the moment and how do they propose that people living in terraced houses charge their cars. Car parks are going to have to have electric charging points for each bay so who is going to pay for all this. I have already seen a cable across a pavement to an electric car. Read the other day that someone takes his car to the Council recharging point round the corner rather than use his own electric to charge up because the Council one is free.

The idea is to ban or eradicate private car ownership

 

[Martin P]

Lol. Quite funny.
If I had been around in1886 I would have been following Karl Benz with great interest trying to make my own petrol engined vehicle. Just as I am keenly trying to get to grips with electronics now.
However
Even if GB goes totally electric and we all sit around shivering in our houses built from highly imflammable celotex eating nothing but baked beans , I suspect the total emmision reduction as a percentage of the total worlwide would be virtually insignificant
Also if fracking had taken off in this country its a pretty fair bet the govt would not be adopting an anti gas stance
As has been said if everyone could afford to go out and buy a nice shiny new electric car that would be marvellous but as with power tools once the batteries are dead ( Lithium last 2 to 3 years on the makita tools I use) they wouldnt be worth a carrot
Yes I agree that it would be good if everyone treads a little lightly it wont do any harm but I aint going to lose any sleep over it.

 

[sparrks]

We have to change, and we have to start to think differently.
I am fully onboard here, but what about heating our homes.
There is as much CO2 produced from heating our homes as driving or cars and vans. Yet this seems to be on the back burner. But if we all start to use electricity to heat our homes instead of gas, where will all the power come from. These are the challenges that lie in front of us. But if we care about our children and grand children things have to change.

Hydrogen will be used to heat homes etc and I believe it could also replace fossil fuels in the ICE and/or hydrogen fuel cells.

A report recently concluded that the fashion industry creates more pollution than aviation and shipping combined.

 

[TeamRienza]

My concern (for future generation) has more to do with the security of the Uk than this headlong rush towards total dependence on electricity. Add to the mix the announcement that new build houses cannot connect to gas for heating (a reputedly clean fuel) leaving electricity as the only economically viable alternative I wonder how we square the circle.

The bigger picture to me is that this country is hell bent on selling or giving away all of its critical infrastructure, wether that be transport, power generation, steel production etc. Not long now till we are a cashless society. Add all of this to the increasing rise in hacking and 3rd party interference and I believe the country will be very exposed. I don’t say this from the ‘empire and greatness’ point of view but simply as a major world economy overly dependent on other countries for its functionality.

By all means develop electrical propulsion although I remain sceptical of the cost of production from raw material to running and scrapping both ecologically and financially. It is imperative that Hydrogen be developed as an alternative although I assume this will use a lot of electricity to produce. I prefer to keep an open mind on the future of fossil fuels, particularly petrol and diesel. I believe there is still a way to go in the evolution of engines.

I believe there is too much jumping on the band wagon and political posturing over this issue.

Davy

 

[Fisherman]

Sorry Davy but gas is not a clean fuel, gas heating in the UK emits around the same CO2 as all forms of transport put together.
Hydrogen fuel cells require batteries also.
The big advantage is you don't need as large an infra structure regarding charging points.
As for jumping on a bandwagon, we should have jumped on it decades ago.
The problem is we have waited too long.

 

[2cv]

It’s all relatively short term anyway. We’re never going to save the planet in the long term. As the sun gets hotter eventually all the water will evaporate meaning that the Earth will be uninhabitable well before it is destroyed in a galactic collision. All this will take a billion years.

 

[yorkslass]

Its all very well banning diesel, petrol, gas in favour of electric, but even with wind and solar, i can't see that there will be enough power to go round. Why not insist that new homes must have ,at the very least, solar panels, ....because the homebuilders dont want to because that would affect their profitability. Everybody has an agenda, and those with most money/power always win.

 

[Fisherman]

It’s all relatively short term anyway. We’re never going to save the planet in the long term. As the sun gets hotter eventually all the water will evaporate meaning that the Earth will be uninhabitable well before it is destroyed in a galactic collision. All this will take a billion years.

Perhaps by then we will be able to park in Musselburgh