Time to squash those disruptive group of tories

I think there’s still a long way to go regarding electric cars etc but I welcome the fact that delivery companies are using them. But that doesn’t mean that electric cars aren’t the way forward. Anyway, it isn’t a policy that is being immediately implemented as it wouldn’t be good for the environment if we all suddenly scrapped our vehicles. But we can’t continue the way we have been can we. And it’s beyond me that there are still climate change deniers.

Honestly, if charging points have got to us, you can’t be far behind even if you live in the Highlands. Bring them on as far as I’m concerned because we pay so much more for petrol in rural areas than they do in the cities, when we are the ones who can’t manage without a car because there is no public transport at all, not even one bus a week here.

It doesn’t need to be a long time to get the infrastructure in place.

Norway has ensured that every household in Norway has access to charge an electric car.

All we need is the political will, but we will never get it from this shower.

Anybody thought about the lithium mining? My son has worked in Chile and this is an issue there but we appear not to have noticed it. It's almost as if we're just swapping one ruination for another. There really is no easy answer to this.

The government have put in place net zero which will cost us trillions. The main protagonists, China/USA are not doing a great deal

No easy answer to this

There’s a fundamental question behind all this about the model of consumption and production that we now have, which is simply not sustainable,” said Riofrancos. “Everyone having an electric vehicle means an enormous amount of mining, refining and all the polluting activities that come with it.”

www.theguardian.com/news/2020/dec/08/the-curse-of-white-oil-electric-vehicles-dirty-secret-lithium

MaizieD

^Another has a Ford hybrid which is self charging.^

I often wonder if hybrids should be the way to go at the moment. I wonder, in terms of fossil fuel usage, how the amount of petrol they use compares with the gas usage necessary to produce the electricity needed to charge all those electric cars?

We have 2 friends with hybrids and they seem very happy with them.

We have an hybrid, and it is superb. We would have had a full EV but do not have the home based plug in.

My sons EV is a Hyundai. The furthest he has been so far to Cornwall and did so on one charge with spare capacity. He then went into a supermarket to get some food and re-charged the car for free. His home recharge plug was installed free with the Cameron offer which lasted for a very short time, I am not sure how much a full charge costs as I have forgotten, but I do remember at the time he told me that I was astounded at how little it cost. Much, much cheaper than a full tank of petrol.
With regards to heat exchangers etc. it would seem that the technology has a way to go before it is sufficient for the average home, but I am confident that this will be improved sufficiently.

Solar panels are becoming almost a necessity with the capacity to store the excess electricity.

There is good news on that front Zoejory, lots of research is going on to find alternatives to lithium. This is an interesting read, my sister sent it to me when we were discussing electric cars.
www.pv-magazine-australia.com/2021/11/06/saturday-read-promising-alternatives-to-lithium-ion/

Interesting opinions.

Seems only the wealthy can afford to be 'green'. Those of us on a fixed income will have far less choice open to them, if any. I suppose the green liberals will be glad when we die out and no longer inconvenience them with our unacceptable lifestyles.

And tell me, just who can afford these fancy new cars anyway? And if they can, what will they do when the government brings in charges by the mile? And who will be cleaning up all the extra pollutants that they bring?

I also wonder, sincerely, what solutions will be on offer for flat dwellers? None that I have heard of so far.
We cannot install solar/pv panels. We cannot have EV chargers. We cannot have heat pumps. Our gas combi boilers will be outlawed.
It feels like we are being blamed for this situation and are going to be targeted because we are trapped by circumstances. Perhaps we will be shamed for ending up in situations that we apparently should have been able to have easily foreseen 20 years ago. I feel really depressed to be so judged and found to be morally inferior.

I understand what you are saying, Scotsmum but in the situation we are in now, with climate change almost looking to be irrevocable and disastrous, I think that we should be looking to government to come up with solutions and investment to reduce the energy requirements of the country. I don't think it is entirely up to individuals to entirely bear the cost themselves.

That could include retrofitting measures in all older properties to reduce energy consumption, such as improved insulation and triple glazing. Installation of solar panels where possible. District heating powered by combustible waste?

And making high energy efficiency and the installation of solar PV and water heating panels a requirement for all new builds, even to the extent of subsidising the costs.

We could be looking to use natural, renewable materials for things like building or recycling plastic into 'bricks' (it's being done), sheep's wool can be used for insulation; there are a host of 'green' solutions which are being developed but which need more than just individual action to implement.

Just a few thoughts, but proven technology so not unattainable if there is the political will to make the necessary investment. Which would repay the economy in terms of growth of manufacturing and employment.

I don't think you are being judged and found wanting. It's a hard situation for all of us.

Didn’t the previous government remove grants for solar panels?

uk.mer.eco/news/public-ev-charging-best-practices-in-northern-europe/ this is an interesting article about the challenges with introducing sufficient charging points and producing enough electricity to supple them. Even Norway with its almost total hydroelectric output is going to struggle at times. Goodness knows how the UK will produce enough green electricity to manage.

For those who cannot afford to buy an EV the 'punishments', in the form of taxes and charges, for needing to run a petrol car will eventually price them off the roads, leaving personal transport only for the well off.

Scotsmum that is my concern, the people who can't afford these expensive green options and who will be penalised disproportionately. I remember an MP (not sure which one though) who said about the first London congestion charge to be brought in "it's OK for me, I can easily afford £6 per day, what about the person who needs their vehicle but can't afford it?" My nephew now struggles getting to work. When he exits the road where he lives he's immediately subject to a £12.50 per day charge. Can't afford the charge, can't afford a compliant car.
My Labour local authority won't allow solar panels on any house on my estate because we're a conservation area. They claim to be 'green' too and insist on every green measure for the new social housing being built, but our 'old' houses must look exactly like they did well over a hundred years ago. No visible changes allowed.
I accept the need for changes to save the environment, but the poorest amongst us must not be ignored and forgotten.