Showing posts with label Electric Auto Fantasy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Electric Auto Fantasy. Show all posts

Sunday, October 14, 2018

I'd Like To Buy An Argument

The IPCC has told us, again, that we only have ten years until disaster. "Cut carbon emissions, and we really mean it this time."  I heard this is the 4th time they've made the announcement.

Someone asked me recently, in the face of my AGW denialism, "What is your argument, that we should do nothing?"

Translation: we the non-deniers, who believe in the god of science, think things are so bad that "we" should get the 535 assclownstooges and our president to use violent coercion to make us do something, anything, to reduce carbon emissions because we are afraid of something that we don’t understand.

My argument isn’t an argument. This is what I understand to be true:
The term scientist is so vague that saying “a majority of scientists agree” is a meaningless statement. Quantify – do you mean actual people doing research on climatology in labs daily? Do you mean anyone published in a professional journal? Do you mean anyone with a PHD in a scientific field? Do you include PHD physicists and other hard sciences only? 

“Science”, or the scientific method, cannot be used to test climate in the same way it can be used to test, for example, gravity. Climate cannot be reduced to lab experiments. What is asserted about what causes what in climate is conjecture. It may be correct, it may not be correct, and since the conjecture cannot be tested the answer is not certain. Therefore, what is asserted about causality with regard to climate is belief, and has become strongly held belief for reasons I don't understand. 

There is a way to validate causality with climate, which would be to create a predictive model - one that accurately forecasts (forward and in reverse) temperatures based on the man made inputs that people fear cause changes in climate. Many climate models have been built, and none have accurately predicted climate temperature change. 

Scientific consensus – good if it advances inquiry. As a way of setting policy, consensus is a joke. Consensus is nothing more than the opinions of "scientists". This is in no way equivalalent to the application of the scientific method under controlled conditions. The whole point of the scientific method is that experts are not trustworthy (we all fall victim to bias). All work is subjected to scrutiny, tests must be performed in another lab by other scientists to be accepted as valid. Scientific consensus is to the scientific method as sawdust is to a smooth automobile transmission. 

There are many well articulated arguments against the notion that CO2 is a driver of climate change. The ones I have found are in my blog. One rule I follow is that being informed means I could articulate the case I oppose in terms that would be acceptable to someone who is a believer. Most of those who advocate for AGW cannot articulate the sceptic’s position, or won’t, and default to accusations of poor character.

Sunday, October 7, 2018

What Tesla Means

To some part of the population, Tesla means something over and above making cars. I have exchanged thoughts recently with a friend who's enamored of Tesla and apparently Musk as well. He's a believer in electric. He seems to think electric means "good for the environment" and such, and he's what you could call a "true believer". The nitty gritty bottom line doesn't matter as much as the meaning, the association to what is coming that will be better than what is.

I hope he's right.

To me, electric cars are rich kids' toys. They don't help reduce emissions, they have a value near zero when the battery quits (or can you get a car battery re-built for cheap these days?), and even with a substantial tax credit, they are expensive and little.

There are two sources of emissions for vehicles - one is the manufacture of the vehicle, the other is  from fuel use. The last time I saw these numbers compared, these are expected to be equal over the life of the car. In other words, a substantial reduction in emissions would be achieved by preventing the manufacture of new cars/trucks, ships, airplanes, houses, commercial buildings, and shutting down industrial food production (we can have a cow, chickens and veggies in the back yard like the great depression or the war!), etcetera.

As of a few years ago, the emissions break even for an electric was about the point in time that the battery would be expended. That is to say, the emissions cost to build an electric is so high, that even though they are not burning gas electrics do not reduce emissions.

What might change this formula would be to have zero emissions sources of electricity - nuclear being the most likely option at this point (not that it is likely for the US to build nuclear). 15 years of solar and wind speculation has brought, from my perspective, disappointment.

My friend says he can drive across country for free. What's the cost of the inconvenience of having to recharge on a specified interval, vice having the chance to stop and add gas in a few minutes whenever it is needed?

What's the cost to others of your $2500 to $7000 tax credit to play with your electric car which does not create a public good?

What if you spend less on a gas powered car - at what point would you reach free given:
-an expected ~$2000 (for my F150) annual fuel bill
-depreciation of the more expensive electric car from full cost to zero over the expected five year life of the battery, whereas my truck at the five year mark had depreciated between $14,000 and $18,000, depending on how this is calculated
-the difference in purchase price for the electric versus a similarly capable gasoline powered car
If these numbers really show he drives the car "for free", I'd like to see them.

Electric cars are like all cars - we choose them based on our identity. To me, Tesla's an ambitious idea, I hope it works, but even if it does, it won't matter much to me - it's not going to create sunshine out of cucumbers. To my friend, Tesla hints at something beautiful and hope filled and better than the current sometimes squalid state of human experience. I'm happy for him.

https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=726718267156239993#editor/target=post;postID=5962610422521073459

https://www.fidelity.com/news/article/top-news/201810051527RTRSNEWSCOMBINED_KCN1MF27C-OUSBS_1

Sunday, August 5, 2018

Kill CAFE', Make Me Smile

This article is the sort of empty headed logic that makes it clear why no one should buy newspapers nor rely on newspaper writers for analysis.
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/editorials/la-ed-fuel-economy-20180802-story.html#

First, if they have to meet a fuel efficiency standard across the fleet, why not make it 100 or 1000 miles per gallon? Why just 50? While we're setting these government standards, why not make it a crime to build an auto and/or not allow new autos to be sold since the building of a vehicle emits as much carbon as a lifetime of driving it?

The author makes it sound like electric cars are great pollution reducers - but they are not in the least, unless the electricity is coming from nuclear power. Even then, the carbon emitted in the production of the batteries is only brought back to even about the time the battery dies. Electric cars will only dent emissions when electricity is fully produced by non-carbon sources. Until then, electric is much ado about nothing. Besides, they are no where near doing what a normally powered auto can do.

The fuel economy standards amount to a back door method of idiot empty headed food trough wiping politicians to dictate what cars you and I can buy - if 50mpg is the standard, we will only be able to choose from tiny autos. You and I wouldn't stand for it if pols tried to do that directly, but for some reason we fall for their virtue posturing efforts with CAFE standards that are absurd.

If stupid is as stupid does, we're all stupid for putting up with 40+ years of CAFE.