August 2023
Updated Sept 2023
Our transport vehicles that use Petrol and Diesel fuel along with the awesome “Internal Combustion / Heat Engine” are not the most efficient and apparently produce about 25% of CO2 emmisions in the UK.
When it comes to refuelling, there are usually no shortage of “filling stations”. Most petrol and diesel cars can usually travel 300 – 400 miles before needing to refuel. Apparently Pollution from the fuel used is curently the greatest concern. However it should be noted that “crude oil” reserves are coming to the end and, in theory, may only last 50 years or so.
From the inefficient aspect, petrol and diesel cars are very complex and have a lots of moving parts in the engine but the cost of maintenance (usually an annual service) is normally within the budget of most people. All vehicles over 3 years old have to pass a MOT test and comply with “Government approved” emmisions.
Battery Powered Electric Vehicles (EVs) are being looked upon as our salvation because they are around 90% effecient and they don’t produce any CO2 emmisions. They have a lot less moving parts and the cost of maintenance maybe be lower than our usual vehicles but maintenance will still involve brakes, tyres and suspension etc. The reliability factor is not really known due to the small amount of EVs in use. If the battery fails, the cost of replacement currently makes the EV not cost effective to repair, unless it under warranty.
Fuel costs per mile curently show EVs have a slight cost advantage. However, the rising cost of Electricity might alter this negatively.
EVs can be very powerful and can often accelerate more quickly than petrol or diesel cars. An added bonus is there are no gears to change. Overall, It would seem that EVs are the way to go but are they?
Battery powered EVs the Downside.
- The initial cost is often up to 40% more than a petrol or diesel car.
- Charging takes a long time but more recent EVs can be charged in 15 mins (in theory). A recent visit to London and using a “Black Cab” EV was interesting. The cabbie paid £70.000 for the EV and is only getting about 65 miles per charge. This means he has downtimes while the EV is (fast) charging so he has to keep his deisel cab available to avoid losing business.
- The availability of charging points is currently inadequate and will likely be so for the forseeable future.
- The National Grid is currently not adequate to provide the power needed to charge EVs on a large scale.
- The cost of providing charging points of sufficient number is astronomical and needs roads digging up to provide the infrastructure to provide “on street” charging points.
- Households will / may need to upgrade their Electricity supply to “3 Phase” instead of “Single Phase”.
- Many households will have to rely on “on street” chargers.
- To make any sense, the electricity used to power EVs needs to be electricity provided by renewable and sustainable sources e.g. “Green Energy” and this is currently not an option.
- EVs need storage batteries which rely on Lithium, this is a mined ore and is not renewable or sustainable.
- The astronomical cost of upgrading the National Grid and providing an adequate number of Charging Points just does not make any sense. However the National Grid needs upgrading anyway for future demands.
- There is currently not enough Battery manufacturers to supply the anticipated demand, in the UK.
- Heating the cabin during winter can reduce the mileage range.
- Using Air Con can reduce the mileage range.
Battery powered EVs apear to be a solution where a very expensive sledge hammer is used to crack a nut and ultimately damage the planet in other ways. The increased mining of Lithium will never be a renewable and sustainable source. This makes battery powered EVs a non starter due to the astronmical costs and further damage to the Planet. In the main Battery Powered EVs will be for the high earners.
It might more sense to find alternative non polluting fuels but this would not address the inefficient combustion engine. If vehicles are more efficient, they use less fuel – whatever the fuel source. It is likely that the efficiency of the Internal combustion engine can never be improved to anything like 90%. It would be very desirable to make our transport fuel to be zero polluting but the pollution doesn’t just come from the fuel! It would also be desirable to make our “transport” from materials that are sustainable and renewable sources.
EVs, with an alternative to battery power.
- An option to remove many of the battery related problems above, would be to use “Hydrogen fuel cells“. This would not need the massive investment of “on street charging points” or the massive investment in upgrading the National Grid. So Hydrogen or other fuel (maybe Methane) cells make a lot more sense.
- Converting existing petrol and diesel filling stations to provide Hydrogen would be probably make more sense.
- Hydrogen fuel cells would basically replace petrol or diesel and it would be fairly easy to provide “filling Stations” that top up the Hydrogen instead of petrol or diesel.
- Hydrogen Fuel Cell powered EVs would not need batteries but the high cost of energy needed to produce the Hydrogen would need to be from renewable and sustainable sources.
Personal Transport.
In an ideal world we would all use “public transport” but for most people public transport is a non starter because it isn’t very accessible and generally doesn’t go where you want to go. On the other hand “personal transport” gives us a “door to door” service and we can go wherever we want, when we want (in principle). Many people have to rely on public transport but have to arrange their travel plans to suit what is available and it will never be as good as Personal transport.
Electric Vehicles are probably the best solution to our personal transport needs but only if they are fuelled using renewable and sustainable sources. The use of batteries that rely on Lithium is a non starter because Lithium is a mined ore and is not renewable or sustainable. Hydrogen Fuel appears to be a better alternative but not perfect.
It could be a situation where we have to go back to the Flintstones “foot powered” cars 🙂
Commercial Transport.
There are many Trains and other HGVs that use Hydrogen as their fuel source and these appear to work well.
In closing.
With regards to transport, pollution from the exhaust seems to be the real problem that needs solving. Clean fuel is already in development to replace petrol and / or diesel but it needs a lot more investment to bring down the cost to make it viable.
EVs appear to be the way forward as they are a lot more efficient and produce a lot less air pollution. However, this depends on how the EV is powered.
Batteries and the increased demand for Lithium is not good for the planet. Lithium is a mined ore (but can be obtained from sea water). The mining operations produce a lot of pollution in many ways, not just CO2. Mining destroys the Earths natural habitats for fauna and flora. Anything that we mine is not renewable or sustainable, the exception to this is Silica (sand).
Hydrogen Fuel cells are probably a better option. However, producing large amounts of Hydrogen is / can be costly but it is considered zero pollution when used as a fuel. It isn’t clear if the same can be said about the production of it.
It would be nice to have personal and other transport that is cost efficient and non polluting, even if its only for the benefit of humans, animals and plants. It would be nice if we could all live using renewable and sustainable methods that don’t have any impact on this lovely planet. The Earth helps to feed us and give us shelter and clothing, we really need to stop raping it of its resources and damaging it. The Earth was formed some 4.5 BILLION years ago, Humans have only been around for less than a MILLION years, we have no entitlement to damage the Planet for our benefit.
The pollution aspect is based on the idea that “Green House Gases” don’t escape the atmosphere and that CO2 is responsible for contributing to the current “Global Warming”. Looking at CO2 levels some 150 years ago, it can be seen that the CO2 levels are still less than 0.5% of the Earths atmosphere and haven’t really changed. During the Dinosaur period, which lasted some 180 MILLION years, the CO2 levels were apparently about 20%. Where did the CO2 go? Is there a hidden agenda?
Some are blaming Global Warming on Human activities in the past 200+ years. In reality the Earth has been warming since the Dinosaurs were wiped out due to the Earth being partially covered in ice, lasting some 64 MILLION years. The global temperature of the Earth reached a point some 1.2 Million years ago when it had become warm enough again to start melting the ice and glaciers and has apparently been gradually warming since. It is suggested by some scientist that the Earth will continue to warm until there is no ice at the polar caps and it will then start to cool in a cyclic fashion.
In the mean time, ignoring pollution and all the BS with Global Warming / Climate Change. EVs look like a good option for personal transport but we need to lose the batteries and all the charging point BS. Hydrogen or other fuel cells have got to be the way forward but it has be renewable and sustainable otherwise it is a complete waste of time.
With regards to “renewable and sustainable”, this would generally refer to stuff we can grow (vegetation). This leads us to BIO Fuels which mainly involve the production of Methane, which is a very volatile gas that burns very well. The production of it is usually quite simple and low cost. Currently humans count over 8 BILLION and we all need to dispose of our waste – bio or other. With this in mind along with agriculture, maybe “Methane Fuel Cells” are an option. Methane is produced in quantity by our landfill waste sites but can also be produced very easily and at little or no cost by Bio converters.
Methane ought to be considered more for fuel of the future, it is renewable and sustainable.
Hydrogen is another possibility but we need to find ways to produce and distribute it in large quantities using renewable and sustainable means. That is a big challenge.
Ultimately, having personal and other transport that is efficient, non polluting and complies with the renewable and sustainable goals is a big challenge. EVs are potentially a good solution if the fuel source is renewable and sustainable but the materials used to produce EVs also needs to be renewable and sustainable.
EVs that use batteries are definitely an enigma. They have zero CO2 pollution on an individual basis but they need batteries that rely on Lithium – a mined ore that is not renewable or sustainable. They need charging points and even need the National Grid to be upgraded. Most homes will need their Electricity supply upgraded to 3 Phase.
Providing enough charging points, upgrading to 3 Phase and upgrading the Nation Grid and building enough factories to produce the batteries will be an astronomical cost and begs the question “are you serious”?
The real enigma is the CO2 (Green House Gases) aspect, which is being blamed for Global Warming and this is questionable. However, it is possible that reducing human produced Green House Gases could slow down the Global Warming but this questionable.
I think most of us would like personal and other transport to be efficient and non polluting, provided that we can just refuel like we do now in a few minutes and then go on our way with the knowledge that we have transport that is efficient, comfortable and does no damage to the Earth or creates airborne pollution.
We are guests on this wonderful planet and we should all strive to live our (short) lives in a renewable and sustainable fashion so that we have no impact on the Earth.
A possible “Hidden Agenda” might be to make personal transport too expensive for most people and force them into using public transport, which may reduce the CO2 emmisions. It is also likely that high electricity costs will force people to use less but as yet I haven’t worked out who will be profitting. Greed and corruption appear to be the driving force and we are being spoon fed facts mixed with BS to confuse most people.
Heat pumps, don’t get me started 🙂