Finally a thorough and honest evaluation of the real costs of EV's . Even one data point (increase metals production by 15-20 times to meet 50% of EV production) makes you shake your head in utter disbelief at the policies pursued by this Liberal government.
Over 60% of China’s electricity comes from burning coal. This means that over 60% of the millions of Chinese EV’s run on coal. The fossil fuel source of electricity generation in many jurisdictions is too often ignored to falsely paint EV’s as more environmentally friendly.
I've often pondered the full impact cost accounting of EV production. Public and governments are so prone to latching onto the day's latest craze in pollution (i.e. carbon), they often forget about all the other pollutants associated with producing goods we all demand. As a forester responsible for the management of 2 million acres I often get tagged as "the devil" for clearcutting, "monoculture" tree planting, and herbicide spraying. I take every opportunity to bring a member of public to work with me for the day to show them the various stages of forest growth, harvesting, and wood products manufacturing, including a net-zero carbon and GHG program my company voluntarily participates in, setting ourselves a high bar for leaning-out fuel and energy consumption required to run our operations. Then I ask these folks "why not find a miner or oil driller to take you to work for a day, then come back and tell me if you still believe industrial-level forest management is as evil as you thought?" My point is, if we (the technical experts and pragmatists) continue to allow public policy to be shaped by well intentioned yet ill-informed public soap boxers, how are we ever going to really save the planet? I'm not suggesting I'm the best informed citizen, but I sure wish more folks would do their homework before complaining. I also wish our world leaders were more pragmatic (like us!), and wouldn't do idiotic things like book an environmentally focused summit in Dubai! That was a fantastic ending, John.
Thanks for the great comments, Mike. I agree, some of the realities of our world, including those around mining, seem to be happily ignored in favour of the easy pickins' of things like forestry, despite that industry's solid environmental stewardship. Hopefully sharing articles like this will help people better see realities under the covers. Please do share this article as possible. I will be posting it on LinkedIn next week also, if you wish to comment further there to increase reach.
A very thorough, fact based, well written and enlightening article. As an owner of an EV, I never purchased it with “blinky eyes” that I was saving the planet. A full chain comparison of vehicle production and operation would be interesting, including the costs associated with sourcing and producing fossil fuels for vehicles. However, as you point out, all this is about impacting a small percent of the culprits of emissions. This piece is worthy of broad public publication.
Thank you for the comments, Michael. I may tackle a deeper dive in some other areas of EVs at some point, as you note. Meanwhile, kindly share this article to help increase the reach.
Finally a thorough and honest evaluation of the real costs of EV's . Even one data point (increase metals production by 15-20 times to meet 50% of EV production) makes you shake your head in utter disbelief at the policies pursued by this Liberal government.
Thank you. I hope to eventually dig deeper into a few of the other points I lightly cover in the article, including the recycling conundrum.
Over 60% of China’s electricity comes from burning coal. This means that over 60% of the millions of Chinese EV’s run on coal. The fossil fuel source of electricity generation in many jurisdictions is too often ignored to falsely paint EV’s as more environmentally friendly.
I've often pondered the full impact cost accounting of EV production. Public and governments are so prone to latching onto the day's latest craze in pollution (i.e. carbon), they often forget about all the other pollutants associated with producing goods we all demand. As a forester responsible for the management of 2 million acres I often get tagged as "the devil" for clearcutting, "monoculture" tree planting, and herbicide spraying. I take every opportunity to bring a member of public to work with me for the day to show them the various stages of forest growth, harvesting, and wood products manufacturing, including a net-zero carbon and GHG program my company voluntarily participates in, setting ourselves a high bar for leaning-out fuel and energy consumption required to run our operations. Then I ask these folks "why not find a miner or oil driller to take you to work for a day, then come back and tell me if you still believe industrial-level forest management is as evil as you thought?" My point is, if we (the technical experts and pragmatists) continue to allow public policy to be shaped by well intentioned yet ill-informed public soap boxers, how are we ever going to really save the planet? I'm not suggesting I'm the best informed citizen, but I sure wish more folks would do their homework before complaining. I also wish our world leaders were more pragmatic (like us!), and wouldn't do idiotic things like book an environmentally focused summit in Dubai! That was a fantastic ending, John.
Thanks for the great comments, Mike. I agree, some of the realities of our world, including those around mining, seem to be happily ignored in favour of the easy pickins' of things like forestry, despite that industry's solid environmental stewardship. Hopefully sharing articles like this will help people better see realities under the covers. Please do share this article as possible. I will be posting it on LinkedIn next week also, if you wish to comment further there to increase reach.
A very thorough, fact based, well written and enlightening article. As an owner of an EV, I never purchased it with “blinky eyes” that I was saving the planet. A full chain comparison of vehicle production and operation would be interesting, including the costs associated with sourcing and producing fossil fuels for vehicles. However, as you point out, all this is about impacting a small percent of the culprits of emissions. This piece is worthy of broad public publication.
Thank you for the comments, Michael. I may tackle a deeper dive in some other areas of EVs at some point, as you note. Meanwhile, kindly share this article to help increase the reach.