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After emissions is solved (EVs), tyres is the next big challenge in a sustainable car. Been thinking a lot about this problem. Up until I saw this video I thoug
by michaeljohansen 6y ago
After emissions is solved (EVs), tyres is the next big challenge in a sustainable car. Been thinking a lot about this problem. Up until I saw this video I thought it was almost unsolvable because something needs to touch between car and road. That friction will rip something loose. The fact that those microplastics are positively charged is, at least to me, very good news. Maybe micro debris from the asphalt / cement can be captured as well.
- scollet 6y agoI don't really know what the engineering challenges would look like, but retractable rail for highways and tires for the city might be a solution. It's an immense problem for sure.
- tonyedgecombe 6y agoWe already have that in Europe, it’s called trains and taxis.
- scollet 6y agoYep. I'm a bike guy myself.
- nwah1 6y agoEVs actually make this problem worse because they are heavier. Both brakes and tires release toxic pollution. While I fully admit that these are all engineering challenges that people could make progress on, there's also much simpler and more immediately actionable ways to improve this situation. Like encouraging walkable neighborhoods.
- Thlom 6y agoEVs don’t actually use the brakes much as they often have very aggressive regeneration. Rust on underused brakes is a problem on my EV at least. :-)
- Retric 6y agoAlso, while I can see various synthetic tires being an issue, is vulcanized natural rubber actually a problem? It’s starting off as tiny particles which should degrade fairly quickly.
- PaulDavisThe1st 6y agoFrom HN earlier today: https://www.hakaimagazine.com/features/when-rubber-hits-the-road-and-washes-away/ https://www.hakaimagazine.com/features/when-rubber-hits-the-...
- Retric 6y agoThe finished product isn’t considered toxic, but some individual ingredients are, including heavy metals like cadmium and lead, and high aromatic oils (more commonly known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons or PAHs) So, presumably non synthetic tires are actually fine. Though, it’s not clear if that was the intent of the article.
- nwah1 6y agoRegenerative brakes rely on friction just like any other. Pollution is a given.
- Hnrobert42 6y agoHow about both? Why frame it as either/or?
- Thlom 6y agoCan mass personal car usage ever be sustainable? Just the land use to support car usage is insane.
- djrogers 6y agoThe planet has enough land to support many orders of magnitude more roads than we currently use. What leads you to think this is a problem?
- nine_k 6y agoThe needed concentration.
- pretendscholar 6y agoDo you honestly think they mean that we are physically running out of room on the planet to put roads?
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- supertrope 6y agoIn addition to the roads and parking lots land is utilized to mine raw materials for producing the machine and fuel or charge it.
- rini17 6y agoNot really, the US is only 3 orders of magnitude away from being 100% paved over. https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070719230638AAVVZR0 https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070719230638A...
- njarboe 6y agoThus The Boring Company and lots of tunnels.
- simonebrunozzi 6y agoBrakes! Probably a worse problem than tyres.
- njarboe 6y agoRegenerative braking of electric or hybrid cars solve most of this problem.
- TedShiller 6y agoEV doesn’t solve much actually. The total impact of an EV car is quite devastating on the environment, about the same as a gasoline car once you factor in manufacturing and mining and transport of lithium.
- tectonic 6y agoCitation needed.
- tonyedgecombe 6y agoEverything I’ve read shows that EV’s are preferable to ICE cars. However both are inferior to a bicycle if you are really serious about your environmental impact.