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When we are going to start taxing coal manufactured products (like e.g. Bitcoin) correctly? There should already be a huge tax on, for example, Chinese made ste
by andy_ppp 5y ago
When we are going to start taxing coal manufactured products (like e.g. Bitcoin) correctly? There should already be a huge tax on, for example, Chinese made steel that imported both iron ore and coal from Australia by ship to be smelted in the mainland...
Until we make capitalism work for climate it will work against it.
- missedthecue 5y agoWhat's the difference between smelting the steel in Australia and shipping it to China, vs shipping the coal to China and smelting the steel on location? I don't think there is any material difference there.
- exyi 5y agoThen both should be equally carbon-taxed when sold in EU/US, that would actually incentivize figuring out how to do these processes in low-carbon way (or, how to lie about the emissions)
- andy_ppp 5y agoThe marine fuel used to transport 60%+ more stuff, it increases the carbon cost in a way that’s hugely inefficient. I worked on a project for an unnamed Australian mining company trying to optimise the shipping routes and I just see this sort of thing as profoundly wasteful.
- missedthecue 5y agoBut my point is that you aren't necessarily reducing the amount of fuel used. Either you ship coal, and make steel there, or you keep the coal here and ship the finished steel off. Either way, the metal has to get to China.
- andy_ppp 5y agoIron ore is about 60% iron and the stats I’m seeing suggest 1 tonne of steel takes about 0.77 tonnes of coal. So you need fewer than half the amount of heavily polluting ships if the steel was made in Australia.
- exyi 5y agoIt's easier to convince the public that the climate problem is being worked on with this Carbon Removal and Storage. If it turns out not to work that great, it's most likely somebody else's problem 5-10 years from now.