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The issue is that we've relied on hydrocarbons for so long that switching off means significant change at basically every level of the stack. Let's take the tra

by twunde 3y ago

The issue is that we've relied on hydrocarbons for so long that switching off means significant change at basically every level of the stack. Let's take the transition to EV vehicles as an example. To do this you need to build charging infrastructure along common and uncommon routes. Do all houses need home chargers now? What about people who use street parking only? To make the switch worthwhile you need the utilities to switch the power base to renewables. Oh and with the switch, we're now more than 2xing the amount of electricity we need to generate. So now we need to upgrade our transmission lines to carry a lot more energy. And the grid in general needs to be smarter since renewables aren't consistent in energy output. EVs need less maintenance but it's more specialized so now we need to retrain all the mechanics. Oh and how do we do this with affordable prices? We have to make a lot of changes across virtually the entire economy including equipment/factories etc that have lifespans in 30, 50,100 years. There are major questions about how fast we can accelerate the timelines as we basically reinvent ourselves

acdha 3y ago
This is true but I also would caution against thinking we need to solve everything all at once. For example, EV charging is a real concern but a pretty small fraction of people need to drive more than 60 or so miles per day, so even a regular extension cord will work for them. That doesn’t mean we don’t need to address the others but if everyone who has access to a plausible EV charging situation, take transit, etc. now actually did the resulting plummet in emissions would buy many years in which to solve the harder problems. (As would not subsidizing SUVs, etc. – every bit counts) This is going to be a huge transformation so we really need to make sure perfect isn’t the enemy of the good.
ismokedoinks 3y ago
Turns out we should have left all the trolley wires and electrified rails in and swapped the power supply upstream. Although if we had done that a lot of our hydrocarbon dependency would have been prevented in the first place.

by twunde 3y ago

acdha 3y ago

This is true but I also would caution against thinking we need to solve everything all at once. For example, EV charging is a real concern but a pretty small fraction of people need to drive more than 60 or so miles per day, so even a regular extension cord will work for them. That doesn’t mean we don’t need to address the others but if everyone who has access to a plausible EV charging situation, take transit, etc. now actually did the resulting plummet in emissions would buy many years in which to solve the harder problems. (As would not subsidizing SUVs, etc. – every bit counts) This is going to be a huge transformation so we really need to make sure perfect isn’t the enemy of the good.

ismokedoinks 3y ago

Turns out we should have left all the trolley wires and electrified rails in and swapped the power supply upstream. Although if we had done that a lot of our hydrocarbon dependency would have been prevented in the first place.