3 ms·

> "carbon externality charge" of $5000 on a new ICE as well, or something that scales with the carbon inefficiency of the vehicle Your whole writeup was inspir

> "carbon externality charge" of $5000 on a new ICE as well, or something that scales with the carbon inefficiency of the vehicle Your whole writeup was inspiring and gives me more hope for the future. This part, though, I'm angry about. I'm angry that we don't already have this legislation in some form. I'm sure it will be fought tooth & nail by the big auto manufacturers, but we should do it anyway. Maybe we could tack on higher penalties for anyone caught 'rolling coal', too.

hedora 3y ago
It should be a bit more than $5000. However, prepare to be even angrier: Burning a gallon of gas generates 20lbs of CO2 (most of the weight is the O2), so 100 gallons produces a ton. Direct air carbon capture should cost roughly $100 per ton at scale, so the fee should be $1/gallon of gasoline (either at vehicle purchase or at the pump). That’s completely affordable and lower than current gasoline taxes in many places. If we made that one change (and funneled the revenue into carbon capture) existing ICE cars could be carbon negative in 5-10 years, and, as we phased them out (because EVs are just better) we’d have a clear path to pre-industrial atmospheric CO2.
- adrianN 3y ago
  With what process can you capture and permanently store carbon from the atmosphere for that price?
- em500 3y ago
  The EU mandates a minimum €0.36/L excise tax on gasoline, which is about $1.49/gallon. In practice many large countries like Germany, France, Italy already levy more than $3/gallon. But they certainly don't funnel the revenue into carbon capture.
jabl 3y ago
The sort of obvious way is to slap on a decent carbon tax on fuels. But of course that is fought tooth and nail by a lot on entrenched interests. Even here in ostensibly progressive Europe, populist parties are riding on "Cheap gas!!!".
NickNameNick 3y ago
New Zealand has a scheme (soon to expire with the change in government) for this. Low efficiency vehicles are taxed on import, and the money raised is returned as rebates on high efficiency vehicles. A Ford Ranger might attract the full fee, a new t Nissan leaf would get the full credit. A small ICE car attracts a smaller fee. Hybrids are given a smaller credit. The exact amount of credit varied over time as the fees gathered changed.

hedora 3y ago

It should be a bit more than $5000. However, prepare to be even angrier: Burning a gallon of gas generates 20lbs of CO2 (most of the weight is the O2), so 100 gallons produces a ton. Direct air carbon capture should cost roughly $100 per ton at scale, so the fee should be $1/gallon of gasoline (either at vehicle purchase or at the pump). That’s completely affordable and lower than current gasoline taxes in many places. If we made that one change (and funneled the revenue into carbon capture) existing ICE cars could be carbon negative in 5-10 years, and, as we phased them out (because EVs are just better) we’d have a clear path to pre-industrial atmospheric CO2.

adrianN 3y ago
With what process can you capture and permanently store carbon from the atmosphere for that price?
em500 3y ago
The EU mandates a minimum €0.36/L excise tax on gasoline, which is about $1.49/gallon. In practice many large countries like Germany, France, Italy already levy more than $3/gallon. But they certainly don't funnel the revenue into carbon capture.

jabl 3y ago

The sort of obvious way is to slap on a decent carbon tax on fuels. But of course that is fought tooth and nail by a lot on entrenched interests. Even here in ostensibly progressive Europe, populist parties are riding on "Cheap gas!!!".

NickNameNick 3y ago

New Zealand has a scheme (soon to expire with the change in government) for this. Low efficiency vehicles are taxed on import, and the money raised is returned as rebates on high efficiency vehicles. A Ford Ranger might attract the full fee, a new t Nissan leaf would get the full credit. A small ICE car attracts a smaller fee. Hybrids are given a smaller credit. The exact amount of credit varied over time as the fees gathered changed.