If you could

[Mr.wizard]

If you were all powerful but were limited to doing just one thing to change your reality or the world, what would you do?

"What would you do Cod?" I hear you ask...

I would be selfish and make myself irresistible to all women

I would make myself super rich and that would also make me irresistible to all women 

[pocaracas]

And how would you power those machines?    

I once had a guy tell me he wanted an electric car - because it would be free to drive. I asked where he would get free electricity to charge the batteries ..

His answer - "I would charge it at home".



He seemed to somehow believe that houses generated free electricity.

.....

Really.... There are indeed some ignorant people out there...

It's not free.... but much much much much cheaper than petrol or diesel!
Imagine a full "tank" for $10, 10€, £10.

However: Tesco and VW plan free electric car charging points
""
Tesco, in partnership with Volkswagen, plans to install almost 2,500 charging bays at up to 600 stores by 2020.
A standard 7kW charger will be available for free, but drivers will have to pay for a faster service.
""

And also, looking a bit further ahead: Volkswagen says last generation of combustion engines to be launched in 2026

[GrandizerII]

And how would you power those machines?    

I once had a guy tell me he wanted an electric car - because it would be free to drive. I asked where he would get free electricity to charge the batteries ..

His answer - "I would charge it at home".



He seemed to somehow believe that houses generated free electricity.

.....

Really.... There are indeed some ignorant people out there...

What's ignorant about what he said? It is relatively free.

[brewer]

Make and then live on the Star Trek (TOS) planet in Shore Leave.

[onlinebiker]

I once had a guy tell me he wanted an electric car - because it would be free to drive. I asked where he would get free electricity to charge the batteries ..

His answer - "I would charge it at home".



He seemed to somehow believe that houses generated free electricity.

.....

Really.... There are indeed some ignorant people out there...

What's ignorant about what he said? It is relatively free.

Just because you aren't paying for it, doesn't make it free.

SOMEBODY is paying for it.

[GrandizerII]

What's ignorant about what he said? It is relatively free.

Just because you aren't paying for it, doesn't make it free.

SOMEBODY is paying for it.

It's [mostly] free for him. Yes, he'd be charged a bit extra on his next electricity bill, but all the same, still heaps cheaper than driving your standard gas car.

The way you're arguing, basically nothing really is for free because someone else out there has paid for the stuff you might have gotten without personally paying for them ... like gifts for example. Seriously man, have you not heard of context?

[Cod]

I would build enough machines worldwide to bring the CO2 in the atmosphere down to 350 ppm or below again, thus solving the climate change problem.

And how would you power those machines?    

Wind

[onlinebiker]

Just because you aren't paying for it, doesn't make it free.

SOMEBODY is paying for it.

It's [mostly] free for him. Yes, he'd be charged a bit extra on his next electricity bill, but all the same, still heaps cheaper than driving your standard gas car.

The way you're arguing, basically nothing really is for free because someone else out there has paid for the stuff you might have gotten without personally paying for them ... like gifts for example. Seriously man, have you not heard of context?

Lol... Hook line and sinker........


Do the math on that " cheap" electric.

The money you save on gasoline is going to shrink to nothing, after you have to replace the batteries --- and guarantee - you will --- right after the warranty runs out......


Go price what those batteries cost --- you will shit -- they are the largest percentage of the cost of the vehicle and only last a few years at best.

Google - what does it cost to replace the battery in a Nissan Leaf??

Answer $5500 plus installation...

At 2 bucks a gallon, 30 mpg that' s 80,000 + miles of driving a cheaper gas car.


Where' s the cheap in that electric????

[Alan V]

I would build enough machines worldwide to bring the CO2 in the atmosphere down to 350 ppm or below again, thus solving the climate change problem.

And how would you power those machines?

There is certainly a big carbon footprint for both building all those machines and powering them without a renewable infrastructure currently available, but it's a given that we will have to spend a fair portion of our remaining carbon budget to build such infrastructure anyway.  

The question then becomes, "Can we build machines which remove more CO2 from the air than they generate in their lifetimes?"  And the answer is, most certainly.  The technology already exists waiting to be scaled up.  So the real questions are, "How much will that cost and how quickly can we build them?"  If cost is no problem, as the wish-granting question would have it, then we can spend the required money in the necessary time to stop climate change.

In reality, however, there are more cost-effective ways to deal with climate change. So the necessity to build such expensive technology only comes up when we see we are going to overshoot our carbon budget to remain below 2 C.

---

Where' s the cheap in that electric????

Battery development is progressing so rapidly that electric cars should be cost competitive sometime in the next decade. Plus, without a realistic carbon tax, the cost of gas is much less than it should be. Figuring in the global costs of tax credits, subsidies, and military support for big oil companies would make a gallon of gas cost another $2 by one estimate I read, and that's not even considering the externalities of damages caused by climate change.

[Angrboda]

It's [mostly] free for him. Yes, he'd be charged a bit extra on his next electricity bill, but all the same, still heaps cheaper than driving your standard gas car.

The way you're arguing, basically nothing really is for free because someone else out there has paid for the stuff you might have gotten without personally paying for them ... like gifts for example. Seriously man, have you not heard of context?

Lol... Hook line and sinker........


Do the math on that " cheap" electric.

The money you save on gasoline is going to shrink to nothing, after you have to replace the batteries --- and guarantee - you will --- right after the warranty runs out......


Go price what those batteries cost --- you will shit -- they are the largest percentage of the cost of the vehicle and only last a few years at best.

Google - what does it cost to replace the battery in a Nissan Leaf??

Answer $5500 plus installation...

At 2 bucks a gallon, 30 mpg that' s 80,000 + miles of driving a cheaper gas car.


Where' s the cheap in that electric????

It's dangerous to generalize on the battery life and durability of electric cars, because it varies significantly by vehicle. Early Chevrolet Volts, for example, have demonstrated little to no capacity degradation, including one that's now covered more than 300,000 miles.

-editors (Green Car Reports)