The problem with this idea that we will be all electric in 20-25 years is that the battery technology is not there yet.
The rare earths required for the current line of high power batteries are extremely scarce. Known deposits are few, many are in China and the supply is tight. The notion that we can increase production 50-100 fold is not realistic.
Increasing the efficiency of the current technology is a limited path. We need a quantum leap in discovery. A new way of making much better batteries. A breakthrough. Could come tomorrow. Could be next year. But it might be 50 years.
There is also the fact that green generating capacity cannot meet the needs of a battery driven transportation world. Even in the US we have large swaths that experience rolling brownouts and blackouts during peak demand periods.
Consider the drain on the Los Angeles area power grid as 2-3 million cars pull into garages after rush hour and plug in to recharge. On a hot summer day that has already strained the grid.
The goal is admirable but the reality with current technology make the idea essentially unattainable.
Note that tobacco companies (R. J. Reynolds, Altria, etc) continue to be large and profitable despite the fact that only a smallish part of what they do, now, is sell tobacco. I’m not really sure how the petro-energy companies are going to cope, but I’m reasonably sure that some of them will come out of the change to greenergy still profitable and still doing some drilling, oil-shipping, etc. And a lot of … something else. Converting gas stations to fast-charge stations doesn’t seem like a bad idea from here, but that’s just the first thing off the top of my head. Or using their business ‘mass’ to force their way into some other sort of distribution business.
Right now, you have to leave your car parked by the charger for a long time. A ‘faster charger’ isn’t out of the question — my 40 volt lawnmower battery takes about 4 or 5 hours to fully charge w/ the default charger, but they have an upgrade charger that does it in 1, they claim. But maybe the better idea is to simply swap out fully charged batteries for partially charged ones. Easy peasy, seems to me.
Mounting urgency about climate change has finally reached the boardrooms of Exxon Mobil, BP, Shell and other international oil companies. Under intense pressure, these companies are universally pledging to prepare for a low-carbon or “lower-carbon” future.
European companies – such as French multinational Total and British-based BP – are staking big bets on a pivot from oil to renewable power.
Companies such as Total in France, BP in Britain, Eni in Italy and Equinor in Norway are making ambitious pledges to switch, over time, from making money off oil to making money off sunshine and wind.
There are signs of real resources being dedicated to this promised strategic shift toward renewables. BP just bought a pipeline of 9 gigawatts of solar projects in the United States. Total invested billions in a major solar producer in India.
There is term applied to race horses: gin up. It refers to the application of an irritant, such as ginger to the private parts of a the animal as a way to make it run faster. Nowadays the term shows up in many places, but the general meaning is the same.
I wonder how many people recognize Pegasus, the one-time (until the mid-sixties, I think) flying-horse logo of the Socony Mobil Corporation (Socony = Standard Oil Company Of New York), one of the pieces into which Rockefeller’s Standard Oil Company was broken. Socony Mobil became MobilOil. It then merged with its sibling, Standard Oil of New Jersey (Esso, later Exxon in the US, still Esso in Canada) to become ExxonMobil.
Monchoxyz almost 3 years ago
Isn’t that Donald Jr?
Valiant1943 Premium Member almost 3 years ago
If it were his head not the power plug. Oh, you mean pegasus.
paranormal almost 3 years ago
A flying jackass?
JohnHarry Premium Member almost 3 years ago
LOL
Radish the wordsmith almost 3 years ago
The government should stop subsidizing oil companies.
Godfreydaniel almost 3 years ago
Wonder what powered the flying cars in “The Jetsons”, and, for that bleedin’ matter, weren’t WE all supposed to have flying cars by this point?
Andylit Premium Member almost 3 years ago
The problem with this idea that we will be all electric in 20-25 years is that the battery technology is not there yet.
The rare earths required for the current line of high power batteries are extremely scarce. Known deposits are few, many are in China and the supply is tight. The notion that we can increase production 50-100 fold is not realistic.
Increasing the efficiency of the current technology is a limited path. We need a quantum leap in discovery. A new way of making much better batteries. A breakthrough. Could come tomorrow. Could be next year. But it might be 50 years.
There is also the fact that green generating capacity cannot meet the needs of a battery driven transportation world. Even in the US we have large swaths that experience rolling brownouts and blackouts during peak demand periods.
Consider the drain on the Los Angeles area power grid as 2-3 million cars pull into garages after rush hour and plug in to recharge. On a hot summer day that has already strained the grid.
The goal is admirable but the reality with current technology make the idea essentially unattainable.
brwydave Premium Member almost 3 years ago
Ooh, that tingling sensation!!
lonecat almost 3 years ago
If the oil companies have any intelligence at all, they have been preparing for the new economy.
Concretionist almost 3 years ago
Note that tobacco companies (R. J. Reynolds, Altria, etc) continue to be large and profitable despite the fact that only a smallish part of what they do, now, is sell tobacco. I’m not really sure how the petro-energy companies are going to cope, but I’m reasonably sure that some of them will come out of the change to greenergy still profitable and still doing some drilling, oil-shipping, etc. And a lot of … something else. Converting gas stations to fast-charge stations doesn’t seem like a bad idea from here, but that’s just the first thing off the top of my head. Or using their business ‘mass’ to force their way into some other sort of distribution business.
Right now, you have to leave your car parked by the charger for a long time. A ‘faster charger’ isn’t out of the question — my 40 volt lawnmower battery takes about 4 or 5 hours to fully charge w/ the default charger, but they have an upgrade charger that does it in 1, they claim. But maybe the better idea is to simply swap out fully charged batteries for partially charged ones. Easy peasy, seems to me.
briangj2 almost 3 years ago
Mounting urgency about climate change has finally reached the boardrooms of Exxon Mobil, BP, Shell and other international oil companies. Under intense pressure, these companies are universally pledging to prepare for a low-carbon or “lower-carbon” future.
European companies – such as French multinational Total and British-based BP – are staking big bets on a pivot from oil to renewable power.
Companies such as Total in France, BP in Britain, Eni in Italy and Equinor in Norway are making ambitious pledges to switch, over time, from making money off oil to making money off sunshine and wind.
There are signs of real resources being dedicated to this promised strategic shift toward renewables. BP just bought a pipeline of 9 gigawatts of solar projects in the United States. Total invested billions in a major solar producer in India.
https://www.npr.org/2021/06/08/1002448099/big-oils-transition-3-takeaways-on-how-the-industry-is-and-isnt-going-green
BTW, the cartoon is a parody of the old Mobil sign:
http://garageartsigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/RG272.jpg
A# 466 almost 3 years ago
There is term applied to race horses: gin up. It refers to the application of an irritant, such as ginger to the private parts of a the animal as a way to make it run faster. Nowadays the term shows up in many places, but the general meaning is the same.
Charliegirl Premium Member almost 3 years ago
I’m glad I wasn’t drinking anything – I’d have sprayed my computer. This is hilarious!
cherns Premium Member almost 3 years ago
I wonder how many people recognize Pegasus, the one-time (until the mid-sixties, I think) flying-horse logo of the Socony Mobil Corporation (Socony = Standard Oil Company Of New York), one of the pieces into which Rockefeller’s Standard Oil Company was broken. Socony Mobil became MobilOil. It then merged with its sibling, Standard Oil of New Jersey (Esso, later Exxon in the US, still Esso in Canada) to become ExxonMobil.