And don't get me wrong, i love my petrol engined vehicles but they are based on technology from over 100 years ago using a fossil fuel that is not sustainable for many more years. Change is happening all the time.
Well, then I did OK. I paid about 3.4k for my Fischer unit installed when they said, in around two hours. No sucking in air through their teeth and telling me it is not a straightforward job. I have a system that works when there is no electricity and is guaranteed for 10 years. Not because they reckon that it will last 11 years, but when they tested, they never got a system to the end of its life and so gave up testing and just did the 10 year thing. No gas (my meter goes on Wednesday) and it will work for about 2 weeks without electricity (even Berkeley's electricity supply is not that bad). And now, I don't have to check outside to see if it is windy before having a shower - the wind used to blow out my gas heater. The fact that some people are narked by it and that I got rid of gas, together with me planning to but an electric car when I get my settlement, just add to the pleasure!
And coal mining was soooooooooooo safe! But to get back to the subject (apart from Lithium being a brilliant battery ingredient) I can't worry about whether the mining/creation of any material is safe, or not. That is for governments to control. Remember Governments? Democratically elected representatives to do the work of the electorate. Old-fashioned and forgotten idea, I know. No we have dictators in the Western World scaring us about the Chinese (the Russians are now just harmless incompetents) even though they do better food! Our starchy potatoes are so much better than rice....
Which is why coal mining isn’t done as it was. Is there any ethical mining that actually takes place anywhere yet?!
Quite an interesting article https://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/availability_of_lithium, but this comment from the comments section below says everything to me about the arrogance of Man. Not content with ripping materials from our own planets, let’s go fuck another David L. wrote: J. Stevens, the situation is as following: Rare-earth minerals, are as the name suggests, rare. So rare that the earthian deposits of these minerals cannot keep up with the demand, and can run out within several decades. Going to other planets is one way to keep a steady supply, as planets like mars are likely to contain all sorts of minerals. Harvesting asteroids is also a way to obtain raw materials, an avarage asteroid can contain more iron than the human race has ever used. So may asteroids contain insane amounts of rare-earth minerals, like lithium or cobalt. Thus space exploration and exploitation would be an essential way to keep up with the global demand for raw materials. Then there is also the need for the famed helium-3 isotope, practically non-existant on earth, this rare gas is valued for its potential in nuclear-fusion; a process where 2 atoms are fused to create 1 larger atom, which releases massive amounts of heat, like stars do. This heat can be used to generate electricity very cleanly and efficiently. The only way to obtain helium-3 in sufficient amounts would be space-exploration and exploitation, as our gas giants contain massive amounts of this gas, enough to be easely harvested using balloons and use some of the gas as fuel for a return flight to earth. In the end space exploration will benefit us more on the long run, as it will allow us to set up permanent bases on other planets which we could expand for mining- and harvesting operations. And with our rapidly advancing technology this would be even more feasable as a functional space-evelator, would be just a decade or 2 away.
I have no idea. As I said, I can only use what is made available to us. It is for Governments to make and enforce safety standards.
If only there was a way to get an asteroid to “land” on planet earth.. all our troubles would be over..
personally ,i fail to see how people who are running electric vehicles think they are saving the planet ,apart from the environmental destruction in the mining of the rare earth minerals ,then the vast use of highly toxic and damaging chemicals in washing and processing these minerals ,how about charging said vehicle using so called green energy ? Just bear in mind that the Drax power station is classed as green energy ,even though huge areas of north American forest are cut down to produce wood chips to feed it ,eviromentaly friendly ,what bollox ! Until you can charge your battery in the time it takes to put fuel in i can't see it is the future ,as huge amounts of people have no parking or garage etc ,imagine the vast charging stations you would need to charge up ,and where is the electricity coming from ? The simple fact is that there are way to many people on the planet ,end off !
