Clean Energy and Clean Vehicles

 

Clean Energy and Clean Vehicles

 A lot has been discussed and written about replacing much of our energy use with renewable sources like solar and wind, and replacing our fossil fuel guzzling and polluting vehicles with battery powered electric vehicles.

 The starry-eyed among us propose building solar panels, windmills, EV’s and charging stations across the land, plugging our cars in, and “off we go”, paying little attention to the science, engineering and practicality of the issue.

 Here are some references that discuss energy production, electric vehicles and such, both pros and cons.

 A review of this material, which is both starry-eyed optimistic on the one hand, and negative and derogatory on the other, points out several issues.

 Comments on Sources of Power

-        Solar and Wind

-        Relying on solar and wind as the main source of power generation has been shown to be impractical with current technology and conditions.  Sun and wind are unreliable.  Also, solar panels are primarily made in China by slave labor.  Wind turbines are massive, expensive and elicit environmental concerns.  Sun and wind and tides make excellent supplements to other main power sources, and could comprise as much as 20-25% of a country’s power requirements in some locations.  However, they are not likely as a country’s main source of power.

-         -        Hydropower

-        The use of hydropower involves using the kinetic motion in water as it flows downstream, part of the normal water cycle of the Earth, to generate other forms of energy, most notably electricity. Dams use this property as a means of generating electricity. This form of hydropower is called hydroelectricity.  All countries take advantage of hydro generated power, with Brazil, Canada, China and France as major users.

-         -        Geothermal

-        The Earth generates a lot of heat while going about its normal business, in the form of subterranean steam and magma among others. The geothermal energy generated within the Earth's crust can be harnessed and transformed into other forms of energy, such as electricity.  Kenya, Iceland, Philippines, El Salvador and New Zealand produce as much as 30% of their electrical power from thermal sources.

-        -        Biomass

-        Biomass is not really a separate type of energy, so much as a specific type of fuel. It is generated from organic waste products, such as cornhusks, sewage, and grass clippings. This material contains residual energy, which can be released by burning it in biomass power plants. Since these waste products always exist, it is considered a renewable resource. Major countries producing energy from biomass are Germany, U.S., China, Japan.

-         -        Nuclear (fission) power generation makes use of the thermal energy produced when a uranium nucleus is split. This energy is used to produce high-temperature, high-pressure steam from water boiled inside the nuclear reactor. The steam then drives a turbine for generating electricity.  While nuclear processing and nuclear power plants produce radioactive wastes and the potentially for environmental disaster could be large, the advantages of nuclear power in generating large amounts of sustainable energy without polluting the atmosphere with toxic fumes and greenhouse gases outweighs the disadvantages of nuclear power.  Accidents at Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and Fukushima have poisoned public opinion about producing power using nuclear plants.  Many countries have nuclear reactors producing power.  France has adopted nuclear in a big way, while Germany has phased it out completely.

-         -        Fusion power is a proposed form of power generation that would generate electricity by using heat from nuclear fusion reactions. In a fusion process, two lighter atomic nuclei combine to form a heavier nucleus, while releasing energy. Devices designed to harness this energy are known as fusion reactors. Research into fusion reactors began in the 1940s, but to date, no design has produced more fusion power output than the electrical power input.

-         Where does the Power Come From? - references

https://www.motorbiscuit.com/cost-to-charge-electric-vehicle-charging-station/?fbclid=IwAR2Vn_oOoUQxtIh4EipPHDyhHzdgCyvUz9_aviyytv6gzT4iC17HooxQM9w

 More about Power - references

https://www.motorbiscuit.com/how-to-turn-electric-vehicle-into-generator-for-home/

https://www.thoughtco.com/sources-of-power-production-2698916

https://www.worldbioenergy.org/uploads/201210%20WBA%20GBS%202020.pdf

https://www.soocial.com/bioenergy-statistics/

 Nuclear Fusion - referenxes

https://www.scienceabc.com/eyeopeners/why-arent-we-using-nuclear-fusion-to-generate-power-yet.html

https://www.vox.com/22801265/fusion-energy-electricity-power-climate-change-research-iter

  

Electric Vehicles

https://www.cars.com/electric-cars/

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-upside-down-logic-of-electric-suvs-vehicles-co2-emissions-ford-subsidies-climate-change-auto-sector-11658524738?mod=e2fb&fbclid=IwAR1ixfWhfKTcyusnVOgvEyx8aos6KtAebqX6xoM6EBdCzXEARPnGG36QLw0

  

Batteries – Materials

-        The materials in electric car batteries include elements such as lithium, cobalt, manganese, nickel, graphite, and other metals and materials. These raw materials are processed and individual battery cells are made. There is a cooling system and electrical power management system added to regulate the battery.

-         -        One of the biggest suppliers of raw cobalt is the Democratic Republic of Congo with around 60% of the world’s cobalt coming from here.

-         -        China dominates the Lithium-ion battery production as they produce about 65% of the world’s lithium-ion batteries as of February 2021.

-         -        A sodium-ion battery is being produced and many are very hopeful that it could replace the lithium-ion battery in electric cars.  Sodium-ion batteries are not the only new type of batteries that are currently being researched, but if a few different types of batteries can be produced that have similar results, powered in a similar way, and even recycled, then we may have a chance to never run out. If this is the case and we can properly spread out the use of these materials, we could have plenty of materials for years to come and in a perfect world maybe even never run out.

-         -        Right now, these batteries are not being recycled to their full potential and more research is being done to make the recycling of these batteries more viable but as of now this process is not refined and could cause some alarm if not handled correctly in the near future.

 Batteries - references:

https://gearandcylinder.com/what-materials-are-in-electric-car-batteries-here-are-the-facts/

https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/ev-batteries

https://www.cars.com/articles/your-guide-to-ev-batteries-premature-death-range-loss-and-preservation-446126/

 Ray Gruszecki

September 22, 2022