The Sustainable Technology Thread

[NICE MOBIUS]

So there I was thinking that Electric cars were a lock for a future sustainable transport solution, and these guys come along:

Toyota Mirai: World’s first mass-produced hydrogen-powered car has a range of 300 miles - and it's on its way



Loving the air intakes!

Yours for £56k

Shame we'll only have one refuelling station in the whole country for it...

So, who'll win, Hydrogen or Electric?

[Egbert]

56K is very expensive but the price could be expected to come down over time as the technology is better mastered.

Only one refuelling station ...... so far. The article says more are planned.

There seems some reason for cautious optimism that these hydrogen cars may catch on.

[NICE MOBIUS]

Battle of zero-emissions cars: Hydrogen or electric?

Maybe a tech 'war' between the two will kickstart things for the eventual winner?

[NICE MOBIUS]

56K is very expensive but the price could be expected to come down over time as the technology is better mastered.

Only one refuelling station ...... so far. The article says more are planned.

There seems some reason for cautious optimism that these hydrogen cars may catch on.

15 in a country of 65 million

[Bereta_Eder]

http://greece.greekreporter.com/2014/10/25/greek-students-from-patras-build-electric-car/

admitedly the toyota one looks much better

[OneFootInTheGrave]

I personally prefer electric, but either option is better then what we have today.

[NICE MOBIUS]

Me too. If my money were on a fuel system, it would be electric.

[jsorense]

Electric does have the advantage of an extensive infrastructure already in place. What I don't know for certain are the environmental costs of the necessary batteries.
BTW, I own a Prius and 16 solar panels.

[NICE MOBIUS]

To me hydrogen fuel cells represent an unnecessary extra step, with unnecessary infrastructure, complications etc...

[Egbert]

15 in a country of 65 million

There was a time when that same great nation had 15 motor vehicles.

There was a time when that same great nation had 15 telephones.

There was a time when that same great nation, and the entire world, had 1 computer.

[FlameFlash]

I personally prefer electric, but either option is better then what we have today.

Agreed

[Lorizael]

I'm still hoping for atomic cars. Atomic calculators, too. Everything should be atomic! Why'd that word lose out to nucular?

[The Mad Monk]

Hi Lori!

I like electric -- I've always wanted a coal fueled car!

[Sava]

awesome

do i have to buy all my own hydrogen distribution infrastructure too?

or is that included in the price?

[Dry]

I personally prefer electric, but either option is better then what we have today.

It is not so clear as you might think.

First, the extraction of elements needed for batteries are very expensive in terms of ecological impact (http://www.kitco.com/ind/Albrecht/20...s-Lithium.html).
Second, the way the electricity is produced is important.

According to the info I found recently, electric cars in Germany - where 52% of electricity is from fossil fuel plants (43% from coal) and only 17% from nuke - have a heavier CO2 print than conventional cars.
On the other hand, in France, where 70%+ of the electricity is from nuclear plant and only 8% from fossil fuel (http://jeunes.edf.com/article/le-nucleaire-en-france,72), electric cars are greener than conventional cars, but by a small margin.

So basically, electric cars are dirty for the planet but in a different way than atmospheric cars. Very dirty impact in extraction of lithium, nickel, ..., dirty impact for producing and recycling the batteries, and relative impact depending on how the electricity is produced.

As it is for today, electric cars could be cleaner than conventional cars but by a small margin and only if you are ok with nuclear power.
We still need more advanced technology to make them cleaner by a large margin.