Renewable Energy’s Biggest Challenge – Daniel Yergin

41 Comments

  1. 2-1/2 times more copper?
    However electric vehicles last several times longer than fossil fuel cars and they can be powered by renewables and even if the electricity comes from a coal-fired plant, that plant is run as much higher efficiency and thus fossil fuel vehicles for still emit more CO2.

    Scientia Habet Non Domus,
    (Knowledge Has No Home)

    antiguajohn

  2. The amount of time it's going to switch over to electric vehicles and the devastating consequences to the environment Not to mention the profound effect it will have on human rights ( Deforestation and soil erosion, Water and air pollution, Increased greenhouse gas emissions, and Human rights abuses) make this agenda dubious at best. We need to start looking for solutions that don't result in such cataclysmic consequences and a serious reconsideration of viable economic models that do not result in the loss of human rights and individual freedoms yet do not encourage spoiliation of natural resources in the name of greed should be primary considerations. I'm not promoting socialist or communist governmental models, but rather any shift in perspective in the way we as a species view our place in the world.

  3. I wonder how much less copper there would be in an EV, if every single piece of the vehicle did not have electronics in it? If it had crank windows that don't require motors, or manual locks and latches that don't require actuators, if it had a physical key that does not require transmitters and receivers? If it had no more airbags required than a bicycle? If the seats didn't have motors and sensors in them? If the vehicle didn't have network connectivity and navigation was an aftermarket option that only required a positive and negative wire?

  4. Once you convert to electric, what are you going to do when they double or triple the cost of electricity? Are you going to shop around?

    Costco has 6 lanes with 20+ cars deep to save a $0.05/gallon.

    Can Costco do the same for electricity?

  5. The daily commutes will decrease as people work from home or just don’t work a job because of automation. Walking, local communities, trains, trolleys, busses, biking, and cars for roadtrips 🙂

  6. I am not the only person has been saying that for years. Just because, I don't have millions to throw away in lobbying the point is ignored.

    EVs are NOT about energy sustainability. It is about control or energy security. In China case it is explicitly & always been strategic security. For the USA it makes absolutely no sense.

    We could domestically produce our own energy very easily. If the concern was "sustainability" then Nuclear Fission (Nuclear Fusion) would make way more sense. Perfecting a working Fission-Fusion powerplant would eventually eliminate the US need for oil in energy production. Furthermore is way more scalable than "Photovoltaics".

  7. Stopping private transportation altogether and bringing communities into a smaller space is a better idea than trying to fix something that was always broken. Humans are pack animals, we're meant to live together! Separating yourself from the pack and living in a cottage or ranch instead of an apartment community is dangerous. Commute 5 minutes, not 30.

  8. Yes, China is heavily reliant on imports, food, oil, and metals, including copper.

    Extrapolating the time to get American mines up and running to the time it takes the rest of the world to do the same is nonsense.

  9. I assume that the technology will improve and efforts will be made to make it profitable. The change will be difficult for some and a huge opportunity for others.

  10. I hate to comment because the OP makes money on comments. But putting out false information just to get comments is wrong. Just because cars use 2x the copper doesn't mean total copper increases by 2x. Also, if cars use 48v like Tesla did on Cybertruck and plans to do on future vehicles copper will decrease to 1/4 so the net would still decrease by 1/2 not increase by 2x.
    Also, with autonomy (in 5yrs) instead of everyone owning a car and using it 5% of the time only 50% will own cars with the remaining cars used 50% of the time all while lowering cost per mile to 40c/mi. This while making it safer, less stressful, and being able to be productive during your commute.

  11. This guy is simply wrong. Price is the only way the energy transtion is going to happen. Policies will do nothing when faced with the power of the consumer.

  12. You gotta mine an asteroid or some shit. Go on Elon, mine an asteroid. You got rockets and shit. Go get the trillions of dollars of metals that asteroids have. We’re sucking the planet dry of everything it has.

  13. This guy is starting from the assumption that all behicles will continue to use 12V copper wiring — Tesla is moving to 48V i.e. much less copper required because the voltage is higher. So annoying to see supremely smug predictions like there's nothing wrong with the prediction model 🙄

  14. They will ban the car ownership. Only shared services allowed. So instead of making 90mil cars per year, the production will be cut to 10-20mil.
    1984 dystopia in the making.
    You'll own nothing and be happy.
    🙁

  15. I share this but don't want to encourage misinformation. For example, while cobalt mining in some places is exploiting children and ofher labor towards danger, it doesn't mean ICE cars don't cause similar issues. They require lots of metals and mining too. I am recommending that you also get a insight into copperining locally where exploitation can work over decades on people and the land while in the near term it slightly provides some income. Go look up "We Went to America's Biggest Copper Mine: The Corruption Will Shock You" by More Perfect Union . It is a reoeated tale but isn't exclusive to electric cars. We have to move forward with transparency it seems too.

    I'm also loving the many ideas shared about mass tansit and uniting our neighborhoods that have been lost in place like the United States because you have to be able to drive in order to survive from a home to a business without humanitarian connection. It may have helped a little with Covid nonetheless.

  16. Elon will start thinking from first principles and ask questions like Why does it take 29 years etc and innovate out of the problem. Result will be doubling of copper supply in the near future. Problem solved

  17. This is not the way to look at it. You're assuming that you will have the same number of cars. Most cars are doing nothing all day. Get rid of 90% of the cars, put AI in, and you've got Uber robotaxis.

  18. all the activity has been in re-opening old mines now that the price is where it needs to be, either the that was left out of the study they did or the author of this clip omitted it.

  19. Windmills on sticks and solar do not even pay for themselves and no one would be putting these ecological disasters in without taxpayer subsidies. The production of these inefficient systems require the input of more petroleum and rare materials than conventional systems. Huge areas are being destroyed to put this crap in that stilll has to have conventional back up.