By Paul Homewood
From Net Zero Watch
In World Bank event in April, former chief economist Lord Nicholas Stern has called for a global ban on the production and sale of internal combustion engine vehicles. At COP26, the alliance of multilateral development banks sign a joint statement announced their intention to ‘increase private equity’ to combat climate change. Activists were furious when they ignored the divestment from fossil fuel funding. Both the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank face industry pressure Stop investing in internal combustion engine vehicles to 2025. Sixty-eight percent World Bank transport investments related to internal combustion engines. But perhaps the World Bank has not yet authorized acceleration for electric vehicles because it recognizes the barriers that make the steering wheel inaccessible for working families.
The UK government has confirmed that internal combustion engine vehicles will be banned from manufacture, import and sale to 2030. But one global semiconductor shortage created a projection nine percent drop in electric vehicle sales in the UK. Motorcyclists are simulated to save £700 on fuel to switch to EV. However, road prices and tolls was proposed to replace Treasury revenue as the fuel tax became obsolete. As a result, the gap between gasoline and the cost of electric vehicles could narrow. The cost of electricity could even eclipse fuel prices, if renewable energy generating electricity fail.
There are also infrastructure obstacles to overcome. The ban will require 400,000 charging points installed across the UK by 2030, up from a single 35,000 applied last year. Many rural areas are still ‘charging black spots’, inaccessible to electric vehicles over long distances. Annual installations must increase tenfold to meet the Department of Transport’s promise that ‘drivers will never be more than thirty miles from a fast charging station’.
Even if the charger targets are met, the streets could be lined with charging cars up to twelve hours at a time. This problem will be exacerbated in cities. ‘Hire generations‘faced with a rise in housing prices 14.3 percent; fastest in seventeen years. Their reliance on packing and stacking in high-rise apartments means a third and growing population do not have access to private off-street parking. 24.6 percent of vehicles parked on the street overnight. A report released by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) released that electric car ownership will increase traffic congestion 11 percent by 2050. Combined with a dearth of charging stations, congestion can become chronic – with motorists jostling each other to find parking and tolls, and toll stops delaying delivery times. goods for different courier services. This constitutes a pretty big setback from a convenient five-minute stop at your local gas station.
All of this assumes that the cars themselves can be manufactured to meet demand. Making electric cars requires six times mineral like combustion engine car: need thirty times that of lithium, nickel and other metals currently in circulation. The UK must expand its battery production capacity by ninety times the current amount to keep speed. But without abundant domestic resources, Britain remains highly dependent on our geostrategic rivals for raw materials used in the production of electric vehicles and batteries.
British import more than 2200 tons of lithium each year. Recent sanctions against Russia have affected top British imports: 12 billion dollars annually metal imports. Nickel prices fall short-term, with prices rising 250 percent arrive over $100,000 a ton. Both metals are instrumental in the production of EV batteries.
Meanwhile, China controls eighty percent global annual battery production capacity, sixty percent global graphite production, sixty-five percent refined nickel, and eighty percent cobalt refining. This is due to China Belt & Road Initiative annexed more than a third global precious metals deposits: included forty rare ore mines in Zimbabwethe ‘White gold‘of lithium in the Argentine salt flats, and 1 trillion dollars In lithium reserves In afghanistan.
There is ample evidence that the only way out of our rare metal shortage is My asteroid in space. Elon Musk’s rocket measuring contest against Jeff Bezos and Richard Branston could be an interstellar gold rush The first trillionaire on earth. But until these mad scientists invent a safe passage to the stars, the rest of us will continue to drive gasoline-powered cars.
But instead of giving up on impossible commitments to eliminate traffic emissions within the next eight years ecological dictators use these shortfalls as an excuse to limit energy consumption and abolition of car ownership.
Aside from the usual anti-biker actions, some have advocated ride-sharing apps as a reason to ‘give up owning a car‘. These rental-only alternatives have the downside of making your transportation dependent on the kindness of strangers. Ride sharing is a convenient addition to the transportation economy. However, if car ownership is wholesale relocation by public transport and car rentals, there are serious concerns about civil liberties. Say the wrong thing about the environment and government, or an increasing number of companies through environmental credit score, can de-adhesive from anything but walking. Consumer choice should be a core principle of free societies – and that includes your right to buy and drive a gas car.
Electric vehicles also leave homeowners vulnerable to arbitrary power outages.Green Party Baron Natalie Bennett suggested that electric cars could be used as backup generators in driveways, should renewables fail to meet consumer demand. National grid and octopus energy is piloting a policy that drains EV batteries during power generation droughts. Even if all UK cars become electric overnight and full storage capacity can be returned to the grid without loss, it will still be in the deepest energy deficit yet. by eighty-seven percent. This precedent is not only unrealistic: it means that the state can drain your EV’s battery and enforce a move lock any time you want. If they can’t confiscate your car, the government can Remotely deactivate your home charging point anytime they like.
In theory, electric cars are a great idea. But those who want everyone to drive electric cars won’t get anywhere quickly by banning combustion engines – all they’ll get is pricing all but a few perks in total auto ownership. It would be political suicide; My apolitical plumber recently said to me, ‘I’ve never been to a protest, but if they try to take my car, you’ll find me on the street.’ If the World Bank and the UK government pass a plan to ban internal combustion engines, they will most likely have riots. They must drop their plan to ban petrol cars, or risk dire consequences.
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