EDITOR'S CHOICE

An E-Bike Is Not An Expensive Bike. It's A Cheap Car

17 Oct 2023 | Synopsis

"...the appeal of e-bikes, especially among people who haven’t ridden a bike in decades, may help change cities' car-centric ways..As cities build protected bike lanes, research shows, more people...are likely to ride, especially women and low-income residents, increasing the demand for cities that serve people using two wheels, not just four.

RMI...estimates if even just a quarter of vehicle trips in the 10 most populous U.S. cities were on e-bikes, users would save a combined $91 million every month on fuel and vehicle maintenance."

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800,000 Tons of Radioactive Oil and Gas Waste From Pennsylvania Unaccounted For

17 Oct 2023 | Synopsis

"A new study suggests that poor recordkeeping on hazardous waste disposal points to potential for bigger problems."

"Disposal of this waste is supposed to be carefully tracked...Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh and Duquesne University...discovered significant problems with the records meant to track this waste...waste often contains toxic chemicals and carcinogens, including high levels of heavy metals like arsenic, polyaromatic

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Reality Bites: Why Wind, Solar, And Electric Car Advocates Must Also Love Fossil Fuels

17 Oct 2023 | Synopsis

"As I see it, coal, oil, and natural gas are so essential that investing in them is the epitome of 'sustainability' because these fuels 'sustain'our privileged way of life and our $25 trillion economy.

"Inherent in the manufacturing and chemical industries, you increase the cost of oil gas and you increase the cost of over 6,000 everyday products...the greatest Public Relations firm for coal, oil, and gas is…human activity itself..."

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Why Biden's Multibillion-Dollar Bet On Hydrogen Energy Is Such A Big Deal

17 Oct 2023 | Synopsis

"Clean hydrogen can be a lot dirtier than it seems, especially when the fossil fuel industry gets involved"

"Biden administration envisions these hubs to be sprawling clusters of pipelines and facilities across hundreds of miles, and the Department of Energy is spending $7 billion to build them...administration hopes these projects attract another $40 billion in private investment...problem is how to scale hydrogen without worsening climate pollution or cannibalizing existing clean power on the grid."

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Advanced Clean Cars II Regulations Projected to Yield $178 Billion in Benefits for Illinois

16 Oct 2023 | Synopsis

"The resulting cumulative public health benefits for all scenarios between 2027 and 2050 include 416 to 450 fewer premature deaths, 420 to 456 fewer hospital visits, and 246,263 to 266,490 fewer minor cases of illness. The value of these public health benefits totals between $5.5 billion and $5.9 billion [under Advanced Clean Cars II (ACC II) standard]..he average light-duty ZEV in Illinois will save its owner approximately $19,000 in lifetime costs compared to a conventional vehicle."

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Researchers Develop Game-Changing EV Battery Material That Can Reduce Charging Times Yo Just 6 Minutes

16 Oct 2023 | Synopsis

South Korea's Pohang University of Science and Technologys claims a "breakthrough involves replacing the typical graphite anode with a manganese ferrite one, which was found to store one-and-a-half more lithium ions than the researchers expected

"The tech could eliminate the need to park your EV for lengthy periods of time as it charges, bringing the power-up time closer to the typical gas station stop."

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World's First Off-Road Solar SUV Just Drove Across Morocco Powered Only By The Sun

16 Oct 2023 | Synopsis

"..world's first off-road solar-powered vehicle...could help connect remote areas 'where roads are less developed and energy grids are not as reliable...'

"The road-legal car has a top speed of 145 kilometers (90 miles) per hour. On a sunny day, its battery range is around 710 kilometers (441 miles) on roads, and around 550 kilometers (342 miles) off-road...TUE's automotive innovation lab has been experimenting with solar-powered vehicles for over a decade..."

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Electrify America Explains Cause Of Those Vexing EV Charging Problems

16 Oct 2023 | Synopsis

"The most persistent and pesky problem is chargers that don't work - either being completely inoperable or not delivering the charge fast enough...It's widely believed that a lack of technicians is the root cause...But it's usually a component problem...EA is now on its fourth generation of chargers and the older chargers...don't hold up under heavy user loads...Getting the necessary parts is both the challenge as well as the cause of issues"

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Many Climate 'Solutions' Are Dead Ends Or Niches & Should Be Ignored

16 Oct 2023 | Synopsis

"Non-solutions and even major problems are being pitched hard as climate wins. Nuclear energy, carbon capture, hydrogen for energy and synthetic fuels should be ignored...

"...Bent Flyvbjerg's data set of over 16,000 projects greater than a billion dollars in cost shows, nuclear energy is close to the worst type for cost and schedule overruns...Hydrogen for energy is another dead end.

"The climate crisis and the opportunity are both too great to waste time on clearly poor solutions."

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Climate Change Is Still The Top Issue In The 2024 Election

15 Oct 2023 | Synopsis

"Global warming is about science, not beliefs or politics. The realization we must do something is not a religion or a political party. It's a rational response to an existential threat...

"Americans supported fossil fuel production and consumption with direct and indirect subsidies totaling $757 billion last year, far more than the IRA's support for clean and unlimited energy...Put another way, every man, woman and child in America paid nearly $2,230 in 2022 to help the fossil energy industry sell products that ultimately destroy homes, lives, lungs, ecosystems, biological diversity, and quality of life."

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The Equitable Commute Project Hosted NYC Leaders & Delivery Workers to Celebrate E-Bike Safety Legislation

15 Oct 2023 | Synopsis

"Under the SAFE Program, NYC-based delivery workers can apply to trade-in their non-compliant e-bike or moped in exchange for heavily discounted pricing on UL-2849 certified e-bikes with two batteries...the city has between 50,000 and 75,000 delivery workers...A low-cost,12-month loan is also available to delivery workers...through Sept. 14 of this year, cops have seized 8,607 mopeds, more than double the 4,085 seized during the same period last"

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How China's EV Boom Caught Western Car Companies Asleep at the Wheel

15 Oct 2023 | Synopsis

"Auto executives in Europe, America, and Japan 'didn’t believe China's car companies could grow so fast...With as many as 300 companies manufacturing EVs in China, the competition is intense, but one homegrown brand is much, much bigger than the rest. Steered by a billionaire CEO, BYD may well soon eclipse Tesla in both tech savvy and sales

"In short, Chinese companies are threatening the 100-year hegemony of [GM], Ford, Volkswagen..."

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