sycasey said:
tequila4kapp said:
dajo9 said:
Zippergate said:
dajo9 said:
Zippergate said:
dajo9 said:
That's great. California should continue to move right past people who whine that we can't do what needs to be done.
Now that California has enough solar to get through spring days completely on green energy, California is reducing solar incentives. They'll do the same with green trucks. California will achieve a green economy while the whiners are still saying we can't.
As if covering energy needs in the middle of a spring day means anything. Research the duck curve Yes, California is reducing solar incentives (a massive, regressive subsidy for the rich). Do you have any idea why? It isn't because we are anywhere close to being 100% renewable. The grid is more unstable than ever and electricity prices are rising double digits every single year. Thank goodness Newsom had the sense to keep open Diablo Canyon.
Covering a spring day with renewable energy is a huge step forward. No other state is doing that.
The duck curve is why the state is shifting towards incentivizing batteries more.
We need a 12+-hour solution. Li-ion batteries aren't that. What happens on a cloudy January day or scorching hot day in October? How many days/weeks of battery storage are we going to need for that? How much rock will someone in Chile or Argentina to acquire the lithium, copper, tin, etc to build those batteries? How many transformers will be needed to facilitate the charging of all these electrical vehicles? None of the pols who enact these policies have any idea what's involved. It's all wishcasting and child-like thinking.
We're fortunate in California that we have mild whether and abundant sun. But as fanciful as going all renewable is here, imagine thinking that a place like Minnesota can as well. People will literally freeze to death.
Imagine being stuck in the past with a "can't do" attitude and unaware of things like Minnesota being well on its way to 100% clean energy. We will find more sources of lithium and we will find ways to recycle lithium. We will build the infrastructure and have lots of jobs because of it. Minnesota already has 54% clean energy and is working towards 100% by 2040.
Good bye - we are leaving you behind.
The administration's billion dollar spending to produce a network of charging stations has produced less than 10. Sources = politico, cnn, Washington post. That's 2 years, with all @8 stations having been built in the last 6 months.
That is grotesque levels of wishful thinking, inefficiency and waste.
When this kind of thing happens it's almost always because a federal program is running into state and local regulations and it takes time to work around or through them.
Exactly. There is a labyrinth of state and local roadblocks as well as disinterest from many states. Fewer than half the states have even begun taking bids. Also, virtually none of the money has been spent, it's just been allocated.
[url=https://apnews.com/article/biden-ev-electric-vehicles-charging-stations-ohio-bdf7cc25e57a2ae8a0522aab434965fc][/url]
Recent article. Quote:
A state Department of Transportation program, DriveOhio, served as the charging station's organizational structure. A public-private partnership authority helped supply money needed for the project after the federal program contributed 80% of the estimated $500,000 to $750,000 cost, including buildout, operation and maintenance for five years.
"I actually don't think these are moving very slow. I think they're going really quickly given that they're tiny construction projects that we're deploying at a pretty significant scale," said Preeti Choudhary, DriveOhio's executive director.
"The states are moving at very different speeds," he said. "It might take a good 18 months on average for a lot of these stations to come online.''
Projects can be held up for months to years by delays with permitting, approvals, electrical upgrades and equipment.
About 1/3 of the states will have chargers up this year. Fortunately, chargers are relatively easy to build so once they figure out how to do it and get rolling, I imagine it will be easy to increase the pace at which they stand them up.
The fact that there has been a lag isn't that surprising, although obviously disappointing. The fact that states hostile to EVs and Biden are dragging their feet or not planning to build is also not surprising and sucks both for their residents and interstate travelers.
A common conservative complaint about government "waste" says "we spent x and got nothing" when the real answer is "we allocated x, spent very little of it and won't have anything for another few years" at which point the allocated funds will be put to use. The government loves to exaggerate the amount it has spent (so that congress people can brag about how much $$ they got for their communities). They also count things multiple times. In one bill we approve the sending of $5B of weapons to Ukraine from our stockpiles and then in the next bill we approve $5B to replenish. They count both as Ukraine aid so it looks like $10B but it's just $5B.
