This week’s Mediahuis/INM Irish regional newspapers’ column.
I bought a second hand car just over two years ago.
When I bought it I had toyed with buying an EV or electric vehicle. With so few kilometres covered since, I suppose it was wise not to have bought an EV.
Suddenly EVs are appearing everywhere. It’s impossible to go anywhere without seeing them. The environmentalists are having their say and I’m all for doing what we can to save our planet. In recent days I’ve been scratching my head and asking myself some questions about our rush to electric cars.
At the time of writing this column, Wednesday morning, May 17 our wind generation supplied 78 megawatts for a system that demanded 4,801 megawatts. The majority of the power supplied to the State that day was generated from fossil fuels, which means EVs were really being powered by dirty fossil fuels.
What about the batteries that EVs are using? What’s their life span and where are we getting the lithium to make the batteries? EVs don’t pollute, and that’s a big plus.
I ask these questions because on a recent visit to Germany I was struck with how few EVs I saw on the streets and roads in Nuremberg and Regensburg.
Indeed, my two companions also noted the scarcity of EVs while we were there. Of course, there is nothing scientific about our observance, just anecdotal evidence.
In recent days I have learned that the National Transport Authority (NTA) is in the process of purchasing all-electric buses. The first hybrid bus was delivered to Dublin Bus in 2019. Today the company operates well over 100 such vehicles.
Prior to the purchase of the hybrids all Dublin Bus vehicles were fitted with Volvo engines, but for the hybrid vehicles they moved away from Volvo. Why did they make such a significant move? And now with the purchase of all-electric vehicles what was the reasoning behind buying the hybrid buses? I keep thinking that there is no real joined-up thinking when it comes to our move from fossil fuels to renewables.
It involves gigantic planning and design and one must ask are we up for it?
Stand at a busy road junction any day and observe the number of SUVs pass with just a driver occupant in the vehicle.
There have never been as many planes landing and taking off at our airports, all using fossil fuels. Over a summer bank holiday weekend approximately 400,000 use Dublin Airport. It is unbelievable there is not a direct rail link to the airport.
And then there’s our extraordinary ability of wasting so much. We create 14 million tonnes of waste every year.
Every individual in the State wastes almost 50kg of food annually. Our yearly bill for food waste runs at €1.29 billion.
I have noticed no decrease in plastic wrapping in the shops where I buy my food. Only last week, storing away my shopping, I counted 12 plastic packages. Why are the shops so slow to move away from plastic?
And then there’s the war in Ukraine. What must that be doing to our environment?
How do we go about protecting planet earth?
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