Ok but so is everything else from everywhere else.
Fuck China, but also we don’t get to offload the entire manufacturing, procurement and shipping of the whole world’s economy to them and then pretend they’re to blame for the pollution
Production doesn’t happen without consumption.
Clean production doesn’t happen without costs.
Consumption doesn’t happen if costs are too high.
This is the trap we are now stuck in…nobody wants to pay premium prices for cleaner alternatives.
And why should they? A brief dopamine hit before you realize that you paid extra for what is likely, otherwise, a sub-quality product?
The only way is to actually bake the cost of emissions into the cost of the product, making dirtier products roughly equal (or more expensive) than their clean competition.
That means gas should be much more than $5/gal, btw. It’s estimated it costs between $0.50 and $1.90 to extract a kilogram of carbon from the atmosphere. One gallon of gasoline results in a out 9kg of tailpipe emissions. Gas should be at least 3x as expensive as it is now, just to cover cleaning up after the emissions from burning it alone (not even considering extraction, transport, refinement, industrial accidents…), probably more to offset the cost of dyed diesel and energy conversion programs. A lot of colder states heat with that and it’s already approaching $6/gal in the northeast.
You think people are upset about costs now…imagine if we actually did something.
Solar is already cost competitive with fossil fuels and in many cases beats it as is.
I know, but still a big upfront cost, and usually requires significant credit (or cash…). Not to mention the requirement of having a house to put it on, which automatically disqualifies most people.
I’m considering it myself…I honestly am not looking forward to heating my house with $6+/gal oil.
But, first I need a new roof and a service upgrade. That’s trenched, through my driveway.
So, tens of thousands of dollars in investment before I can put solar on, or even handle heat pumps. Then there’s the actual solar and heat pumps themselves.
Worth it in the long run, sure, it’ll pay itself off…but that’s a hard pill to swallow man. I make pretty good money (enough to disqualify for some of the better loans and financing), but still can’t understand how the fuck I’d afford it upfront…let alone people who are actually eligible for it.
It’s on my agenda for this week to figure out, though.
Also, somewhat ironically, despite the headline here…China is investing heavily into solar and clean energy. Meanwhile America is digging its heels into the quicksand of oil.
Perhaos you’ve already considered it, but if you have space a ground-mounted solar array would mean you can skip the roof renovation.
I’m currently facing a similar decision. I’m thinking of having the panels on the ground even if it means moving them when I have a roof ready.
Hadn’t really considered it…I’ve got a huge (proportionally) salt-box style roof facing SSE with almost no tree cover. Really the optimal roof for solar.
And I’m gonna need a new roof regardless. No sense taking up limited front yard space (especially if net-metering could go away).
Sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) is a synthetic chemical that plays a critical role as an electrical insulator in high-voltage equipment. The gas is odorless, invisible, non-toxic and non-flammable. But it is also a climate killer, 24,300 times more effective at warming the planet than carbon dioxide on a pound-for-pound basis. Once released, sulfur hexafluoride remains in the atmosphere for 1,000 years.
Emissions come primarily from the electric power sector, where the gas is used in circuit breakers and other high-voltage equipment to prevent electricity from arcing. Nearly indestructible, SF6 serves as a critical backstop for any modern electric grid, ensuring that electricity flows only when and where it is needed. However, when electrical equipment in China reaches the end of its useful life, much of the gas is likely vented into the atmosphere.
“much of the gas is likely vented into the atmosphere.” This was very very vague… So they might actually deal with it the proper safe way… Have you asked them about what protocol they actually use?
