this post was submitted on 17 Jul 2023
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Fuck Cars

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[meme] Trains are 100000x easier to electrify and automate than cars, so why does everyone keep talking about electric and driverless cars? (lemmy.world)
submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I agree that cars are necessary in some countries and places. Why are you preaching to the converted?

That's why I am suggesting things like Biodiesel because I know cars aren't going away everywhere. I also know diesel trains aren't going anywhere for at least a decade, hence why I also suggest biofuels here too.

If you want a new car that's good for the environment, buy a second hand diesel then use it with biofuel. You can buy or make biodiesel yourself. Some engines can run straight vegetable oil too or can be converted to do so. This is handy because vegetable oil can be bought from any super market and many businesses throw away used oil that cane be reused for running a car.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

We are both preaching, thats what the comment section is. I am telling readers (not just you) that if we want a less car brain america we have a lot of work to do.

You are preaching to other readers (not just me) about why biodiesel > electric cars. If you were talking directly to me, I would say:

  • one does not simply replace the engine on a low mileage honda into a diesel. Sure, if I find myself having to choose between fossil fuels and biodiesel i will choose biodiesel but I ain't buying a car for a long while. I want to run my car to the ground first and maintain it instead of just buying a new car.
  • you personally haven't made a convincing argument about why electric cars are worse for the environment. This may be true now but may not be in the future. electrified trains still run on fossil fuels to from power generation (in america). Renewable and battery tech is improving. Personally I have been all in on buying a good electric car but I haven't found a good option yet. I have a hard time weighing the environmental cost of mining lithium over the environmental cost of burning biodiesel or wood, should you want to convert your car to run off wood gas.
  • a friend of mine had a biodiesel car in LA and would talk about how she would go around to restaurants to get used vegetable oil to run her car. Cool. Not really scalable but neat. I suppose there are a few more biodiesel stations around, that number likely needs to expand and production of biodiesel needs to be ramped up. Assuming the demand is there.

It would be easy to write me off as another carbrain, and maybe I am. My larger point is just that this shit is a lot more complicated than people think (for america at least). I didn't even mention the whole towns that support the coal / oil industries because they employ half the town. In america, conservationism is blocked by conservatives.