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Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:
To spur the adoption of electric vehicles and ultimately help clean up the environment, Ireland may ban the sale of purely internal-combustion-powered cars. This prohibition could take effect by 2030.
According to RTE, Ireland's National Public Service Broadcaster, the new law is expected to be published early next year [meaning 2020]. It will be bundled into Climate Action Amendment Bill 2019, which will probably be further tinkered with by a range of government departments.
Over the next decade, leaders of Ireland want at least one-third of its vehicle fleet to be electrically operated. Furthermore, by the year 2050, the government is aiming to make the nation carbon-neutral, an impressive and ambitious goal. Naturally, the transportation sector is responsible for a large amount of pollution. In 2018, it reportedly accounted for more than 20 percent of Ireland's emissions, so any reductions here can make a big difference.
If all goes according to plan, some 936,000 electrified vehicles will be on Ireland's roads by 2030. Making things a little easier, this total includes both pure EVs as well as hybrids.
(Score: 2) by Zinho on Friday January 03 2020, @01:50PM (7 children)
So, are trains getting a pass because they're mostly diesel/electric hybrids already?
I don't believe that there are viable hybrid solutions yet for heavy trucks, let alone all-electric. There were a few press announcements regarding concept vehicles [duckduckgo.com] a couple of years back, but not much adoption so far. Heavy transport is going to have to step up in a big way to make that deadline.
Who knows, 10 years is a long time. It would be nice to see cleaner trucking become the norm.
"Space Exploration is not endless circles in low earth orbit." -Buzz Aldrin
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 03 2020, @02:17PM (4 children)
Thing is, trains are already pretty dang efficient*.
As with all things, you go after the worst offenders first.
*https://truecostblog.com/2010/05/27/fuel-efficiency-modes-of-transportation-ranked-by-mpg/
(Score: 2) by legont on Friday January 03 2020, @06:02PM (2 children)
I call it BS. If trains were more efficient, they would be cheaper than say buses.
Similarly, electricity is and will for a log time be more polluting than oil. The current plan is simply exporting pollution. By 2030 the importers will refuse to accept it and then we'll have the real crisis.
"Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by PartTimeZombie on Friday January 03 2020, @08:57PM
Buses, like all road transport get the massive subsidy from taxpayers because guess who pays for the roads?
In contrast railway companies build their own tracks.
(Score: 2) by mcgrew on Saturday January 04 2020, @03:19PM
Trains are run by electric motors powered by a diesel generator because internal combustion engines don't have enough torque to pull a train.
mcgrewbooks.com mcgrew.info nooze.org
(Score: 2) by Zinho on Saturday January 04 2020, @12:21AM
Did your link ignore the fact that dietary Calories are actually kilocalories? I think their math may be off...
"Space Exploration is not endless circles in low earth orbit." -Buzz Aldrin
(Score: 2) by Unixnut on Friday January 03 2020, @02:19PM
I believe the main problem is the extra weight of the batteries + motors in a hybrid is less efficient than just having an ICE.
For urban cars, where the majority of their life is stuck in traffic, the weight penalty makes sense, because you can run full electric with the engine off while sitting in a jam, reducing emissions. Engines are least efficient at idle (excepting Diesels here) so it is an emissions "easy win" with all those cars just idling every day.
However heavy trucks tend to do long steady miles at cruising speed. They don't slow down or stop unless they have to, so the weight penalty is not worth the benefits of being a hybrid.
The one place in trucking that has seen adoption of batteries rather than ICE is in the Auxiliary power unit (APU) which powers the cab/air con when the truck is parked with the main engine off. These used to be small diesel engines that can off the main tanks, but more and more are converting to battery APUs.
Trucking is all about efficiency, whoever can transport the most with the lowest costs (including fuel) makes the most money, so as a general rule they will only adopt a technology if it really improves their transport efficiency.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 03 2020, @05:45PM
You ever heard of trams?