Is smokeless tech really "smokeless" and humanity's ineffable savior?
Puff the smokeless dragon?
One early morning, I drove up to my work, and among the steaming exhaust cars stood out the one “smokeless” EV- a crimson Tesla. So I thought— “ ha, funny, I don’t accept that this “smokeless” tech class is our salvation”.
Whenever I am presented any significant topic, or important claim I try to see that claim in as many possible perspectives as I can. I mentally list as many advantages and disadvantages as I can. The list is sometimes never complete and extends over several months as I glean and gather information from all over the place like a bee searching for flowers for nectar in order to construe a better representation for a given claim.
Enter Tesla and other battery technologies which I call collectively “smokeless”. Exponents near and far, great(Think tanks) and small (Greta) incessantly lionize this battery solar tech. I don’t respect the new “smokeless” EV fad however, and also the “state-of-the-art” solar fad. I do appreciate the inventiveness of electrical and materials engineering and the software people however, but I am not here to talk about the engineers and the software developers who have participated in the development of such “smokeless” technologies.
Note: If you reference "smokeless” technologies in relation to EVs and other “green” technologies in your articles please be noble and give credit to Jack.
Have your wondered about the list of disadvantages of “smokeless” technologies. My list is ever expanding. Please note though that I am not against solar or lithium ion technologies outright. These technologies have their uses, but I think the uses are limited and will ultimately be short-lived. I am going to venture an opinion that by the year 2050 there will be no EVs, but, here is the catch or my protection clause: if the “smokeless” technologies are forced on the world, then it would only make the greater majority poorer, not wealthier.
So what are the advantages and the allure of a Tesla?
Ironically, “it looks good” is one reason people fall in love with smokeless Tes. It has sex appeal. It has the executive class aura. The greed takes over, and then we simply like to think that we are saving the planet by owning some EV. In the short-term, we are winning (like getting tax credits and saving on some gas), but it is going to become soon apparent that we are losing collectively and individually.
Truly smokeless tech, and carbon free? No. And here are the reasons why not: it takes the use of fossil fuels such as diesel, coal, and natural gas to first extract all the requisite elements of a battery from the Mother Earth. This is called the mining industry, and it uses a lot of diesel- A LOT.
It also takes diesel, gas, coal, hydro, and even nuclear power for the manufacture of the end product- the battery- which is ready to be sold and installed into your smokeless Tesla.
Lastly, it takes diesel, and gasoline to power the transportation networks- these are trains, planes, trucks, ships, and others who deliver manufactured batteries to Tesla’s manufacturing plants world wide. So we are really creating a lot of smoke here in the productions of a single battery, are we not?
GlobalJack~
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I hope you are wrong, but I understand that we all need a wary eye. Cheers!