Volkswagen under investigation over illegal software that masks pollution

[Ryeman]

At what point do people in their "clean" electric cars realise they are just passing their immediate emissions to some big arse coal fired powerstation? Don't get me wrong I'm all for max torque at 1 rpm, but emission free...well...

The brown coal fired generator owners in the Latrobe Valley wish there was increasing demand instead of the replacement by the ever expanding solar infrastructure, plus wind of course.
The reduced profitability has probably delayed the conversion to natural gas which surely would have been well on the way by now I would have thought.
In any case the pollution is downwind (most times) from the major cities .....I wouldn't be a coal investor ......Peabody Energy (the world's largest private coal supplier) has filed for bankruptcy.
Oddly enough, selling our high quality coal to India would REDUCE their CO2 emissions.

[Greg Roles]

So long as the smog goes downwind eh mate?

https://youtu.be/0tNhw0Rio9s

[Ryeman]

So long as the smog goes downwind eh mate?

https://youtu.be/0tNhw0Rio9s

It's a problem to a certain extent in summer with E-SE winds but it's deflected by The Dandenongs so it end up crossing the Bay and by then its dissipated anyway.
The Hunter would have more of a problem I would think.

[Greg Roles]

Back on topic, took a full read of my Yeti ECU tonight, and it's due for a service, so will ask if they can apply the software fix asap.
Then I can read it again and try and work out exactly what the software fix has changed.
( Then I can change it all anyway and tune it at last! )

[stefcio007]

A lot of people talk about how the electricity you get is still "dirty".
Tesla is on the right track with their PowerWall idea and I think it will catch on quickly.
Electricity companies need to invest in solar and wind which is easier to supply than coal, in turn it should be cheaper too and reduce how much they rely on coal. Make the electricity the same price or cheaper and still turn a nice profit due to lower operating costs.
In the US, solar power generation is nearly becoming on par with coal power generation.


Although, if the technology for storing your own solar power matures faster, people will rely less and less on the grid and be able to power their homes on solar. Maybe in the future charge their cars overnight too.

Electricity companies that didn't adapt fast enough will disappear as there won't be enough subscribers once everybody starts to move off the grid.

When the GM Volt came out lithium ion batteries were around $600 per kwh. Now they are saying (not just GM) that they have been able to reduce costs to $100 per kwh. Those same batteries can be used for... you guessed it, storing power at home.


Tesla is building lots of their SuperChargers around the country. The plug is an open standard. Any car manufacturer can use it on their cars. Why not? You don't need to build your own SuperCharger network. Think of mobile phones from 10 years ago, everyone had their own plug. Now everybody uses micro-USB everyone has a micro-USB cable that you can charge your phone with if you forget yours. Same thing will happen with electric cars.

Once the plug becomes ubiquitous, Tesla can sell the electricity from the SuperCharger units to charge cars of any make. Think of it like a petrol station. Elon Musk is a smart man.


Diesel won't be going away soon since trucks use it and as far as I know there is not much electric truck development going on at the moment, that could change. If everyone uses less petrol, then guess what, next supply industry to start losing profits and go under.


Exciting times ahead.

[ian]

Thats like saying you favour Wind Turbines ,The amount of C02 used to build just one turbine will never be recovered in its life time
and it costs 3 time the amout to produce each KW

[team_v]

Thats like saying you favour Wind Turbines ,The amount of C02 used to build just one turbine will never be recovered in its life time
and it costs 3 time the amout to produce each KW

Bingo!

Reliability (and the required redundency) is also a massive issue which renewables just cannot overcome without significant cost increases.

The reality is that your options for a cheap/reliable electricity generation network are fossil fuels or nuclear.

[Ryeman]

I guess all those massive wind farms in the North Sea/English Channel off Norfolk/Suffolk UK are a failure in that case.

[brad]

I guess all those massive wind farms in the North Sea/English Channel off Norfolk/Suffolk UK are a failure in that case.

They look good but the cost of production generally means they are only used for peak load supply when the price is high.

The cost of maintenance & decommissioning is huge. It won't suprise me if the "big power companies" sell their assets to a shelf company about 5 years before the turbines are stuffed and when decommissioning is required, the little company goes broke.

It's a bit like an asset I deal with that supplies water to a hydro-electric power station. The asset costs a bomb to maintain but we can't offload it to the HEPS. We also can't discontinue supply, so we (the tax payer) are stuck with it.

Another HEPS that was on our property was handed back to us by "big electricity supplier" a few years back complete with asbestos, PCBs and lead paint. They gave us a declaration that said the passenger lift was safe to use. We got our own lift people to check it. $30k in compliance repairs and an additional $60k in "recommended safety repairs".

Plus there's the ocean swell generator that is rusting off Wollongong. Commissioned 2006, decommissioned and left to rot 2009. The owners went into receivership in 2014. Maybe it comes out this year at taxpayer expense.

[Amalgam]

Germans Investigating Whether Ex-VW CEO Hid Diesel Cheat From The Public

The Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht—gesundheit!—or BaFin for short is Germany’s federal financial supervisory authority. Prosecutors are now investigating Winterkorn’s role in keeping Volkswagen’s diesel cheat from the public at BaFin’s request, according to a report from The Verge.

Documents revealed that Winterkorn knew of the software cheat that forced diesel vehicles to behave differently in emissions tests over a year before the United States Environmental Protection Agency made the cheat public. One other ex-Volkswagen executive was also named in the investigation, per The Verge, but that name has not been disclosed.

[ian]

Global warming is the biggest con since the bible. Al Gore made. billions out of the gullibility Of people and governments. c02. Is actuall a plant food. And production has actually increased But 97% of all C02 occurs naturally Man is only responsible for just. 3%
Australia only 1.5% of that 3%. You do the maths ,
We can reduce our emissions to zero but it won't have no effect. Unless every county. At the same time agrees to reduce there own.

[Ryeman]

If it's "a con" why "reduce our emissions to zero"......"won't have NO effect" .....which means SOME effect, please quantify.
Can you provide the link to support your 'Bolt' (nominate your own shockjock) version of reality because there are an awful lot of educated farmers who accept the science just like the EU China the USA .....in fact, outside of a small angry rump, there aren't too many prepared to follow your sense of conviction.
Jesse Ventura is needed here I suspect.

[ian]

Of cause you would know. That back in 1970. President. Nixon declared. That if emissions were not reduced. New York. Would be under water by. 10 ft by The year. 2000. What happened. Ryeman Nothing. It's like the end of the polar bears. This year there was a great increase in their numbers. The Antartic has the most ice in 30 years.
Yes don't let a few facts get in the way of a bad argument.

[feenix74]

I guess Diesel-gate could be worse, at least it has not been implicated in killing a Trekkie . . . yet

[stefcio007]

So let's say global warming or climate change is a con. Shouldn't we still be concerned about pollution where we live just on the health risks alone? Whether or not it has an effect on the global environment as a whole. I mean, surely that's at least one of the reasons we have emissions standards car manufacturers have to follow.