‘Great news’: EU hails discovery of massive phosphate rock deposit in Norway. Enough to satisfy world demand for fertili

[BridgeConsoleMasher]

Reliance on non-renewable resources isn't an undisciplined subject in economic study.

Also, more importantly, Norway is observably of the most qualified nations for this to happen.

[McAvoy]

The world needs to start getting used to having central power stations that charge their vehicles as opposed to filling it with fuel. Fossil fuels will eventually run out and alternatives will be too hard and expensive to refine/mine to be useful for the general population.

All of those arguments about how Tesla batteries when they go bad, they can't recycle them, costs alot to replace, the price per mile isnt that much different (last time I checked, 1/2 the price of a gasoline engine), mining for the batteries, battery charge times etc. All of this can be compared to around 1900 or earlier where autos were on reliable, needed fuel which was still not easily available, fragile, unrefined etc.

So even finding something like this would still be a great help short term for that eventual change to EVs. Either this or horses.

[Madner Kami]

All of this can be compared to around 1900 or earlier where autos were on reliable, needed fuel which was still not easily available, fragile, unrefined etc.

I presume you meant to write unreliable? Neither that, nor the assessment of the scarcity of gasoline is correct. Cars were very reliable by that time already (more reliable, cheaper and practical than horses already) and gasoline was easily available. In fact, easier available than ethanol (and cheaper), which you could already get practically everywhere. Cars had been around for more than 20 years by the turn of the millenium and the internal combustion engines of the Otto Engine-type had been around for nearly 40 years. The famed Model T hits the road in 1908 as well...

[Frustration]

If people were truly interested in helping prevent ecological collapse, they'd be riding bikes more. But in reality, they want to retain comfort and convenience more.

[McAvoy]

All of this can be compared to around 1900 or earlier where autos were on reliable, needed fuel which was still not easily available, fragile, unrefined etc.

I presume you meant to write unreliable? Neither that, nor the assessment of the scarcity of gasoline is correct. Cars were very reliable by that time already (more reliable, cheaper and practical than horses already) and gasoline was easily available. In fact, easier available than ethanol (and cheaper), which you could already get practically everywhere. Cars had been around for more than 20 years by the turn of the millenium and the internal combustion engines of the Otto Engine-type had been around for nearly 40 years. The famed Model T hits the road in 1908 as well...

Nope I meant unreliable. Yes they have been around for awhile and yes people and companies have been tinkering around with them. Yes they are more reliable (naturally) than previous models.

They still struggled with unpaved roads, lack of power for steeper inclines of terrain, wheels were prone to break due to uneven roads of thd time as well as the design of the wheel. The engines were not refined yet so you get oil leakage into the fuel, loss of power, engine detonations (not what you think), engine flooding, engine starvation, all due to the machining of the time.

Which makes them unreliable. The technology for cars was there, but still unrefined. Which is my point about EVs.

[Fuzzy Necromancer]

If people were truly interested in helping prevent ecological collapse, they'd be riding bikes more. But in reality, they want to retain comfort and convenience more.

Bicycles are plenty popular outside of the United States. Here they are limited because entire cities are designed for the benefit of automobiles. Bicycles will be popular when the automobile lobbyists can be defeated.

[clearspira]

If people were truly interested in helping prevent ecological collapse, they'd be riding bikes more. But in reality, they want to retain comfort and convenience more.

Bicycles are plenty popular outside of the United States. Here they are limited because entire cities are designed for the benefit of automobiles. Bicycles will be popular when the automobile lobbyists can be defeated.

Most people are pushed by the accolades, not the idea, of environmentalism. It paints them as the ''good guy''. It gets them a pat on the back.

[Frustration]

I disagree. We're already making changes well before any kind of crash in response to rising oil prices over the past twenty years.

Those changes are largely cosmetic and inconsequential, seemingly intended largely to set the minds of the masses at ease while diverting money from the gullible to manufacturers.

Over the next twenty, many nations in the developing world will phase out gasoline powered cars, and many major car manufacturers are following this plan.

What good does that actually do? Renewable resources can't account for more than a tiny fraction of current usage, much less future projected usage. And people won't stand for nuclear power, no matter how safe it is.

2% of the world's plastic production uses renewable biomass rather than fossil fuels.

Oh, well then, 2%.

Only 8% of plastics are actually recycled, and recycled plastics have a limited lifespan because the process causes their chemical components to degrade. The vast majority are incinerated or dumped in landfills. So any amount of renewable resource diverted to plastic production is ultimately a loss.

Spengler was wrong: optimism isn't cowardice, it's cowardice combined with self-imposed ignorance.

[Fuzzy Necromancer]

"We see the world as we see ourselves"

[Frustration]

Some of us see more clearly than that.