Tech Won’t Save Us. Shrinking Consumption Will

Re:Tech Won’t Save Us. Shrinking Consumption Will by bryanlarsen on Wednesday December 29, 2021 @08:41AM (#29724697)

Yes, it'll take many decades to replace all of the ICE's, but those 70 year old tractors that are still used on small farms, but those tractors are only used for dozens of hours each year. It's the big tractors and combines on the big farms and in the big custom operations that are used for thousands of hours each year that do most of the emissions, and they're all less than 10 years old.

The grid is sized in kilowatts, not kilowatt-hours. With time-of-use pricing that cost-conscious farmers will definitely take use of to charge batteries while the price is cheap, the grid can handle a lot more energy than most think.

And local solar is a lot cheaper than grid expansion. Pretty much every farmer I know is putting up solar already. And they need the energy in the spring/summer/fall while the sun is shining, they need much less in the winter or while it is raining, so it's a good fit.

I agree with you about synthetic fuels. I predict that in 10 years time or so they will be price competitive with fossil fuels, but massively more expensive than electricity.

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Re:Tech Won’t Save Us. Shrinking Consumption Will by fogihujy on Wednesday December 29, 2021 @07:38PM (#29732048)

It's not just tractors. Looking around the area where I live, there are a large amount of lorries, escavators forklifts, grain dryers and other veichles, with 20+ expected years in them. Electrifying all that will require massive upgrades of the grid -- remember we're also assumibg we're electrifying heating of houses and personal transport etc. Sure solar will help a bit, but without synthetic fuels, agriculture is not going carbon neutral anytime soon.

Luckily, there's been a lot of progress within that area. Green petrol and diesel would give more maneuvering room, and not just for farmers, but society as a whole.

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