Electric Cars

sjt01

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
North Norfolk
Hybrids are a con. End of.
Fully electric aren't much better depending on your view on scarce resources to build the batteries.
Hydrogen is the real future, made from renewable electric or nuclear.

PS we have just bought an e niro, OH loves it. 4 miles per Kw/hr. Charged from solar panels running costs are next to zero.
Hydrogen is the real con, requiring so much energy to produce, compress, transport, then convert back into electricity before it can be used. The only good use is to suck up excess wind generation, but with cars charging on a smart grid this should be obivated.
Hydrogen vs elec.jpg
 

snarling bee

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Bedfordshire
The key to it all I guess is battery technology that is cheaper and uses far less scarce natural resources.
The electric infrastructure will need massive investment to charge up these batteries though. If every lorry, car and piece of plant became battery powered, the electrical energy use would be phenominal.
 

rollestonpark

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Burton on trent
Hybrids are a con. End of.
Fully electric aren't much better depending on your view on scarce resources to build the batteries.
Hydrogen is the real future, made from renewable electric or nuclear.

PS we have just bought an e niro, OH loves it. 4 miles per Kw/hr. Charged from solar panels running costs are next to zero.
Yeah the e-niro, looks a great option. Hope that goes well for you.
I run a CHP and hate exporting 2/3 of my electric to the grid, only to then put diesel into vehicles.
So EV is a def for me.
 
There is no worldwide shortage of lithium that I am aware of. It can be readily recycled from old batteries.

The main environmental impact from cars occurs where they are manufactured. Paint spraying, for example, uses insane quantities of potable water.

The cost of charging electric vehicles is so low in comparison to road fuels that it's basically zip all. I certainly would not go putting solar panels on my roof just to charge a car.

Hydrogen is a monumental pain in the chuff however you want to generate, store or use it.
 

Clive

Staff Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Lichfield
There is no worldwide shortage of lithium that I am aware of. It can be readily recycled from old batteries.

The main environmental impact from cars occurs where they are manufactured. Paint spraying, for example, uses insane quantities of potable water.

The cost of charging electric vehicles is so low in comparison to road fuels that it's basically zip all. I certainly would not go putting solar panels on my roof just to charge a car.

Hydrogen is a monumental pain in the chuff however you want to generate, store or use it.

I read that the Land Rover defender was the most environmentally friendly car ever made on the basis that a large % are still in use or have been recycled for parts to keep others running
 

MrNoo

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Cirencester
Why is methanol used in the motor racing industry and yet never considered for on road use?
Mainly because it is actually quite an poor energy producer having a lower energy density compared to petrol but a much higher octane rating, so fine in a dragster where they literally tip fuel in the engine but not so good on your 60mpg daily driver.
It is also pretty unpleasant stuff if you've ever been stood behind a car running on methanol, your eyes will be streaming!
It also of course burns with no visible flame in daylight, so guess that would be another huge issue with road cars and accidents
 
Why is methanol used in the motor racing industry and yet never considered for on road use?

Several problems with methanol. Burns really really well and is highly volatile and so has monster octane rating. You thus can have more power out of an engine running on it but it is actually less energy dense than petrol, litre for litre. Basically, it's a fine fuel source but has a few practical disadvantages to petrol.

Ethanol is a slightly different molecule but again has similar drawbacks to methanol.
 

teslacoils

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Lincolnshire
Just an update on this - the charging points that live outdoors are not great. Replacing ours after 30 months. £400 for that. Quite disappointed tbh. Just stopped working and inside is toast.
 

sjt01

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
North Norfolk
Just an update on this - the charging points that live outdoors are not great. Replacing ours after 30 months. £400 for that. Quite disappointed tbh. Just stopped working and inside is toast.
What make? Our Podpoint has been running nearly 5 years now. Rolec have had a bad reputation but seem to be improving.
 

Highland Mule

Member
Livestock Farmer
Why is it more dangerous than normal fuel ?

The vapours are toxic, so just breathing in the smelly fine can kill you. It’s also toxic through skin contact.
Fumes from spills don’t evaporate as quickly, so it takes longer to make Itself safe (but can be washed down much better than petrol) and it burns slower (for longer). The biggie for me is that the flame isn’t very visible at all (like hydrogen) so it’s not as obvious that there’s a fire.
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

  • 0 %

    Votes: 81 42.2%
  • Up to 25%

    Votes: 68 35.4%
  • 25-50%

    Votes: 30 15.6%
  • 50-75%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 75-100%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 100% I’ve had enough of farming!

    Votes: 7 3.6%

Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

  • 1,294
  • 1
As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
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