Sign our petition against the banning of ICE vehicles in favor of renewable fuels conversion here.
A ban in ICE vehicles destroys the economic incentive for the carbon balancing of the existing energy infrastructure and transportation fleet through the use of renewable crude.
We strongly urge governments and regulators not to ban production of fuel efficient Internal-Combustion-Engine (ICE) vehicles and limit bans to fossil fuels that they do not discourage the development of renewable crude derived fuels.
Did you know that governments such as Japan and the State government in California want to ban the sale of internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles in favor of electric vehicles? This might sound like a good idea to fight global warming but it could do the opposite while making cars too expensive for the average person to afford!
We maintain a register of proposed ICE bans here .
The problem with ICE vehicles is not that they are internal combustion engines but that they are being fired on petroleum based fuel from long sequestered sources such as petroleum crude derived gasoline and diesel. Already firing these vehicles on first generation biofuel mixes, such as ethanol, and with improved fuel efficiency the carbon footprint is reduced. But technology will soon allow for fully renewable drop in gasoline, diesel and jetfuel derived from biomass produced renewable crude.
But what’s wrong with electric vehicles?
Here, Here and here you can read about how converting entirely to EVs could cost hundreds of billions of dollars and make cars unaffordable for average people.
In an article posted on “The Hill” January 20 2021 Dr. Scott Tinker, professor and the director of the Bureau of Economic Geology at The University of Texas at Austin, argued that going green will require more than simple electrification. So why not just switch to renewable solar and wind? They are not renewable and they are not clean. Dr. Tinker acknowledges the benefits of inexpensive energy with the need to ‘go green’ while bringing up important topics:
Dr. Tinker acknowledges the benefits of inexpensive energy with the need to ‘go green’ while bringing up important topics:
- Solar and wind have high surface area requirements with a high land use requirement.
- Existing power plants firing on fossil fuels, including those fired on natural gas, will need to be decommissioned and replaced.
- New power Plants will have to be designed not just for base load but for peak power plus power make up for intermittent solar and wind. This will boost the price of power explaining why in California with abundant solar and geothermal energy the consumer price of power is higher than fossil fuel jurisdictions.
- Electrification will require batteries to keep everything running which must be replaced constantly with high carbon metals, chemicals and toxic materials required.
- China controls 50 to 70 percent of global lithium, cobalt and polysilicon and is aggressively acquiring other mined materials to make batteries, turbines and solar panels.
In conclusion Dr. Tinker makes the case that to “go green” we must “go honest” to address the real energy challenges before us.
Toyota Motor Corp.’s leader criticized what he described as excessive hype over electric vehicles, saying advocates failed to consider the carbon emitted by generating electricity and the costs of an EV transition. Toyota President Akio Toyoda said Japan would run out of electricity in the summer if all cars were running on electric power. And if the power is not from renewable sources EVs would not be a solution to anthropologic climate change, the emissions would just come from the burning of petroleum fuels in power plants versus cars. The infrastructure needed to support a fleet consisting entirely of EVs would cost Japan between ¥14 trillion and ¥37 trillion, the equivalent of $135 billion to $358 billion, he said.
There is a better way – renewable crude derived energy.
A ban on ICE vehicles destroys the economic incentive for the carbon balancing of the existing energy infrastructure and transportation fleet through use of renewable crude. Renewable crude is the most practical and affordable path to a carbon balanced economy and mitigating anthropologic global climate change. We thus petition for governments to not ban ICE vehicles but instead mandate the use of renewable fuels.
Electrification would require a complete rebuild of global electricity distribution system and transportation fleet, new sources of renewable electricity and mass production of rare-Earth-mineral batteries. Some have argued that the incremental power requirements are in-line with past growth however these reports tend to ignore that much of current capacity (such as coal) must be replaced. Wyoming for instance has excess power, but this excess power is almost all non-renewable. The grid also must be designed not for the average power use but the peak power demand and the additional storage requirement related to the intermittent nature of wind and solar.
Such a rebuild of the North American power infrastructure would be expensive with environmental consequences associated with battery production and disposal. Use of nuclear power plants for carbon balanced power may also result in considerable radioactive waste.
Electrification requires the use of relatively disposable or expensive to recycle batteries containing rare earth minerals and a complete replacement of existing energy infrastructure and transportation fleet. Electric vehicles as well are not as convenient with respect to proven and inexpensive Internal-Combustion-Engine (ICE) technology. Electric cars for instance are more expensive, difficult to repair, require battery replacement over time and have long charge periods.
Renewable crude on the other hand is a drop-in solution compatible with the existing transportation fleet and energy infrastructure. Existing internal combustion vehicles (ICE) for instance are inexpensive and convenient. As opposed to the disposing of this convivence we urge governments and companies to promote the development and usage of renewable crude.
Renewable Crude balances the existing carbon cycle while maintaining the convenience the existing transportation fleet and energy infrastructure provides.