Can you imagine a solar device that produces electricity regardless of weather, time of day or geographical location? Neither can I, but researchers at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden have created a system that can capture and store solar energy that can be sent anywhere in the world and then converted into electric power.
A website called thecooldown.com covered the story on Feb. 25. Solar power has made good strides in the last few years, becoming cheaper and more efficient, but until now solar had to have direct sunlight. This new process, called Molecular Solar Thermal (MOST) could be a revolutionary change for the world’s power grids if it works as successfully on the macro scale as it has on the micro. It’s encouraging that they made it work in Sweden, part of which is within the Arctic Circle, so it’s a much more challenging locale for solar than, say, Arizona.
The benefits of MOST technology could range from powering cities, ocean ships, railroads, jets and electric cars — all with a carbon footprint of practically zero.
Speaking of electric cars, the right-wingers are attacking them with full force. The New York Post, the print equivalent of Fox News (both owned by Rupert Murdoch) ran a hit piece on March 5, headlined “Electric vehicles release more toxic emissions, are worse for the environment than gas-powered cars: study.” Also, the Kansas City Star ran an opinion column on Jan. 25 with the header, “An inconvenient truth: Electric cars are real garbage.”
These articles have a mountain of misinformation and a microdose of facts. A major distortion is that the emissions that the NY Post article referred to are from tires, which allegedly give off more micro-particulates when supporting more weight. There are zero carbon emissions from electric cars, since they burn no fossil fuel, while gas cars still emit tons of carbon dioxide, one of the causes of the climate crisis. (Carbon dioxide is a natural-occurring gas but it has grown far out of its natural proportion due to humans’ burning of fossil fuels.)
So if the weight of the vehicle is the issue on tires shedding particulates, you’d think the right-wingers would disdain all the huge trucks and sport utility vehicles they’ve been buying the past few decades. But NOOO, they’d rather trash the EVs which tend to be much smaller than America’s bigass buggies.
The Star’s op-ed claimed Consumer Reports said no electric cars did well and plug-in hybrid electrics (PHEVs) did even worse on its tests. Hmmm, I wonder why Consumer Reports recommends several plug-in hybrids for their readers to buy? And sure, there have been some glitches on the all-electrics but usually nothing serious. Jake Fisher, director of Consumer Reports car testing, said, “It’s a story of just working out the bugs and the kinks of new technology.” And it’s worth noting that the New York Auto Show awarded the electric Hyundai Ioniq 6 its World Car of the Year prize. Also, Car and Driver magazine, which has long touted internal combustion vehicles, gave the Ioniq a 5-star review.
An issue with some truth about electric cars is the battery source material. Rare earth minerals have problematic mining, including human abuse and ecological abuse. The good news is that electric battery technology is currently undergoing a monumental change and soon batteries will last longer on a charge and be made from more abundant and less toxic materials.
No matter how the anti-environmentalists spin it, there is no denying that burning fossil fuels is befouling our world. They can double-down and say “drill, baby, drill” but the future with a more sustainable way is beckoning if we’ll heed its call.
Frank Lingo, based in Lawrence, Kansas, is a former columnist for the Kansas City Star and author of the novel “Earth Vote.” Email: lingofrank@gmail.com. See his website: Greenbeat.world
From The Progressive Populist, April 1, 2024
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