Deaths from climate change

[JohnRoberts]

Mankind developed agriculture some 12 to 15000 years ago. Our brain grew faster in size than in any other period.

but now the human brain is shrinking.... (make up your own humor).

The cause is that we started to grow wheat and other grains and these are a source of starch, which converts fast to sugar. And wheat could be stored for long periods, avoiding famine.

That happened again in the 17th and 18th century when sugar became available to most people. Before, sugar was too expensive and only available to pharmacists and rich people. This might have lead us to the industrial revolution.

The only organ in our body that runs on sugar is our brain.

when fasting for 24 hours or more the brain switches to run on ketones for energy, but indeed the brain is a large energy consumer. The body's sugar (glycogen) stores are limited so we switch to burning fat when the sugar is depleted.

JR

 

[ruffrecords]

Note to self: to lose weight think harder.

Cheers

Ian

 

[JohnRoberts]

An unintended (?) consequence of transitioning to EVs from IC based automobiles is reduced labor content required to manufacture those automobiles.

The big Detroit labor unions realize this and are threatening to strike the major automakers now to lock in future income security for after the transition to EVs.

JR

 

[cyrano]

There's also far less maintenance with electrical cars. A lot of dealers will need to find another business.

 

[fazer]

There’s also more weight per vehicle which is harder on roads and no gas tax to maintain the road currently in the US. There is a purposed fee for registration every year that will bring some shock to ownership but needed

 

[AnalogPackrat]

There's also far less maintenance with electrical cars. A lot of dealers will need to find another business.

Except for those complex electronics, controls, and electromechanical stuff. Tesla door handles are one such known failure point on the S.

What happens 8-10 years down the line when an electronics module fails and its component parts have reached EOL? How repairable are these cars after collision damage compared to ICE?

And that extra weight requires larger tires that probably wear faster.

 

[JohnRoberts]

There’s also more weight per vehicle which is harder on roads and no gas tax to maintain the road currently in the US. There is a purposed fee for registration every year that will bring some shock to ownership but needed

Congress has tried to broach this subject before (road use taxes based on mileage not gas purchases). It never gained any traction before. Car insurers are trying to track speeding using onboard auto dongles, I could image a GPS based mileage tracker, but that sounds a little too big brother.
====
a couple hypocritical anecdotes.

B iden Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm had a rocky electric vehicle tour that included a confrontation with a family who called the police on her staff over a charging station standoff.

During a publicized road trip to showcase EV range one of Granholm's advance staff blocked a charging station with a gasoline powered car to secure it for Granholm before she arrived. An irate family with a child in the car, called 911 to gain access to the charging station. Using gasoline powered cars to support her 4 day road trip is also hypocritical.
Energy Secretary Granholm’s EV road trip turns into a charging station debacle
====
CA is regulating against diesel trucking

Apr 28, 2023New big rigs and buses that run on diesel would not be sold in California starting in 2036, according to new rules approved by state regulators Friday to wean the state off fossil fuels and combat climate change. The rule would tackle pollution from heavy trucks used to transport goods through ports and require companies to disclose their use of these so-called drayage trucks by 2024.

Now California is using diesel generators as emergency power sources. The state has 2,773 stationary and mobile generators in its inventory, according to the Diesel Technology Forum advocacy group, which cited an inventory from the California Air Resources Board (CARB).

California utility Pacific Gas & Electric began making plans to use emergency diesel generators months ago, proposing to secure 450 megawatts of mobile generators, according to a May report from Greentech Media.

====
My brother is on his second or third Tesla and he generally like the cars (for his wife) but complains about repair cost.

JR

 

[AnalogPackrat]

Here's some good news. I wonder where we'll find nuclear engineers to recommission the plant? Not many degree programs* around since the greenies ran nuclear out of town 30-40 years ago. Where did all of our knowledge go?

https://www.9and10news.com/2023/09/12/michigan-nuclear-plant-will-be-restarted-under-new-deal/
*Much of current nuclear engineering is focused on medical uses.

 

[fazer]

Lead in the water in Michigan might be causing longterm thinking problems.

The answer is hybrid not all electric for transitioning. Small ICE with batteries for short trips in town. Would reduce consumption greatly.

 

[JohnRoberts]

Here's some good news. I wonder where we'll find nuclear engineers to recommission the plant?

India or China? These days they may be studying fusion?

Not many degree programs around since the greenies ran nuclear out of town 30-40 years ago. Where did all of our knowledge go?

https://www.9and10news.com/2023/09/12/michigan-nuclear-plant-will-be-restarted-under-new-deal/

Georgia has the first new scratch built nuclear power utility (Vogtle) recently brought online. Only 7 years late and $17B over budget. I am not sure that cost record will encourage more of the same. That reminds me of our local "clean coal" power plant that was late and wildly over budget. Thanks to regulatory waffling.

JR

 

[JohnRoberts]

Lead in the water in Michigan might be causing longterm thinking problems.

The answer is hybrid not all electric for transitioning. Small ICE with batteries for short trips in town. Would reduce consumption greatly.

Mazda introduced a new PHEV (CX-90 "plug in Hybrid EV") that looks nice but I don't know about long term cost/reliability from the extra complexity.

JR

 

[ruffrecords]

Here's some good news. I wonder where we'll find nuclear engineers to recommission the plant? Not many degree programs* around since the greenies ran nuclear out of town 30-40 years ago. Where did all of our knowledge go?

The French are pretty well versed in this topic.

Cheers

Ian

 

[JohnRoberts]

The French are pretty well versed in this topic.

Cheers

Ian

The Japanese majors were big players in US nuclear generation but the last few decades have been painful financially.

Toshiba bought the US-based Westinghouse nuclear business from the British government's BNFL for $5.4bn in 2006.

Sep 1, 2023- January 2018 Brookfield Asset Management has agreed to buy the Westinghousenuclear power unit from Japan's Toshiba Corporation in a deal worth approximately $4.6 billion. Westinghouse filed for bankruptcy in March of last year after project delays resulted in a series of write-downs.

Westinghouse is still active working with Ukraines nuclear power industry. Toshiba is still active but lots of pain in that industry.

JR

 

[cyrano]

How repairable are these cars after collision damage compared to ICE?

Not at all. If it's a serious collision, they will be put in a water container, resulting in total loss. I don't know if insurance has already picked up on this. Different batteries are on their way, from Toyota and others, but it will take a while.

Then there are the brakes and tires that give off dangerous particles, which should be addressed in the EU's seventh eco range.

And it still leaves us with many millions of square kilometers of asphalt...

Well, nobody (except the marketing dept) said it would be simple...

 

[cyrano]

lol

There are several recent studies that found a link between too much sugar leading to Alzheimer...

There also was one that found Viagra to eliminate that threat...

 

[JohnRoberts]

Was kinda weird that covid seemed to cause a disturbingly high amount of deaths in people with alzheimers. It runs in my family. Been recently taking Alpha GPC supplements and I like the effects if nothing else.

both are correlated with increasing age....

JR

 

[fazer]

Choline has been recommended for decades to help with memory. I read that Alfa GPC is a more direct way to use in the brain. Interesting. Didn’t know much about this but I don’t have a family history of Alzheimer’s.

 

[AnalogPackrat]

both are correlated with increasing age....

JR

And with nursing homes...

 

[Tubetec]

The replacement units are being shipped in as we speak , come to the motherland is the imperialist message being sent out forever and a day ,we reap what we sow ,concrete jungle .

 

[JohnRoberts]

The life expectancy in America seems to be falling slightly for last few years....

For some silly reason I pay attention to that statistic... While I try not to be average.

JR