It’s not quite there yet, but the long and vital debate on climate change is fast approaching fever. The sales and marketing lines held on the eve of the COP26 climate conference by unintentionally comedic politicians, outrageously entrepreneurial “green” industry representatives and committed environmental groups went something like this …
Petrol, diesel, and LPG for passenger transport, and gas, coal, and wood for home heating are all bad. Part one of the green argument is that these are some of the killer carbon fuels worth banning in whole or in part – at least from new cars and our homes.
With the same passion, the green argument in the second part insists that electricity is not only good – it is a kind of blessed, life- and planet-saving fuel that we have to encourage or legally force to buy for our vehicles and apartments. But how we’re supposed to buy and use this stuff when power outages happen so frequently (I had one the day this column was written and was warned to prepare for another tonight) is a different matter.
To the delight of the electricity industry, our government has been reiterating over the past few days that the new cars we buy should be plug-ins as soon as possible – but no later than December 2029. In addition, it is recommended that you do NOT replace your existing gas boiler with a new one to replace more efficient version, which costs between £ 1,000 and £ 2,000 plus installation – usually the cost of a skilled technician for a day or two. Instead, buy a heat pump for around £ 12,000 plus countless thousands extra to install and rebuild your current central heating system – radiators, pipes, and more.
Seriously, expecting adults in low- to middle-income professions to switch from gasoline or diesel vehicles to similarly sized electric cars, which sometimes cost nearly double that, is already a major challenge – one that many drivers price as private Buy cars and rob them of their driving status. But for the government to push ahead at the same time by warning that they must also replace their comparatively affordable gas central heating and wood / coal stoves with heat pump systems or sophisticated solar collector systems that cost many, many times more is stupid and brutally unreasonable, unacceptable and unreachable .
The cold, harsh economic reality is that many or most working adults simply do not have the disposable income to make the proposed and colossal legal switch from their personal old-tech products that run on gasoline, diesel, LPG, Gas, wood or coal are becoming newer technical devices that are operated exclusively with a fuel called electricity.
For seniors who already have financial difficulties using their car, staying warm and living on a basic pension of less than £ 10,000, which is their only source of income, the calculation clearly shows that these poor souls have no chance. For these innocent people and their meager finances, statutory electric vehicles and heat pumps will soon be absolutely, terrifying and tragically out of the question.
Read how Stellantis plans to introduce hydrogen-powered vans …
