1/Sustainable Energy Reality Check

I hear a lot of people insisting we need to eliminate fossil fuels within 20 or even 10 years

I'd like to explain how that is just not possible

See these? They are combines. A typical grain farmer owns at least 2 or 3
#FossilFuelReality

2/New ones are about $500K
Many farmers aren't able to buy new & have ones worth $100-200K
NOBODY makes an EV combine
NOBODY is even close
When they do, the price tag will exceed $1M
A farmer will be out of business before they can afford $3M to replace them
#FossilFuelReality

3/This is a tandem. There's a larger unit we call a super-b. These haul the harvest from the fields

Farmers may have 2-3 of these

New, it's $150-200K for the unit, but again most have used. EV semis can't do their work yet but even they cost $180-250K

#FossilFuelReality

4/A farmer might haul 150+ tandem/super-b loads at harvest
I hear folks talking about moving away from large farms & buying from their local small farmer
While that might be ok for your carrots, these go to secondary processing to make your oils, your bread,etc
#FossilFuelReality

5/With the sheer volume of grain, oil seeds and legumes that are harvested every year in Canada, those market gardens couldn't even produce a fraction of a percent of Canada's needs, let alone maintain our exports
Diesel is required for those trains as well

#FossilFuelReality

6/Canola & spring wheat are our two largest crops by acreage used, taking up 36.3M acres as of 2016
Soybeans have doubled in the last 15 yrs, & will continue to increase w/more demand for vegan diets

It is impossible to move away from large commercial farms
#FossilFuelReality

7/Farmers can make changes to utilize renewable fuels, but we are years away from the introduction of farm equipment necessary to move away from FF & decades away from the complete transition, mostly held back by the financial costs and inadequate technology

#FossilFuelReality

8/Then there are our roads. Without asphalt, a bituminous substance obtained as a residue in petroleum refining, road repairs will cease. Concrete roads need to be sealed and are economically unsuitable for complete replacement of bitumen.

#FossilFuelReality

9/Forests will burn
In wildland firefighting, the first vital attacks are by air with planes & helicopters & on the ground with dozers & water trucks.
Again, these equipment don't have EV replacements & once they do, the costs will make it a slow transition

#FossilFuelReality

10/There are some EV models just being introduced in the heavy equipment lines
Several companies are launching new products to replace diesel semis and HE, but their technology is young and the ranges don't come anywhere close to the needs of those industries

#FossilFuelReality

11/EV semi's are only suitable for short runs, 200-500 kms & have cost $180K-$250K
For heavy equipment, a new EV backhoe has a 4-5 hr range then needs 12 hrs to charge
On a typical worksite, 3 or 4 of those would be needed to replace one diesel powered hoe
#FossilFuelReality

12/ Then there are the billion $ companies standing in the way of the advancement of EV's & I'm not talking about Big Oil
Did you know that GM made the first consumer EV in the mid-1990's?
The EV1 was a smash hit with the lucky few who leased on a trial basis

#FossilFuelReality

13/ GM took them all back & sent them off to be destroyed
A 2006 documentary "Who Killed The Electric Car" explored what happened

Haven't you wondered why technology has been so slow? We've had EV's for 25 yrs
The technology should be far more advanced by now
#FossilFuelReality

14/25 years to get EV's into a share of the market
In that time, they've gone from an av range of 100km to an av of 400km
At that rate of technological advancements, it will take decades to replace heavy equipment and decades more to work them into the market

#FossilFuelReality

15/ A mere look at the snails pace it is taking to get EV's into the consumer market and acknowledgement that even their technology has a long way to go yet, should make it painfully obvious we can not end the use of fossil fuels in a decade or two.

#FossilFuelReality

And one other thing.
Petroleum based plastic replacement.
Soy oil is used in part to make the panels on these combines. It replaces steel components
And now... nothing burns like a John Deere

#FossilFuelReality