Labour lays down the green energy gauntlet with interest-free loan plan for electric cars
While the Tories – and other right-wingers around the globe – are still messing up the planet with fossil fuels, Labour has announced a game-changing plan to democratise ownership of electric cars.
A Labour government will offer loans of up to £33,000 to low- and middle-income households, people in rural areas, independent contractors and small-to-medium-sized businesses, to buy electric cars.
The intention is to provide clean transport for everyone, with 2.5 million interest-free loans; the government would cover the cost of interest.
And the scheme would boost the national grid, as everyone receiving a loan would be required to participate in a mass trial of “Vehicle-2-Grid” technology.
Electric cars will store energy when demand is low – during the night when the wind is blowing but people are asleep, for example – and discharge into the grid when energy use peaks -in the evening as people arrive home from work. This smooths out demand and reduces reliance on gas-driven power stations.
The plan was explained by shadow chancellor John McDonnell:
“This will stimulate the automotive industry. It will sustain jobs in the conversion from fossil fuels to electric but actually it will create new jobs as well.
“So this is beneficial in terms of the climate, [and] it is beneficial for those people who want to convert their carbon-fuel powered car into an electric vehicle that is sustainable.
“At the same time, it will help support the automotive industry and create jobs. Those jobs are in areas where we have had real issues, particularly with Brexit.”
The plan has been announced to contrast with the Conservative government, which has been slammed repeatedly, including by the Society of Motor Manufacturers, for scrapping support for electric cars.
Labour’s plan seems much better all round, it seems.
Source: John McDonnell announces interest free loans for electric cars – The Labour Party
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This is bad. Lithium extraction is already destroying the enviroment and killing people.Extraction is similar to fracking. Hardly a green solution.
Can anybody elaborate on this? Is it accurate? Where may we find corroborating evidence?
Last week, Bloomberg published a report detailing how the boom in lithium mining is irreversibly destroying the local environment of northern Chile’s Atacama desert. Mining for lithium means means removing large amounts of water, which means depleting the water supply for locals. According to the report, the Tilopozo meadow in Chile used to be a shelter for shepherds traveling at night, yet has become barren due to lack of grass or water. That puts a severe strain on local farmers.“We’re fooling ourselves if we call this sustainable and green mining,” Cristina Dorador, a Chilean biologist, told Bloomberg. “The lithium fever should slow down because it’s directly damaging salt flats, the ecosystem and local communities.
Sorry original comment was rushed.
Just done a search on DuckDuckGo,
https://www.wired.co.uk/article/lithium-batteries-environment-impact
theres plenty more when you get through the Greenwash
After reading Krishna’s reply I wanted to find out more so I googled lithium extraction pollution. It would appear K is right. However, considerable progress is being made to produce car/home storage batteries from other far more common materials.
Here’s two links which present both sides. Both are short & snappy and easy to read. As I’m neither a scientist nor a engineer, I’ve no idea how accurate they are, but a good starting point for the uninitiated like me.
There are loads more papers/articles out there for those who wish to explore this issue in more depth. I may do so myself this evening when I’m watching over my dad. Lithium extraction V watching Midsomer Murders for the umpteenth time… No brainer! Lithium wins out over Detective Barnaby hands down. Ironically I’ll be using my laptop which I’ve just found out is powered by a battery with lithium in it.
https://www.salon.com/2019/06/17/lithium-mining-for-green-electric-cars-is-leaving-a-stain-on-the-planet/
https://www.nationalobserver.com/2017/11/29/opinion/dont-be-fooled-attacks-lithium-battery