Bangkok moves towards becoming the electric transportation capital of Asia

[Surelynot]

1 minute ago, Gandtee said:

Pardon? I haven't been to the Hague but grew up with trams in London UK.????

Oh dear....I am talking about me......or do you have really good sense of humor and are winding me up????

[KhaoYai]

Whatever the mode of transport, it needs power. Electrification doesn't really do a lot of good if that power is generated by polluting methods.

[josephbloggs]

Just now, KhaoYai said:

Whatever the mode of transport, it needs power. Electrification doesn't really do a lot of good if that power is generated by polluting methods.

 

Whilst somewhat true that is also mostly wrong.  You have to look at the overall efficiency.  The pollution caused by generating the electricity to power the Skytrain, for example, is far less than the pollution that would be generated by transporting the same amount of people in cars or dirty busses.

Also it is moving that pollution out of the city - the power plants are generally in remote areas.

 

So whilst it would obviously be ideal if the electric transport systems could be powered by renewable energy, to say that they don't do much good at all because they aren't is silly.

[tonray]

Well Icon Siam mall uses more electricity than most small countries so why not ?

[KhaoYai]

8 hours ago, josephbloggs said:

 

Whilst somewhat true that is also mostly wrong.  You have to look at the overall efficiency.  The pollution caused by generating the electricity to power the Skytrain, for example, is far less than the pollution that would be generated by transporting the same amount of people in cars or dirty busses.

Also it is moving that pollution out of the city - the power plants are generally in remote areas.

 

So whilst it would obviously be ideal if the electric transport systems could be powered by renewable energy, to say that they don't do much good at all because they aren't is silly.

Silly?  You should do some real world fact checking. There is another side to most stories - especially environmental ones.

 

'moving pollution out of the city' ...............and overall, what does that do?  There is no reduction in the amount of Co2 emitted into that atmosphere gained simply by moving the source?  How nice for the people of the countryside to be 'given' Bangkok's pollution. 

 

In general you but raise some interesting points but you might want to do a little real world fact checking.  The Skytrain already exists and might appear to have reduced pollution but do you see any reduction in Bangkok's traffic?  The place is jammed as are all the country's major centres - they build new roads (same in other countries) and within months, they're jammed.  Check out the pollution levels in Bangkok - both before the the Skytrain and now. Is it cleaner now? Much more drastic action is needed.

 

The claims regarding reductions in emissions made by most countries are exagerated so I wouldn't rely on them.  For all the cleaner engines, reductions in power useage of electric goods, etc, etc, the world's electricity useage has gone up and pollution levels are continuing to rise. We are failing to halt climate change - fact!

 

I repeat my underlying meaning - changing to electricity as a power source is a waste of time unless that electricity is generated cleanly.

 

These 2 articles will help explain where I'm coming from on this:

 

The first shows how much energy just one small part of the internet and our modern world consumes:

 

https://www.ft.com/content/1aecb2db-8f61-427c-a413-3b929291c8ac

 

The second illustrates one of the reasons why cleaner cars in Europe have pretty much been a waste of time recently - caused by a problems that's simple (but expensive) to fix.

 

You will no doubt fail to see the linkage - its all connected.

 

Let's have a bet - I contend that despite the proposed electrification of Bangkok's traffic, in 10 years time the power requirement of the city and the country as a whole will have increased.  Further, I also contend that although the air in Bangkok itself may be cleaner, Thailand's output of harmful gases will also have gone up. They need to change to a much cleaner method of power generation.  The growing numbers of Solar Farms springing up all over Thailand are not the answer - that will cause other problems.

 

This matters, not only in terms of the potential for a worldwide catastrophe through climate change but given Bangkok's height in relation to sea level, if the whole world doesn't sort this problem out - air pollution will be the least of the city's worries - it will be underwater.

 

https://earth.org/data_visualization/sea-level-rise-by-the-end-of-the-century-bangkok/

 

There is growing evidence that the estimate of 2100 given in the above article is now in question as scientists have discovered that the world's ice caps are melting far faster than was thought.

 

Overall, if you want to see just how big the problem is - the best documentary I've ever seen on climate change is Breaking Boundaries - available on Netflix.  It presents clear and simple facts - doesn't baffle you with science and shows all of the problems we are facing - not just climate change. Probably most importantly, it gives estimates on each facet, of the point at which it will be too late.

[shdmn]

Converting the TukTuks to electric would be a good start as those things are supposedly major polluters.

[Damrongsak]

On 6/11/2021 at 8:46 AM, Shuya said:

Hub! Hub! Hub!

The Hub of Hubub.

[KhaoYai]

12 hours ago, josephbloggs said:

Whilst somewhat true that is also mostly wrong. 

My apologies - I forgot to include the link to the second article. Here it is:

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-49567197

[Joinaman]

can you imagine the thousands of chargers and charging cables clogging up the roads and pavements. How will the Thais be able to ride on the footpaths . And also, imagine how many of these charging stations will be tapped into for free power for the street traders and small shops, . 

Maybe start by getting rid of all the polluting vehicles first, allowing only clean and modern vehicles within  the city limits, but that would mean the police actually doing some work

[Excel]

Excellent idea. The first move should be to replace all of the seats in the new parliament building with Electric Chairs.????

[jacko45k]

On 6/14/2021 at 3:24 AM, shdmn said:

Converting the TukTuks to electric would be a good start as those things are supposedly major polluters.

I expect the remaining long tail boats on the river with their unmuffled exhausts do their bit too.