New York Times Green blog reports how in the next few decades there may be massive improvements in electric car batteries. As it is, it takes hours to replenish the energy, but if improvements are continually made recharging could take place in minutes. What caught my attention was this excerpt:
In the end, Mr. Wilcke said, breakthroughs in batteries and electric cars may happen elsewhere.
“What we do in the U.S. doesn’t matter,” he said. “What matters is what China does. The Chinese government has a goal that 50 percent of all new cars sold in China by 2020 will be battery-powered. That is what will change the game.”
One of the biggest players in pollution is China, so it is obvious that if they change their energy habits, the environment would take a step forwards towards the better. In
Hot, Flat, and Crowded, Tom Friedman talks about how China and India are now consuming more energy than ever.
That (combination of population growth and greater wealth) is what's new about the forces propelling the Energy-Climate Era: They are demand -driven, as so many more people suddenly are, can, or will be living a middle-class lifestyle.
As more and more people come from the rural areas in China searching for the middle-class life, it is important that energy efficient energy is pushed forward in time for any more population booms. If the new electric car batteries are developed sooner than later they will be just in time for upcoming generations.
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