What is Digg?124 Comments
- jboitnott, on 11/30/2008, -3/+26Can't wait to see how or if America ever jumps on this bandwagon.
- cpdylan, on 11/30/2008, -4/+23if only in the US!!!!!!!!!!
- seantubridy, on 12/01/2008, -0/+12You know, since it seems like this is a problem we have to address immediately, doesn't 10% by 2020 seem like too little? And that's not even here in the U.S. In 12 years shouldn't the majority of new cars being made be electric? But dammit, we're not gonna go to the hospital until almost all the blood has drained and we're about to pass out.
- Pitak89, on 12/01/2008, -3/+13I've heard "(Country) to (radical plan) by (far-off date)" so many times, I don't really care anymore.
- no1digger, on 12/01/2008, -0/+9Though this is a great step in the right direction, this number needs to be MUCH higher, and it needs to include many other (larger) countries as well. Even though it is hard to implement significant change in a system that has developed so extensively around a single resource, we have no hope of reducing oil consumption and reducing emissions if we set low goals like this. I can only hope that we can put our extensive scientific and technological experience to good use and start creating an oil-free world. If not, the transition away from oil that will inevitably have to happen down the line will be VERY painful and quite possibly catastrophic for the world's energy infrastructure.
- Barackalypse, on 12/01/2008, -0/+9Apparently you haven't been in one of our fine urban centers recently, I can assure you public urination is alive and well in America's big cities.
- Earendil1, on 12/01/2008, -0/+7Germany on track to meet Kyoto targets
Published: 28 Nov 08 14:00 CET
Online: http://www.thelocal.de/national/20081128-15795.htm ...
The German government released data for 2007 greenhouse gas emissions on Friday that it said showed it was well on track to meet its international climate change commitments under the Kyoto Protocol.
Greenhouse gas emissions, blamed for causing global warming, were 22 percent lower in 2007 than the base years of 1990 or 1995 set out in the protocol, the environment ministry said in a statement.
Germany pledged under Kyoto in 1997 to lower its emissions by 21 percent by 2012 and the figures for 2007 show that Western Europe's most populous country is now "assured" of meeting its goals for the years 2008 to 2010, it said. - FasterGun, on 12/01/2008, -3/+9Watch Who Killed The Electric Car and stop talking sarcastically out of your ass.
- positrondiggger, on 12/01/2008, -0/+6And here's some stats about Ireland (https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world ...
Electricity - production: 24.13 billion kWh (2005)
Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 95.9%
hydro: 2.3%
nuclear: 0%
other: 1.7% (2001)
Looks like some dependency on fossil fuel to me. Surveys so far shows Irish public is against nuclear plans, and with the current financial crisis that Irish government is going thru (2 billion deficit), I don't think they would have any massive alternate energy projects up their sleeves either. I sincerely hope this plan works for them, but it just looks like the Greens in the power making more noises... ask anyone about the road tax changes and the current situation of the motor industry in the country...! - booksnmore4you, on 12/01/2008, -2/+8Just 10%, and so many years away?
- watermelonx, on 12/01/2008, -3/+9yay more oil for the us :)
- schnikies79, on 12/01/2008, -2/+8Do what you want but some of us will never, under any circumstances, live in a dense urban area. I like my privacy and I like my peace and quiet. We need to be closer to nature, not opposed to it.
If I can pee on the back porch, it's not worth living there. - AmericanGunner, on 12/01/2008, -3/+8All the electricity in the cars will be conducted by potatoes.
- schnikies79, on 12/01/2008, -0/+5If I can't*
- poog99, on 12/01/2008, -3/+8Another reason why the Celtic Tiger is one of the world's best economies
- Barackalypse, on 12/01/2008, -0/+5His point is that cars make urban sprawl possible. If you had to walk to work, you wouldn't have suburbs sprawling out for 30 miles around big cities, because walking more than a mile or two to work each day becomes a real pain.
- Infinitex2, on 12/01/2008, -1/+6Well. I acknowledge the feat, but I want all new cars off gas by 2020. I may be optimistic, or maybe I just think that capitalism is kinda screwing up this one. If gas prices were 8 dollars a gallon, capitalism would work.
- booksnmore4you, on 12/01/2008, -0/+5Er, you really ought do some traveling.
- glenSM, on 12/01/2008, -0/+5WTF Toyota prius is a sham of a car, A lot of diesels get better mileage than it, the only scenario that itll win is if there is a diesel option or when we are going slow due to traffic. Its a small country so what is the fuss all about. I live up in Northern Ireland at the moment and driving around in my diesel I am starting to notice alot of solar panels on people's roofs.
It's a stupid initiative. - LiquidIse, on 12/01/2008, -0/+4To everyone saying the US should be doing the same, think about this...
Lets force people to switch to electric cars when utility bills are the highest they have been in decades.
But its ok, cause we should also shift the nation over to renewable energy.
All the while bailing out various industries.
Please think your statements through. - rironin, on 12/01/2008, -2/+6California did back in the '90s, and the result was a promising fleet of electric cars.
Which were promptly repossessed and summarily destroyed by the car companies, after they had successfully lobbied to repeal the law, despite the public's approval of the cars themselves.
It's not the 90s anymore, so Ireland will probably fare better - at least I hope so. - StarSirius, on 12/01/2008, -0/+4"The population of Ireland in 2008 was approximately 6.1 million comprising 4.35 million in the Republic of Ireland with another 1.75 million in Northern Ireland. Although this is a significant growth over recent years, it is lower than historical figures."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_Population_Anal ... - SystemError51, on 12/01/2008, -0/+4I live in Ireland, and trust me when I say - 2020 - that's pretty ambitious. Given the strange phenomena that the space-time continuum usually stretches a lot here.
- Barackalypse, on 12/01/2008, -0/+4Capitalism DOES work, it just doesn't work the way you want it to. You've made the decision that electric vehicles make sense even though the economics to support that conclusion aren't in place yet. When they are, the transition to electric vehicle will happen on its own, likely through a combinatiion of more expensive petroleum and increasingly cheap electric vehicle prices.
- inactive, on 12/01/2008, -0/+3Why do you think that?
- shig, on 12/01/2008, -0/+3You have to alter the basic tenets of sound economic theory for your system to work? I may be pessimistic, but I think living out the plot of The Road Warrior would be a horrible future for our children.
- littlejohn134, on 12/01/2008, -0/+3Forget it!!
The Irish governement has been living on a high from the good ecomanony and now we're *****.
They didnt fix the hospitals, the schools or move us to natural resouces when the going was good and now that it s going down the tubes they go on about EV's.
This will never happen, sorry people. - Step1Mark, on 12/01/2008, -0/+3"Uganda to purchase moon by 2025"
- ericdano, on 12/01/2008, -0/+3This is what we should do......instead of throwing money away on bailouts, BUY a majority stake in the american auto industry, and dictate to them that within 5 years, they will have all their cars be hybrid, and they will offer up electric or hydrogen powered ones as well. And, the proposed public works things Obama wants to do.......it will be about getting rid of Oil. Hydrogen or Electric.
- macgregg0r, on 12/01/2008, -0/+3Congratulations Ireland. Hopefully someday North America and the rest of the world will follow suit. Then we can stop being gouged by the big oil companies.
- inactive, on 12/01/2008, -1/+4Hate to burst your bubble, but high population density areas cost MORE per person than lower ones do. Take a look at what NYC spends per person to support itself to see why your "idea" (that term means some thought went into it, but we will play along) is full of fail.
- Nothlit, on 12/01/2008, -1/+4Seriously, 10% more than a decade from now, in a country with a population of only 4.5 million? Doesn't sound like much of an accomplishment to me...
- Rockkybox, on 12/01/2008, -1/+4Don't you know that sometimes its worth contemplating something other than the present?
- Barackalypse, on 12/01/2008, -1/+4Actually, their economy is good precisely because for most of the last decade their Government has REFRAINED from stupid expenditures like this. Read the plan, effectively they're buying 250k cars by offering 100% tax write-off. Thats just insane, as the success of the Toyota Prius indicates, people are in fact willing to pay a premium for fuel efficient vehicles, so rather than simply offer the smallest incernstive necessary to meet their target, they go completely off the deep end with 100% tax write-offs. A much better approach is an auction, that way you give each individual only the subsidy they need to buy one of these. Of course an even better idea is to let the market sort it out and spend limited Government funds on critical infastructure rather than filling the streets with more cars.
- Azerael, on 12/01/2008, -3/+6Nah, they wont. You cats are dead-set on hydrogen.
Your overlords couldn't dream of a world where your car doesn't run off of a resource they control. - richw, on 12/01/2008, -1/+4I'm sure every country would like this, but it's never gonna happen until an automaker can produce millions of these cars at reasonable prices. any country can propose whatever it wants, but it's not gonna happen til we get cheap electric cars produced at the rate of all the other cars.
- jlhk90, on 12/01/2008, -0/+2that is a gross over simplification of a hybrid vehicle, and really, with the advent of new battery technology in the next 10 years and cleaner ways to generate electricity, electric cars and hybrid cars will be better
- jlhk90, on 12/01/2008, -0/+2the world isn't interested looking at short term, the US should look into it too, it'll help in the long term
if only the oil companies didn't control the government - AquaOSX, on 12/01/2008, -1/+3Yup, we tried that before in CA. Problem is, 12 years is a long time, and public officials leave office and or find shiny pieces of new legislation to distract us with. If they can follow up on this, props.
- zombiecarlin, on 12/01/2008, -0/+2racist.
- Litchfield, on 12/02/2008, -0/+2Time to jump ship me thinks...I hear European internets is faster anyway.
- singingfishy, on 12/01/2008, -0/+2I went to Dublin last summer and compared to most other major cities/capitals--it did not have many (any?) cars besides taxis. And there weren't even that many of those.
- elperegrino, on 12/01/2008, -0/+2even the buses and the trucks?
(will be electric cars if that's a bit oblique...) - inactive, on 12/01/2008, -1/+3Dont let the door hit your ass on the way out, I am sure 4chan misses you. Maybe they will enjoy the propaganda garbage you seem to digg.
- patpl22391, on 12/01/2008, -8/+10Ford Motor Company said they'd have 250,000 hybrids on the road by a certain date, they failed miserably. All the countries that signed the Kyoto Protocol are not even close in implementing it. God help us if Obama endorses it.
- BOFH139, on 12/01/2008, -0/+2The one Green party member pushing this is quote all the susses that Electric cars are having in the US?!?!!?
- inactive, on 12/01/2008, -1/+3Cars are Awesome!!
But, build me a tram or rail line I can use to get across town with and I will use it! Trouble is all rail lines in Melbourne lead to ....Melbourne. - wissler, on 12/01/2008, -0/+2It'd be far better to switch our coal plants to nuclear before worrying about cars. For two reasons. 1) Why bother with electric cars when the electricity is coming from coal plants? How does that improve the environment? 2) Changing to nuclear is "low hanging fruit", nuclear plants are already profitable, have zero emissions, and don't force individuals to change from using convenient gas-powered vehicles. They are the perfect solution if you're concerned about the environment.
- elfs1der, on 12/01/2008, -1/+32020? thats ridiculous it should be done in 2 years
- carbonfilament, on 12/01/2008, -0/+2Dugg for use of *****. nobody throws ***** around in nyc...
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