There are times when a topic goes stupid.
And this is happening here.
So we have a digression into filing station energy consumption - which is irelevant.
And now refinery energy consumptrion within the context of UK EV vehicle energy consumption.
Yes refining takes energy,. But consider that (a) refineries are supplied with fuel ath they can then use as the energy source for their refining and (b) the UK imports mainly finished refined fuels.
So this is pretty irrelevant when it comes to the fundamental that the UK needs power generation to support the cumulative consumption of EVs being operated over a total of a given number of billions of miles at some average kWh per mile.
The issue with regard to fuel distribution is that it provides a huge amount of energy for vehicles to support the cumulative consumption of ICEs being operated over a total of a given number of billions of miles at some average kWh per mile.
So you have to be able to generate sufficient power generation capacity to cover the needs of the EVs as they replace ICEs.
This is not proEV or against-EV - it's a simple observation that to support a given mileage being driven by EVs that you need a power supply. You are effectively replacing energy imported in tankers and distributed to filling stations by power generated somehwere by something and delivered to a charging location by cable. The problem is that somewhere is the UK and something is power stations.
This is not complicate to understand.
And yet ....
What worries me is that our policy makers are as blind to the simple fundamentals as is being demonstrated some of those here.
Totally agree that this thread has been dragged into stupidity - and I agree with much of what you say, and credit yourself that you do see quite pragmatic and objective with your views.
But I do feel strongly that some people will form a polarised opinion regarding something (in this context, EVs) and will try their absolute best to think of any and every possibly reason to go against the grain - just to bolster their viewpoint.
The discussion regarding energy used to refine and distribute fuels is mentioned in the context of ‘what about’ that seems to be thrown at the transition to EVs.
I think its probably worth accepting that change is happening, and the energy being spent by anti-EV folk could be better used with positive ideas on how best to optimise this instead of clinging on to the past.
Overall, we have a large group of people here from some very different backgrounds, and some thought provoking discussions which have been interesting to date. But ultimately in the same regards as politics, international affairs, football teams etc - some people will think they know better than others.
In this case, a global trend to switch to alternative power for vehicles. As is often the case, someone down the pub (or ‘bloke on the internet’ in our instance) - thinks the system is wrong, those in control are making the wrong decisions, and is a critic of that from the comfort of a keyboard.
If we allowed the collective here to make policy on vehicle propulsion and use I don’t think it would be very representative of the needs of the world, would it?
