RE; assumption that electric yard machines are cleaner,
Quote:
Originally Posted by SailinAway
When it comes to climate, local is global and global is local. We can act individually in our own life, like switching to electric yard machines.
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I hope you dont actually believe that electric yard machines are cleaner,,,
When you assess most electric machine options, they might be more convenient, but rarely are they any cleaner when you assess the matter from a cradle to grave perspective.
Most electricity in America comes from burning oil and coal! Sorry thats dirty power.
Even when it comes from solar and wind and hydro or Nuke, its still dirty, its just different dirty. Solar panels too often have a much shorter life than is reported, and then what happens to them, they pile up in land fills as hazardous material, yes HAZARDOUS. And while they can be disassembled and recycled to minimize their environmental impact, it costs more then the panel itself so it mostly doesnt happen!
Same for the batteries all the battery operated devices use, the mining process alone is an environmental nightmare, and then what happens to all those nasty batteries in just an couple of years when they are dead, same thing, into the dump as hazardous materiel they go to poison the environment!
Windmill blades are apparently piling up just as fast as we make new ones and not being recycled due to to the cost.
Bio fuel and alcohol both are far more environmentally damaging than oil pumped out of the ground in the middle east. Both biofuel and alcohol release far more carbon into the air, in their creation than any oil pumped from the ground.
So far the only cleaner fuel is Hydrogen. And its not yet been embraced on a large scale for reasons not fully clear.
So while electric yard machines and cars and other devices may suit your needs because of convenience and simplicity, please do not live under the delusion that they are cleaner (cradle to grave), that is simply marketing hype designed by people that are trying to move your dollars from one companys pocket to another.
Sorry this will not sit well with many, but it in fact FACT.