A new hybrid car developed by General Motors as the Chevrolet Volt is described by a reviewer fir huffington Post as the Barak Obama of cars. Raders of this blog will know I think Obama is all hype and no substance so is the Chevvy Vold the same.
It seems so.
As usual the scientists who have come up with the technology have blinded themselves with science and failed to see the big picture. Which is that making a set of Batteries for a hybrid such as a Volt or Toyota Prius uses quite large amonts of very nasty heavy metals which need some filthy and higly pollutive processes to turn them into batteries useable in cars. And then of course at the end of their life these have to be disposed of.
Meanwhile my 16 year old Volvo 440 still gets 40 mpg on the open road, more if I keep my speed down uses no fossil fuel generated electricy and seems to have a few years left in it yet especially as I only drive about 3000 miles a year.
The way to reduce pollution is a change of lifestyle, not technological gimmicks. Just think how much pollution you would have saved if you had all stuck to your Walkman or Discman and used BT phone boxes to call home or check in with the office.
Don't get me wrong, technology is great, we just need to get a better perspective on how much it actually benefits us.
28/06/08 @ 17:57