Quote:
Originally Posted by sendler
At some point fossil fuel must become a world heritage commodity that is not "owned" by any one person or country. And must be carbon taxed to make those that waste it pay for the transition to renewables.
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Having a carbon tax (or any tax to discourage use) on fossil fuels is only effective if nearly all countries participate. Taxing just the US, for example, would only hurt the US economy and drive fuel prices lower for other countries, which would in turn increase consumption.
It's a chicken and egg problem where no country wants to be the first to harm their economy while giving others an economic advantage.
Quote:
Originally Posted by oldtamiyaphile
The Prius 4 seems to have well and truly hit the point of diminishing returns. In the US it will cost 3c/km to fuel. Even if they manage to halve that in later models, it won't save much fuel or money.
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I was first aware of diminishing returns back when CD-ROM burners were doubling speed every year. Going from a 2x speed to 4x speed (double) saved 20 minutes to write a disc. Going from 4x to 8x (double again) saved 10 minutes. At some point it takes great effort to increase performance, while the benefit gained is very minimal.
The Prius appears to be at that point of diminishing returns where saving another 5 MPG isn't going to be very meaningful, especially if the cost to do so is great.