Can We Gas Up... Without Gas?: Crash Course Climate & Energy #6

From the cars that take us downtown to the airplanes that fly us across the globe, transportation is one of the most visible and personal ways we are impacting the Earth’s climate. In this episode of Crash Course Climate and Energy, we’ll explore the benefits and challenges of electric vehicles, and look at some of the ways we’re trying to decarbonize much larger modes of transportation.

Chapters:
Introduction: Decarbonizing Transportation 00:00
Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Transportation 1:00
Electric Vehicles 3:13
Designing Pedestrian-Friendly Cities 7:19
Reducing Emissions From Trucks, Ships, & Planes 9:52
Review & Credits 12:58

Sources:

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[cosyreadingtimes]

I think the section about bike lanes, walkable cities and public transit could have been longer (maybe with an example from Barcelona or the Netherlands). It's far more effective than just electrifying cars.

[muphynman]

Hoping there's a future episode coming that spends more time on the importance of reducing car ownership in general than the brief footnote here.

When cars are necessary, electrification is good. But reducing how many cars are necessary in the first place will reduce carbon emissions at the source, and therefore require less output from the grid, which will continue expelling carbon for a long time while renewables come online.

[marchingsaint]

I would also add trams to the equation for public transportation so we have less reliance on batteries.

[andrewglass]

Wonderful video, as usual!

Could you also cover in a future video the less talked about problems with going electric? Such as:
1) the efficiency loss based on temperature (not just by running the car in the cold, but also the heating of the inside so the humans don't freeze)
2) the environmental effects of road building industry which, if I recall, is worse than the car industry for emissions
3) the ethical and environmental impacts of electric transport. Batteries need rare, toxic, and often unethically sourced materials such as cobalt
4) and of course anything else you guys dig up

Thanks for such high quality and educational videos, always make my day better :)

[cyril]

Anyone who brings up cat cafes multiple times in a video is my kind of person.

[BeeNTea]

There was something I saw that was interesting. Somewhere in Asia a public train network decided to put a train station in pretty much the middle of nowhere and that area started to develop with more and more people coming to live there.

[samueljenner]

This video skips rolling stock like Trains and Trams. Which avoid the need for mining of harmful battery resources and can be used for frieght transportation today. Hopefully they cover this in the next episodes but it not being mentioned here is a big misstep

[Sinistar]

I've always liked the idea of putting nuclear reactors on big cargo ships like the navy does with aircraft carriers and submarines, it would virtually eliminate their carbon emissions. Of course it presents it's own danger if the ship sinks.

[Gemoron]

I am a bit mixed on this episode. Yes, it is important to replace fossile fuel transportation with other, more renewable modes, but this episode kind of sounds like something that could be heared from car companies which are already switching from the fading fossile bases to renewable.

The best change would be to eliminate the need to travel distances that require cars altogether. You have mentioned designing pedestrian friendly cities in the title, but that was more about electric public transportation. it might be viable in europe, but in R1 zoning suburban sprawl in the US, it is just a dream and would require cities to change faces just like they did in the 60s when they were bulldozed to make room for cars in the first place.

[SaberusTerras]

I just bought a hybrid last December. With the length of the warranty I'm hoping it will be the last fuel-powered vehicle I buy. (Because maintenance costs were the driving factor in purchasing a new car.)

[tonyk]

This was good, but it focused too much on batteries, which are not a panacea. For cargo trucks, the solution is overhead transmission lines, not batteries. For personal trucks, the solution is getting rid of them, not batteries. For planes, the solution is high-speed rail, not batteries. Batteries are really only suitable for electric cars and smaller vehicles.

[BrianHutzellMusic]

In 2020, when nearly everything was closed because of Covid, the upside was the absence of cars. Streets were empty, clean, and quiet. Sadly, the cars came back.

[StoneSailsSculpture]

I live in Utah, frequently, because of the geography and emissions, our air is worse then Beijing. It's funny that people will blame it solely on the mountains, as if Beijing didn't have its own weather and geography to blame for it's conditions.

Sure, there's not much to be done now, can't remove people or the mountains, but SOMEDAY, technology will save our air. We just got to encourage it.

[collapsis]

thank you for making a video that explains the pro and cons to electrification

[Aeleas]

I think another big thing that's necessary to speed up EV adoption is requiring landlords who provide parking to also provide EV charging infrastructure.

[coredumperror]

I think this was a good, nuanced look at electrification of transport.

[giovannapantalena]

In Brazil all cars already have the possibility of being run by gasoline or ethanol (alcohol made mainly from sugar cane), and the prices are basically equivalent

[gaminggood]

Benjamin Franklin would be amazed by how far we've come!

[unflores]

Yeah, most US energy doesnt come from green sources. Also, there arent enough rare minerals to completely democratize electric. It seems a bit problematic.

I dont see the future with everyone having a car. This video hits a lot of nice points. I hope the US can make some zoning changes to make for a bit more vibrant cities. Infinite subirbia is the pits

[michaelkeller]

Is this host Canadian? The way she says "car" is very Canadian lol