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Analysis: Global fossil-fuel emissions set to fall in 2026 amid Hormuz crisis
(www.carbonbrief.org)
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this post was submitted on 16 Sep 2026
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Climate
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You need the appropriate grid overhaul I would imagine to be able to sustain a sudden spike in EV adoption.
That electricity has to come from somewhere and that somewhere usually means fossil fuels or coal that's transported on similar tankers that are also caught in the metaphorical and literal crossfire.
Solar adoption is already at an all-time high and accelerating, but that's not equally available everywhere.
I'm no expert in any of this stuff, it's just how I understand it from an armchair perspective. Feel free to chime in.
OTOH, even coal powered electricity is significantly less polluting than ICE cars, both in terms of co2 and in terms of not spewing particulates out in people's faces.
That's always how it is though? Can't have EVs because not enough electricity, won't build green electricity because not enough EVs.
The EVs are there for anyone to buy at this point, though plug-in hybrids are currently the best option.
You can do short commutes on battery power alone and you have an IC engine ready when needed.
Also if we force all EV manufacturers to adopt a standard for homes to be able to use their cars as back-up power, or generally for the grid to be able to utilize plugged-in EVs with over 80% capacity to feed back into the grid when required, that could solve most of the problems but it soulds like a nightmare to implement from an engineering standpoint.
Edit: this post describes the benefits and challenges.
https://www.elli.eco/en/about-elli/news/newsroom/vehicle-to-grid-how-electric-vehicles-are-becoming-a-key-pillar-of-the-energy-transition
I dunno. Straight up hybrids are superior to ice vehicles, but plug in hybrids seem super niche.
I rented a jeep 4xe and the battery only mode would only go about 10-20 miles - I'm not super far from work, but it's still double that range. And the default software mode was to consume all the battery then only recharge like a normal hybrid (e.g. keeping the battery at basically empty).
Plus the mileage wasn't much better because it was lugging around the battery pack.
Best option by what metric? Plugin hybrids come with a unique set of issues that neither EV nor pure ICE have. Exactly because you'll do all your short commutes on battery.
Exhausts literally rust through because they don't get used enough to clear out all the condensation that develops. Flooring it when you need to accelerate suddenly will cause a cold ICE to come on and take a heavy load without the oil being warmed up, etc.
I'm considering a few too, but I'm not exactly going to pretend they don't have whole new issues.
Even with transmission losses and even if you powered them solely with fossil fuels, aren't the electric drivetrains and power plants still so much more efficient that you still reduce fossil fuel use by burning it at a power plant instead of ICE motor?