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Curious how world politics will change once electric vehicles become mainstream and there is little need for oil.

by ossworkerrights 7y ago

asplake 7y ago
... and we’re dependent instead on rare earth elements and the like
- ossworkerrights 7y ago
  Indeed, one step at a time tho.
  - ianai 7y ago
    I wish society required manufacturers to provide reclamation of the resources used in their discarded products. Ie when I’m done with my car battery the lithium is reclaimed from it for future use by someone with all the info and resources necessary to do it efficiently. Make the regulation such that recycling is factored into the design process.
- jessaustin 7y ago
  The people of Bolivia have recently learned this to their great misfortune. The USA government hasn't even been shy about its support for that coup against a democratically elected leader who lifted so many out of poverty. The regime who took over celebrated the fact that they are white Christians and not brown natives.
  - Niten 7y ago
    "Democratically elected" is a really odd way to say "defied a referendum on term limits and rigged an election".
    - jessaustin 7y ago
      Even if that were true (it's not!), the coup plotters evicted him by threatening his sister's life, before his new term started.
  - perennate 7y ago
    The USA issued statements supporting the ousting of Morales. That was the extent of USA's involvement. That does not really make it a "USA backed coup". Unless you believe it just because that's what Morales claimed.
    - jessaustin 7y ago
      We might strongly suspect it, based only on the fact that CIA has done this in dozens of nations since the episode described in TFA. Or, you know, we could just pay any attention at all to actual journalism [0]. [0] https://thegrayzone.com/2019/11/13/bolivian-coup-plotters-school-of-the-americas-fbi-police-programs/ https://thegrayzone.com/2019/11/13/bolivian-coup-plotters-sc...
ianai 7y ago
One hope is for more stability. But I can imagine a duality where countries developed enough for EVs will decouple somewhat from countries developing on oil. This assumes oil remains vastly cheaper for under developed regions.
fulafel 7y ago
Just about all applications of oil and natural gas have similar features as their use in the transportation sector: other energy sources could be used, but they are more expensive. There are no circumstances in sight that would make oil/gas extraction uneconomical, especially in light of the rise of demand from developing countries. So we'll have to arrange for the oil extraction reductions using international agreements.
elfexec 7y ago
It's not about oil necessarily. It's about energy source or more generally - a valuable resource. If lithium batteries become the new "oil", then lithium rich countries will become targets and oil countries will be ignored. But I think oil will be valuable for many decades to come. Oil use is projected to increase worldwide by every regulatory body. As long as oil is valuable, we'll fight over it. If lithium becomes valuable, we'll fight over it. Times change, but sadly people remain the same. Especially the greedy elite.
- yorwba 7y ago
  > If lithium batteries become the new "oil", then lithium rich countries will become targets Like Afghanistan, for example: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mining_in_Afghanistan#Lithium https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mining_in_Afghanistan#Lithium
  - mensetmanusman 7y ago
    If lithium reaches a certain price point, then it will just be extracted from ocean water.
- ossworkerrights 7y ago
  I suppose asteroid mining would be a next step.
jeroenhd 7y ago
We'll still be dependent on materials like plastic. Entire categories of good production, like corn processing, depend on using parts of processed oil. Ships burn oil and they're not going to switch to electric any time soon. Our oil dependency isn't just about the cars we drive.

Curious how world politics will change once electric vehicles become mainstream and there is little need for oil.

asplake 7y ago

... and we’re dependent instead on rare earth elements and the like

ossworkerrights 7y ago
Indeed, one step at a time tho.
- ianai 7y ago
  I wish society required manufacturers to provide reclamation of the resources used in their discarded products. Ie when I’m done with my car battery the lithium is reclaimed from it for future use by someone with all the info and resources necessary to do it efficiently. Make the regulation such that recycling is factored into the design process.
jessaustin 7y ago
The people of Bolivia have recently learned this to their great misfortune. The USA government hasn't even been shy about its support for that coup against a democratically elected leader who lifted so many out of poverty. The regime who took over celebrated the fact that they are white Christians and not brown natives.
- Niten 7y ago
  "Democratically elected" is a really odd way to say "defied a referendum on term limits and rigged an election".
  - jessaustin 7y ago
    Even if that were true (it's not!), the coup plotters evicted him by threatening his sister's life, before his new term started.
- perennate 7y ago
  The USA issued statements supporting the ousting of Morales. That was the extent of USA's involvement. That does not really make it a "USA backed coup". Unless you believe it just because that's what Morales claimed.
  - jessaustin 7y ago
    We might strongly suspect it, based only on the fact that CIA has done this in dozens of nations since the episode described in TFA. Or, you know, we could just pay any attention at all to actual journalism [0]. [0] https://thegrayzone.com/2019/11/13/bolivian-coup-plotters-school-of-the-americas-fbi-police-programs/ https://thegrayzone.com/2019/11/13/bolivian-coup-plotters-sc...

ianai 7y ago

One hope is for more stability. But I can imagine a duality where countries developed enough for EVs will decouple somewhat from countries developing on oil. This assumes oil remains vastly cheaper for under developed regions.

fulafel 7y ago

Just about all applications of oil and natural gas have similar features as their use in the transportation sector: other energy sources could be used, but they are more expensive. There are no circumstances in sight that would make oil/gas extraction uneconomical, especially in light of the rise of demand from developing countries. So we'll have to arrange for the oil extraction reductions using international agreements.

elfexec 7y ago

It's not about oil necessarily. It's about energy source or more generally - a valuable resource. If lithium batteries become the new "oil", then lithium rich countries will become targets and oil countries will be ignored. But I think oil will be valuable for many decades to come. Oil use is projected to increase worldwide by every regulatory body. As long as oil is valuable, we'll fight over it. If lithium becomes valuable, we'll fight over it. Times change, but sadly people remain the same. Especially the greedy elite.

yorwba 7y ago
> If lithium batteries become the new "oil", then lithium rich countries will become targets Like Afghanistan, for example: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mining_in_Afghanistan#Lithium https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mining_in_Afghanistan#Lithium
- mensetmanusman 7y ago
  If lithium reaches a certain price point, then it will just be extracted from ocean water.
ossworkerrights 7y ago
I suppose asteroid mining would be a next step.

jeroenhd 7y ago

We'll still be dependent on materials like plastic. Entire categories of good production, like corn processing, depend on using parts of processed oil. Ships burn oil and they're not going to switch to electric any time soon. Our oil dependency isn't just about the cars we drive.