dtucker300 Loc: Vista, CA

World Economic Forum calls to reduce private vehicles by eliminating 'ownership'


The World Economic Forum is looking to reduce global reliance on critical medals as nations looks to make the transition to renewable energy supplies, and one proposal is reducing ownership of private vehicles.

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"This transition from fossil fuels to renewables will need large supplies of critical metals such as cobalt, lithium, nickel, to name a few," the forum said in a report earlier this month. "Shortages of these critical minerals could raise the costs of clean energy technologies."

The international lobbying organization based in Switzerland has proposed three solutions for lowering the costs of critical metals used in everything from cellphones and electric vehicles to wind turbines and efficient lighting.

US SEEKS TO CHALLENGE CHINA ON RARE-EARTH ELEMENTS, KEY INGREDIENTS IN BIDEN'S ENERGY PLAN

The forum noted that even with recycling initiatives in place mineral mining is expected to increase by 500 percent by 2050.

"More sharing can reduce ownership of idle equipment and thus material usage," the group argued, pointing to statistics that show the average vehicle in England is driven "just 4 percent of the time."

Vehicle sharing initiatives like "Getaround" and "BlueSG" have become increasingly popular around the world and are key in reducing the number of cars and electronics needed globally, the forum argued.

OKLAHOMA SECURES AMERICA’S FIRST RARE EARTH METAL AND MANUFACTURING FACILITY OUTSIDE OF CHINA

Though it did not address how car sharing could be more effectively utilized in a nation like the U.S. where cars are heavily relied on and public transportation is lacking in both rural and urban communities.

The report also pointed out that most people around the world already have personal phones or computers but 39 percent of global workers are also provided laptops and mobile phones.

"This is not at all resource efficient," the report said. "Keeping a smartphone for five years instead of three reduces the phone’s annual carbon footprint by 31 percent."

The report said companies need to be incentivized to reward consumer longevity and encourage product repurposing to prevent new mines from being opened.

© REUTERS/Steve Marcus/File Photo FILE - A view of the MP Materials rare earth open-pit mine in Mountain Pass, California, Jan. 30, 2020. REUTERS/Steve Marcus/File Photo

keepuphope Loc: Idaho

They are literally the enemies of every human on earth and should be executed in my opinion.

nonalien1 Loc: Mojave Desert

With planned obsolescence it's the corporations that are causing people to replace cell phones and appliances well before they are done being useful. No body repairs old phones or appliances any more. It s impossible to find a battery for a 3 year old phone and now washing machines go bad because of faulty circuit boards and get scrapped when actually nothing is wrong with the motor or pump it just might not go to rinse cycle or something. Sometimes technology sucks. I bought a Jeep off a guy that was going to scrap it and all that was wrong with it was a shift solenoid in the transmission .25 bucks and it was on the road.

dtucker300 Loc: Vista, CA

Yup. I purposely drive older vehicles, 15 years or elder. They are easier to fix, I pay a lot less for insurance and vehicle taxes, and I have a smaller carbon footprint than if I was to purchase a new vehicle. I keep them in good running order and have never had a costly or inconvenient breakdown. I had to replace a shift solenoid a few years ago on my father's 1996 Ford Ranger. It wasn't that difficult to do and made a huge difference in his gas mileage and performance. If the dealer of a shop had done the work it probably would have cost $400 minimum. The cost of the solenoid, replaced with new ATF, and it was good to go. And it isn't hard to find good parts for cars from the 1990s and 2000s. The only time I encountered a big problem was on a 1994 Ford E350 motorhome that had a bad ECM. Being a CA vehicle and the RV 20 years old, there were no parts available anywhere that were CA compliant. I had to have the computer module rebuilt instead. A bit expensive but when you consider the cost of obtaining a newer RV it was a good deal. It runs like a champ the last 8 years.

Interestingly, the cell phone manufacturers such as Apple have a huge profit margin (25%) compared to oil companies (6-8%). But everyone wants to complain about oil companies gouging customers when it is our Idiot-in-chief who won't let them drill for oil that has raised the prices. The refineries are running at 100%. wait until there is a shutdown for maintenance or repairs needed and watch the price jump up again. These clowns in D.C. try to take credit for the recent drop in gas prices yet said they have no control over the rapid rise in price because its a commodity that responds to the world market. Typical democrat doubletalk.

Big Kahuna

The demorats have upped their stupid games. They speak triple talk and quadruple talk nowadays. They changed the meaning of "recession" to fit their lousy economy which is putting the middle class in poverty row, starving babies and children and even making it impossible to buy food and meet rent expenses. To these Democrat scum politicians the word "recession" is a good word and means a strong economy while they live like kings and queens off the taxpayers money while working deals with the Chicoms Maybe we could change the word "congressmen" to "unemployed" and throw the rift raft out of our government.

son of witless

None of this will work.

TexaCan Loc: Homeward Bound!

Lord please forgive us!………..I second that opinion!

F.D.R.

Like all of the Progressives stupid climate idea's switching to bicycles won't help the environment. Think of all the CO2 omissions from all the huffing and puffing.

jack sequim wa Loc: Blanchard, Idaho

Thank Jesus for grace in our imperfect tents.
I had twice suggested the fat boy laugh a nuke over D.C when all politicians were present.

American Dad adult cartoon had an episode on the Rapture.
They showed people over cities rising up in the air, then switched to Las Vegas and a single whistle sound an one (1) person in the entire Las Vegas was Rapture.

Riddle me this,
So if a nuke went off in D.C how many innocent would have died?

God bless you and forgive me,

Wonttakeitanymore

But more guns

Wonttakeitanymore

Buy more guns!

Wonttakeitanymore

Paid 1200 for my tv a few years back! It died in a couple years, paid 400 from a crook repair dude that said replacement parts warranties. It died again, when I called him he said it was different parts and wanted to charge same! The same tv was now selling for under 400 at Walmart! I told him to keep it! Sucker prob resold for 400! Sometimes it just doesn’t pay to fix! Except if it’s Maytag or whirlpool

TexaCan Loc: Homeward Bound!

Well…………I guess the question (another question, that is!) is anyone innocent? As a Christian, we know that none are innocent…….Especially in D.C.! 😂

I missed this post! My IPAD will not pick up my Email! I don’t know what is wrong with it. I have to check my Watched Topics everyday and I’m missing some responses. My son-in-law couldn’t find the problem and he’s a computer tech in a local school system! 🤷🏻‍♀️