re: #174 goddamnedfrank

Do you really think it’s just that easy? That simply purchasing emissions controls makes burning dirty fuel the same as clean fuel?

For one thing industrial emissions controls aren’t free, or even cheap. Those technologies largely depend on the rare precious metals Platinum and Palladium to work. For another, at even 5% the sheer volume of fuel that a developing economy like China consumes adds up.

There’s a reason that California demands it’s own blends of cleaner burning gasoline. A lot of cars couldn’t meet our stringent emissions standards without it.

Those rare precious metals are catalysts. That means they recycle almost completely. No these things are not cheap. Nothing about industrial scale energy is cheap. Not the copper for lines, the hardware to drill, not the refineries themselves.