[fian]

To counter the counter: solar/wind as an energy source for non-tethered transport (ie cars that require batteries) needs raw materials for the batteries. This will require mining of lithium and other minerals. This also has land use impacts.

There are serious challenges to recycling or repurposing lithium batteries:

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-019-1682-5

Granted there might be another battery breakthrough that could resolve this:

https://www.androidauthority.com/graphene-batteries-explaine...

At this stage, we should be exploring all options as some are likely not to pan out as expected.

[h0l0cube]

The main issue with ethanol production is the supply constraint, and for that reason it remains a niche product as it's far cheaper to extract oil from the ground. There are perhaps other promising bio-fuel production methods with higher yields, with respect to land use.

Hybrid vehicles are still an economical option, preferably paired with high-efficiency ICEs, and could tide us over until better energy storage options become available.