It's true EVs aren't perfect, by any means. But I did notice you don't have the same kind of comparative data that you use for ebooks vs print books when you talk about EV vs. ICE. So here it is: https://www.jdpower.com/cars/shopping-guides/environmental-impact-of-evs-vs-gas-cars Bottom line: for all their flaws, EVs are still better than ICE environmentally. That gap will widen as the technology improves. It's not clear that ICE can improve in the same way. ICE certainly work better environmentally than they did in the beginning, but I don't know if there's much room for additional improvement.
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That's been an argument for a lot of things and it doesn't always work out.
Take recycling, for example. The push for recycling paper began in earnest in the 90s. It was known back then that virgin paper had a lower environmental impact than recycled paper. To recycle paper, the paper had to be collected, it had to be transported, it had to be cleaned and processed and then made into paper again. It was actually worse to recycle paper than produce new paper, but the push continued for recycled paper because, it was argued, as recycling increased, the collection, transportation and processing and such would be less impactful and, eventually, be better. Well, here we are some thirty years later and it's not much better. The article you posted a link to earlier basically concedes that paper recycling only keeps paper out of landfills but still has a negative impact on the environment.
So, that's what I'm mindful of here with electric vehicles. The lithium batteries alone are problematic on multiple levels from their production to the rigors of actual use. Plus, our electric grid isn't equipped to deal with an influx of electric vehicles. Likely by the time any infrastructure may be in place to deal with lithium batteries on a large scale, new technology may have emerged that makes them obsolete.
A lot of what goes into producing "green" energy is far from green and safe. I think it makes sense to rethink and possibly put a pause on some of these things until better technology is available.
Also, the comparison between carbon emissions for book publishing vs. ebooks isn't really a fair comparison because you a very focused emission figure (0.9% for paper pulp and printing) vs. a general figure that covers all data center activity (1-4%). The question is, how much of that data center activity is caused by ebooks? I can't find a figure, but it's certainly far less than the total amount.
That's true but it's difficult to find a figure just for eBooks. And, still, the data center infrastructure is required to support eBooks. When a book is printed, it's only using resources while it is printed. When it's done, it's done. Flipping pages to read it, that's all you. You can power yourself with fruits and vegetables. With the data centers, those are running 24/7/365. And, every time you want to read an eBook, you will need electricity. With a paper book, you only need electricity to read at night or indoors in a windowless room.
Printing presses existed before electricity, as did paper mills. So, while extremely rare these days, a paper book could be produced entirely without electricity. The typesetting would take a long time because you'd have to go back to wood or metal type, but it's possible.
Try running a data center without electricity.
Personally, I love paper and own an enormous number of paper books. For me, the breaking point was storage space, which became an issue at about the time ebooks were emerging. For some research purposes, it's also faster to search an ebook than a paper one. In addition, it may be easier to find an ebook (all in the same place) than remember where a particular print book is. These are also issues the article that started the thread doesn't really address.
I still prefer paper books but eBooks definitely have advantages. I just don't think we should pretend the environment is one of them. As you said, they are easier to search. Plus, you can adjust the text size to your liking. And you can use "dark mode" too if that's your thing. And it's easier to take your entire library with you where ever you go.
