Are electric cars bad for the environment? | Leo Hickman | Environment | guardian.co.uk
article, good comments, like this one;, i would add that the refineres use a lot of electricity to produce gasoline and diesel, is this factured into the mix??
informative
The core matter to be addressed is: does the pollution from the production process outweigh usage pollution of EV vs. Petrol/Diesel powered cars?
In the section 'Global Warming Potential' the study states 'for all scenarios analyzed, the use phase is responsible for the majority of the GWP impact, either directly through fuel combustion or indirectly during electricity production'.
Although the study states that 'in contrast with ICEVs, almost half of an EV's life cycle GWP is associated with its production', it also says that 'when powered by average European electricity, EVs are found to reduce GWP by 20% to 24% compared to gasoline ICEVs and by 10% to 14% relative to diesel ICEVs under the base case assumption of a 150,000 km vehicle lifetime'.
The conclusion of the study implies that the problem lies with the 'electricity mix' which powers EVs. This, however, is a flawed argument since EVs run on electricity from different possible sources (green, nuclear, biogas,...), not necessarily coal powered. In contrast, petrol/diesel-cars only run on oil.
See Adam Vaughan comment and link (above) to a most interesting article.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/jul/31/motoring.energy
informative
The core matter to be addressed is: does the pollution from the production process outweigh usage pollution of EV vs. Petrol/Diesel powered cars?
In the section 'Global Warming Potential' the study states 'for all scenarios analyzed, the use phase is responsible for the majority of the GWP impact, either directly through fuel combustion or indirectly during electricity production'.
Although the study states that 'in contrast with ICEVs, almost half of an EV's life cycle GWP is associated with its production', it also says that 'when powered by average European electricity, EVs are found to reduce GWP by 20% to 24% compared to gasoline ICEVs and by 10% to 14% relative to diesel ICEVs under the base case assumption of a 150,000 km vehicle lifetime'.
The conclusion of the study implies that the problem lies with the 'electricity mix' which powers EVs. This, however, is a flawed argument since EVs run on electricity from different possible sources (green, nuclear, biogas,...), not necessarily coal powered. In contrast, petrol/diesel-cars only run on oil.
See Adam Vaughan comment and link (above) to a most interesting article.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/jul/31/motoring.energy