A study conducted in the US has come to conclusions which do not sit well with EV ownership depending on the source of energy. If an electric vehicle is powered via a coal powered power station the pollution results are worse than for a gasoline powered vehicle and cause 86% more deaths due to air pollution. “If it comes from coal, the electric cars produce 3.6 times more soot and smog deaths than gas, because of the pollution made in generating the electricity, according to the study that is published Monday by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.”
This is quite damming news for anyone powering their EV from a coal fired power plant – they are doing more harm than good. The ideal solution is powering from renewable energies if possible. The study also found that electric vehicles powered by natural gas power plants produce just half the air pollution health problems compared to gasoline powered vehicles. Read more here
For those in Australia and sunnier climates roof top solar is the perfect solution. With battery prices set to fall dramatically over the next couple of years due to the likes of Elon Musk’s Gigafactory, battery storage, vehicle to home connectivity and smart control systems will mean clean fuel and power.
Never let perfection be the enemy of the good. Roof top PV systems and emerging energy storage will help uncouple us from the Fossil Fuel Power generation. Centralized power companies can see their business model rapidly evaporating, will society need thousands of kilometers of high voltage power lines, will we be charging our cars at local shopping centres, will the car battery power the house. All exciting possibilities.
This is about building energy secure communities and it is happening now.
I’m considering buying a Nissan Leaf, and plan to purchase certified C3 GreenPower to cover the electricity used to power the car – that way, I’ll know that coal is not in the equation. With the government off in la-la-la climate denial land, the change has to come from ordinary Australians until the government catches up. I do wonder about that study, which seems to have got an awful lot of press coverage. When looking at petrol/diesel emissions, have they covered the whole life-cycle of liquid fuels, such as the mining, transporting, and processing, each step of which uses more energy and therefore causes more emissions and other pollution.
Hi Liz – yes the negative aspects are always given prominence by the press. But the study does seem quite rigorous – the author also states:
“To have large improvements in the environmental health impacts of transportation relative to our current technology — gasoline — you really need to switch to electric vehicles, and that electricity needs to be clean, or radical improvements need to be made in fuel economy,” study co-author Julian Marshall, an associate professor of environmental engineering at the University of Minnesota, said. Have a look at the following link:
http://www.climatecentral.org/news/electric-cars-mixed-bag-for-climate-18447 – this gives a more balanced viewpoint from the recent press coverage of the study. EVs are definitely the way forward but they do need to be charged up by renewable energy where possible. You are doing exactly the right thing by purchasing renewable power from your utility provider. The additional cost is minimal in comparison to the savings you will make from bypassing the petrol station and making redundant the servicing that internal combustion engines require. You’re quite right about governments and especially our current one – they are owned by the mining and fossil fuel industries and simply follow the wishes of their pay masters. As running your EV on renewable energy is cheap and easy, the whole argument about EVs being dirtier if run on coal, although valid, is a moot point. By the way the LEAF is a pleasure to drive – you’ll love it.
Thanks for the extra information. One further thought on the air pollution from petrol/diesel cars vs electric is where the pollution is occurring. A while back I was sitting at an outdoor café in CBD Sydney, and the traffic fumes and noise pollution of the ICE cars roaring past was quite unpleasant. With tailpipe emissions, we are often closely exposed to them, whether as a pedestrian or driving in traffic in our own cars. I think EVs will lead to much more pleasant cities once they become common, both quieter and less smelly.
Hi Liz – you’re dead right and it’s pretty disgusting. So much so that any type of outdoor exercise (bike riding, running etc.) is really quite dangerous due to PM2.5 and less. That’s particulate matter of 2.5 microns and below that lodge deep in the lungs and can seriously compromise health.
The quality of our air in the cities is so compromised that it is costing close to $4 billion dollars annually due to premature deaths and health imposts. I’ve just blogged about the study that was recently done – you can find it here:
http://myelectriccar.com.au/ev-best-environment/
“With the Mercedes-Benz B-Class vehicle being produced in both conventional gasoline format (the B-180) and recently all-electric drive format, the company commissioned a thorough and rigorous comparative assessment of carbon and other emissions of both these cars. Their independently certified report “Life Cycle: Environmental Certificate Mercedes-Benz B-Class Electric Drive” looked at carbon and other environmental impacts of vehicle production, fuel production (electricity and gasoline), operation and recycling across a projected vehicle life of 160,000km. Using a European Union electricity grid mix, total operational carbon emissions for the all-electric car was 11.9tonnes/vehicle (t/v) compared to 23.8t/v in the conventional B-180: a 50% reduction. Significantly, within the 23.8t/v carbon output of the conventional B-180, 3.8 tonnes was NOT attributed to tail pipe emissions but to carbon emissions associated with the production of gasoline for the proposed 160,000km travelled. This study also demonstrated that, if the B-Class all-electric was charged exclusively from a renewable energy source (hydro in this scenario) total operational carbon emissions were a miniscule 0.2t/v for 160,000km travelled. This is less than one hundredth of the 29.3t/vehicle for the gasoline powered B-180. Of course additional mileage, beyond the projected 160,000km, brings even greater environmental advantage to the all-electric car over the comparable gasoline-powered car.”
THE PROBLEM IS NOT WITH THE ELECTRIC CAR… IT’S WITH DIRTY ELECTRICITY PRODUCTION. It’s important to get the arrow of blame pointing in the right direction on this matter.
From “Supercharged Momentum: the century of the electric car” available free from the iTunes library.
Spot on John – with the recent announcement of Home Battery Storage by Tesla, the coming energy revolution just got a step closer. Solar, home storage and EVs are all disruptive technologies that will make redundant the old tech of ICE vehicles and centralised dirty power. With a bit of luck and more community involvement we may dodge the bullet of climate change or perhaps just get grazed by it on the way through.
Thanks EV Tech. I thoroughly agree that solar and battery storage will be burgeoning onto the market over the next 5 years – unless protectionist legislation obstructs such initiatives. I’m passionate about the integration of EVs with carbon free renewables. Currently run 5kW of solar and waiting on delivery of i3, so it will just be a big chunk of batteries to come after that.