Environmental Lift of Battery Cars Is Limited
Wall Street Journal
October 18, 2010
by Mike Ramsey
Electric cars, advocates say, are harbingers of a green, emission-free future, helping cut greenhouse gases and smog. Yet the environmental benefits of electric vehicles will be limited for years because most will be recharged by electricity produced by coal- and gas-fired power plants.
That means the ecological gain from driving an all-electric car—and putting up with its high cost, recharging time and limited driving range—likely won't be much greater than driving a hybrid gas-electric vehicle such as the Toyota Motor Corp. Prius, which keeps going as long as the gas tank is filled, experts say.
People who drive a hybrid or all-electric vehicle both will cut greenhouse gas emissions by 30% when compared with a traditional internal combustion engine in most areas of the U.S., according to separate studies by the Department of Energy's Argonne National Research Center and the Electric Power Research Institute, which is funded in part by the power industry.
This so-called wells-to-wheels analysis, which looks at the carbon footprint of plug-in cars, comes into play as the Environmental Protection Agency is considering new fuel-economy and pollution window stickers for automobiles.
The first draft of new rules regarding how auto makers will advertise fuel economy leaves out the broader "carbon footprint" of an electric car, so it gives electrics top marks for environmental impact. But the agency is holding hearings on the matter and could broaden the carbon disclosure to the detriment of electric vehicles, said Cathy Milbourn, an EPA spokeswoman.
The allure of electric vehicles, in part, is their ability to curb use of fossil fuels. But about two-thirds of the country's electricity comes from coal-fired or natural-gas-fed power plants, which spew out pollutants including greenhouse gases.
Full article at link.
Wall Street Journal
October 18, 2010
by Mike Ramsey
Electric cars, advocates say, are harbingers of a green, emission-free future, helping cut greenhouse gases and smog. Yet the environmental benefits of electric vehicles will be limited for years because most will be recharged by electricity produced by coal- and gas-fired power plants.
That means the ecological gain from driving an all-electric car—and putting up with its high cost, recharging time and limited driving range—likely won't be much greater than driving a hybrid gas-electric vehicle such as the Toyota Motor Corp. Prius, which keeps going as long as the gas tank is filled, experts say.
People who drive a hybrid or all-electric vehicle both will cut greenhouse gas emissions by 30% when compared with a traditional internal combustion engine in most areas of the U.S., according to separate studies by the Department of Energy's Argonne National Research Center and the Electric Power Research Institute, which is funded in part by the power industry.
This so-called wells-to-wheels analysis, which looks at the carbon footprint of plug-in cars, comes into play as the Environmental Protection Agency is considering new fuel-economy and pollution window stickers for automobiles.
The first draft of new rules regarding how auto makers will advertise fuel economy leaves out the broader "carbon footprint" of an electric car, so it gives electrics top marks for environmental impact. But the agency is holding hearings on the matter and could broaden the carbon disclosure to the detriment of electric vehicles, said Cathy Milbourn, an EPA spokeswoman.
The allure of electric vehicles, in part, is their ability to curb use of fossil fuels. But about two-thirds of the country's electricity comes from coal-fired or natural-gas-fed power plants, which spew out pollutants including greenhouse gases.
Full article at link.
