Why using electric car/scooter is more friendly to environment, despite that (high percentage) electric is made by burning fuel or coal?
In: Technology
Because even if the electricity comes from fossil fuels, a plant can convert it much more efficiently compared to a car engine. Think about it, your engine would keep running even when you’re stuck in traffic / idling. It needs to function over a wider speed range, portions of which it wouldn’t be efficient at.
Also, most importantly, using EVs opens up opportunities to use cleaner sources of energy in the future.
Gasoline engines are very inefficient. Maybe 20% on a good day. Electric motors in cars are in the 98% range iirc, and gasoline power plants are more like 40% efficient. Add to that the fact that a lot of power comes from solar, wind, and nukes, and you have a pretty substantial reduction in carbon footprint.
Because even if you account for the contribution of fossil fuels to the energy an EV uses, [99% of the US’ population](https://blog.ucsusa.org/dave-reichmuth/new-data-show-electric-vehicles-continue-to-get-cleaner) live in places where driving a Model 3 will yield lower per-mile emissions than even a Prius. In Europe, EVs [also realize significantly lower lifecycle emissions than diesels](https://www.transportenvironment.org/press/electric-cars-emit-less-co2-over-their-lifetime-diesels-even-when-powered-dirtiest-electricity).
And yes even mining for the ores required for the batteries is more friendly to the environment than pure oil.
Power plants burn fuel continuously which produces less pollutants from cyclical flashes in piston engine, they also have better control of burning proces, and have enough space for good exhaust filters.
Generally electric cars are better for our health, because they don’t pollute our streets, and that most important factor.
In terms of CO2 emissions, it depends, in areas with heavy use of coal produced power, bio-fuel and CNG (natural gas) powered cars can have less CO2 footprint then electric ones.
Electric cars aren’t burning the fossil fuels, the power plants are. It’s the power plants that pollute. Changing to renewable electricity sources solves the pollution problems for electric cars but has no effect for conventional cars.
In addition to these other reasons: consider HOW the gasoline gets to the gas station before you put in your tank.
1. It takes about 1/16th of a gallon of oil to refine crude to its other forms like gasoline for every gallon of gas.
2. 2. That gasoline doesn’t just flow to your gas station in most cases (pipelines.) It takes a tanker truck. That truck uses fossil fuels to run. That tanker takes a petroleum product to cool its engine, reduced friction in its wheels, axles, transmission and drive gears and “fifth wheel”. These are all fossil fuel products and they all evaporate (to a small degree) when the truck is used to haul your gas.
3. Multiply that by 10’s of THOUSANDS of these trucks every day and it adds up.
Also consider this. Lets say that the plant that is burning the fossil fuel is located just outside the city. The emissions created would not affect the city’s own air quality as compared to having all of the pollution coming from each car within the city.
Latest Answers