Electric Cars Not Yet Free of CO2 Emissions
Electric cars emit gases indirectly if they use widely available power from fossil fuel electric plants which burn coal, natural gas and petroleum and release greenhouse gases including carbon dioxide.
A comparison of electric cars from manufacturers Tesla and Mini - using data about electricity from coal powered electric plants in the U.S. - shows that they would effectively emit more carbon dioxide than hybrid cars from Honda and Toyota over a travel distance of 100 miles.
The carbon dioxide emissions were derived from the electric vehicles' respective battery capacities and estimated full charge driving distances as well as fuel powered cars' current government miles per gallon ratings.
In a 100 mile drive, an all-electric Tesla Roadster would require an average of 21.72 kilowatt hours of energy, the equivalent of having using a medium-sized air conditioning unit operating for 21 hours.
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A comparison of electric cars from manufacturers Tesla and Mini - using data about electricity from coal powered electric plants in the U.S. - shows that they would effectively emit more carbon dioxide than hybrid cars from Honda and Toyota over a travel distance of 100 miles.
The carbon dioxide emissions were derived from the electric vehicles' respective battery capacities and estimated full charge driving distances as well as fuel powered cars' current government miles per gallon ratings.
In a 100 mile drive, an all-electric Tesla Roadster would require an average of 21.72 kilowatt hours of energy, the equivalent of having using a medium-sized air conditioning unit operating for 21 hours.
story continued
posted by anthony m, at Friday, February 20, 2009
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