Environmental threat from electric cars.

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Permalink Reply by David Barry on October 17, 2012 at 18:36

Err two quite separate issues here I think:-

1. Does PRODUCTION of an electric car have a greater environmental impact than producing a non electric car? (I do not see why this would be so, unless there are issues associated with production of the battery). I would be interested to learn more on this point.

2. What are the emissions of the total system of a car running on electricity and a car running on, say, diesel?

Here the answer depends on how the electricity is generated in the first place, which in fact the article quoted makes clear. If you are using electricity generated a long way away in a coal fired powerstation then, overall there would be a greater level of emission than by burning diesel "on site" in the car. 

BUT in this country electricity is generated as follows

gas 41 per cent

Coal 29 per cent 

nuclear 18 per cent

Hydro 5 per cent

Wind  4 per cent

Imports 2 per cent ( a significant part of which is French Nuclear)

Oil 1 per cent

(source DECC and quoted in the FT  October 6)

There is, at present only a little solar.

Now, a few years ago it used to be said, that in this country the emissions per mile of an electric car were actually about the same as a diesel. Except that of course all the emissions took place at various power stations, and the car itself emitted nothing. On that basis in a City like London it would be worth encouraging electric cars as that would mean, that although the total pollution is the same, it does not happen in a concentrated way in the street. With diesel there is a serious problem with particulates and with all internal combustion cars there are Nitrous Oxide emissions, which in London, causes deaths from heart disease every year. So there would still be an improvement.

However because batteries have improved, as has motor design, so the electricity used more efficiently - less wasted - and a change in the generating mix away from coal and oil, the overall level of pollution should now be less. Buy your electricity from someone like Ecotricity, and the outcome even better....

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Permalink Reply by David Barry on October 17, 2012 at 18:50

For example the electricity generated at the new Ashmount@Crouch Hill Park Site  is an example of combined heat and power, running on  a mixture of gas and biomass and so will be very low emission. You could regard it as low emission heat and zero emission power.

There is more info about the project here

Finsbury people story

Doesnt say that much about the combined heat and power so here is something Islington said about it

"

Ashmount School is a negative carbon development. Energy efficiency was maximised by optimising form, maximising the insulation and the amount of exposed thermal mass, minimising room depths and designing for daylight. Other features include natural ventilation and daylight linked occupancy sensitive lighting. To service the remaining energy demand in the lowest carbon manner, the best solution was found to be to host a community energy centre (CHP and biomass) on the school site, designed to provide all the heating and some of the electricity for the site and the existing adjacent residential block, Coleman Mansions. The proposed energy centre will reduce the carbon footprint of the school site by 50%. By supplying heat to Coleman Mansions, the development will actually be carbon negative - that is to say the scheme will save more carbon by providing a more efficient energy supply to Coleman Mansions (168 tonnes CO2 saved per annum) than is used on the school site (92 tonnes CO2 per annum)"

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Permalink Reply by David Barry on October 17, 2012 at 22:45

..and my point is of course that if you ran an electric car off that power output then it would be zero emission, in the same way as if you paid the highest ecotricity "renewables only" tariff.

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