Comments on: Electric Cars Run on Coal, But are They Cleaner than Gas?

By: CARazed , Archive » Consider The Total Carbon Footprint – Coal Partially Powers Electric Cars

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 02:29:03 +0000

[...] If you’re thinking about an electric car in your future you might want to read this article on Twilight Earth that addresses the concerns that much of our electricity comes from burning coal. It is important [...]

By: Chris

Chris — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 13:51:53 +0000

One thing we absolutely need to address is the country’s power grids. Regardless of our where the power comes from (coal to sun…) the mix of decent to downright archaic power grids spanning the country (and the globe) wastes a lot of energy. This is also something our gov’t should be pushing.

This is not the most solution filled post but gives you and idea….

http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/magazine/17-04/gp_intro

By: Adam Shake

Adam Shake — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 21:17:16 +0000

I agree with you Tim, and really respect your opinion. I’ve read a lot of your work.

I would have liked to explore how renewable energies can fit into an electric vehicle future, a little further, but for sake of length, I did not. As you know, this is a very complex issue, and we will continue to cover it from all angles.

The regional variations in reference to current energy mix and how that equates to possible interplays into a smart grid is something that I look forward to writing on.

For those of you who don’t know Tim, I’ve been a secret fan of his for a long time, and he can be found at http://ecopolitology.org/

Thanks for the comment Tim.

By: hannah

hannah — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 19:58:48 +0000

http://www.benzeneleukemialawblog.com/2009/05/articles/benzene/informationnews/natural-gas-drilling-pollution-debate-heats-up-around-marcellus-shale/

because i live in both oil and gas drilling areas, this is of concern to me. socalled clean natural gas is maybe not.

By: Tim Hurst

Tim Hurst — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 19:46:30 +0000

Good arguments Adam, though I don’t fully agree with your initial premise: “In order for a car to run, something has to be burned.” While I agree with you that, at base, something is likely burned in the manufacturing of every vehicle, the fuel used to power electric vehicles are not necessarily coal. You start exploring that towards the end of the piece, but while this country gets roughly 50% of its electricity from coal, some regions have much lower percentages of coal in their energy portfolios (I’m looking at you Oregon and Washington).

Now, I’m not sure about the assumptions made in the GAO report (i.e whether that was a comparison of 100% coal v. 100% petroleum), but to reduce this complex issue down to a coal v. gasoline debate misses regional variations in our current energy mix and where we are heading with it in the future.

By: Adam Shake

Adam Shake — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 19:31:44 +0000

Solar groupies,

I’m all for rooftop pv coatings on cars. Prius is experimenting with it right now. They may not make the car “go” but they may be able to power vital systems like A/C, windows etc… that would act as a power drag on the battery.

By: Adam Shake

Adam Shake — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 19:28:51 +0000

Good to know David,

I didnt run CNG (clean natural gas) through the equation in the article, but alternatives and choice is good.

By: Adam Shake

Adam Shake — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 19:27:46 +0000

You are very welcome Karen. Good luck with the electric car next year. Still better than gas and they will be even better when charged with renewable energy!

By: Karen Maskall

Karen Maskall — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 19:24:45 +0000

Phew…for a minute there I was getting concerned till I read further down the post about wind powered electricity to charge the cars. It all makes total sense.

Yes yes yes we must all keep up the good fight. Same with any product we buy. Spend some time to check every angle as best as you can. And the earth will continue to flourish. It’s definitely time to stop being fooled by all this very very clever greenwash.

I am hoping for an electric car in the next year …. my fuelling supplier will be checked out thoroughly.

Great post and some good links too! Thanks Karen

By: David Herron

David Herron — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 19:15:46 +0000

EV’s are important because of the flexibility they introduce. Electrons can come from anything source of electricity, not just coal. For example a recent report I looked at (”Well-to-Wheels Analysis of Biofuels and Plug-In Hybrids” from Argonne Labs) had a table of various “fuels” and emissions, showing yes that EV’s on a coal mix of electricity have only modest emissions savings, but EV’s on the “California mix” (high in natural gas) have huge emissions savings.