Electric cars: clean enough?

Many believe electric cars could be a solution to reducing our dependence on fossil fuels. However, a recent study says that might not be the case.
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BY MIRANDA WHEATLEY

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When it comes to slowing down global warming and reducing our dependence on fossil fuels many believe electric cars could be a solution. However, a recent study released by Oxford University says that might not be the case.

Self-proclaimed ‘clean energy wonk’ William Pentland analyzed the study on his blog for Forbes.com, he wrote…

“Electric cars are not a silver bullet solution for global warming, but could they actually be part of the problem? In some developing countries, the answer is likely ‘yes’…”

Pentland’s post -- and its dramatic headline -- took off -- reappearing on several sites including...

Red Dog Report, Australian Climate Madness, and Fox Nation.

But a contributing writer for National Geographic says the headline is misleading.

“Holy Turnaround, Batman. Does That Mean We Should Stick With Our Gasoline-Sucking Mobiles? No. First off, Pentland downplays the authors’ finding that despite the higher carbon intensity of China’s and India’s electricity, only in some scenarios do petroleum-powered vehicles emit less CO2 than their electric-powered equivalents.”

The actual study compared the emissions of traditional internal combustion engines to battery electric vehicles of similar models in several different countries.

The researchers found that in countries with high carbon dioxide emissions such as China and India -- it all comes down to the source of the electricity. If it’s not a clean source charging the vehicle -- like coal-powered electricity -- emissions will be higher. The United States came in slightly better -- and France -- who gets nearly 80% of its power from nuclear energy -- came in on top. (Science Direct)

The study completed by Oxford University only looked at electric vehicles, not hybrids and compared vehicles of roughly the same size and power. A different study recently released by MIT suggests hybrid vehicles have slightly lower emissions than electric. To see more of that study, visit the link in our transcript section.

Oxford study

MIT study

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