Could complete EV Conversion Actually Help Save The Planet?
By Dalton Gregory
Short answer: NO
Not until they are charged using electricity from 100% green sources.
THE EFFECTS OF EVS ON THE POWER GRID
With more and more EVs on the road, this raises questions about the effects of electric cars on the power grid. Assuming two drivers making a 14-mile commute twice a day 5 days a week and 30 miles of other travel:
“The total power consumption for a typical two car household will increase by 250% solely to charge their electric cars”
EV charging will likely also reshape the electricity load curve. This will mostly be due to an increase in evening peak loads when people charge their EVs at night but will increase load across the board.
Ultimately this will force utilities to increase burning of fossil fuels to compensate for the increased consumption as grid-tied solar does not output in the evening and wind power does not produce reliable output throughout the day; All renewable grid-tied system require years(or decades) to scale and are inevitably encumbered with red-tape and regulatory hinderances.
Image: The Typical process of electrical energy production using fossil fuels
THE CARBON FOOTPRINT OF FOSSIL FUEL DELIVERY
The CO2 emissions of moving fossil fuels from the well or mine to ultimate use by utility power providers is one element that is frequently overlooked in emissions calculations.
This involves mining and transporting to be refined then transporting to storage, and then the logistics of even more transporting of the refined fuels to their retail destination where a large percentage will be used for - no surprise here - transporting more fossil fuels! Then there are accidents, spills, and other environmental effects consequent from the production and transportation of fossil fuels.
Image: Typical Coal Refinement Process Flow Chart
As you can see from the diagram, fossil fuels move around a lot. The carbon footprint of the pumping, refinement, disposal, and transportation of fossil fuels + byproducts can range from about 0.4. kilograms per litre to 0.8 kilograms per litre. This CO2 equivalent includes not only CO2 but also other global warming gases such as methane. These emissions make up a large percentage of the total CO2 produced by burning fossil fuels.
//Disregard previous opinions - grid electricity pollutes as much as burning fossil fuels.
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