[audio:http://wamcradio.org/EarthWise/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/EW-02-20-13-Green-Car.mp3|titles=EW 02-20-13 Green Car]
A primary reason to drive an electric car is to save energy and, in particular, reduce the amount of carbon going into the atmosphere. It is a fact that driving a mile using electricity uses less energy than driving a mile using gasoline. It is also true that running an electric engine doesn’t produce carbon emissions.
However, the electricity used to run an electric car must be generated somehow and that process is generally not carbon-free.
On the contrary, in most places, generating electricity is a carbon-laden business based on oil, coal, or natural gas. For example, states like Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia and Wyoming get more than 90% of their electricity from burning coal. Closer to home, Ohio gets more than 80% of its power from coal.
On the other hand, New York has some of the least carbon-based electricity in the country. A combination of hydroelectric power, nuclear power, and wind and solar resources result in New York electricity being 51% carbon-free. New Jersey is about the same.
Legislation across the country establishing statewide Renewable Energy Portfolios will gradually increase the “greening of the grid”.
But in the meantime, in most places if you want to run your new plug-in car on the cleanest fuel possible, you either need to put solar panels on your roof to make your own electricity, or at least opt for a supplier of renewable energy from your local utility.
Web Links
Vehicle Technologies Office
http://www1.eere.energy.gov/vehiclesandfuels/facts/2012_fotw753.html
Photo, taken on March 1, 2011, courtesy of Toyota Motor Europe via Flickr.
Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio. Support for Earth Wise comes from the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook, NY, with partial support from the Field Day Foundation.