How are electric cars cleaner? doesn't producing electricity create greenhouse gases as well?

Question

How are electric cars cleaner? doesn't producing electricity create greenhouse gases as well?

Answer 1

The deal is to combine electric cars with alternative energy; nuclear, solar, wind.  It's a system.

Answer 2

Producing electricity in large generators is more efficient than burning gasoline in a small automobile engine. Therefore electric cars are cleaner even though they do consume electricity from the grid and producing that electricity does create greenhouse gasses as well. Also it is worth noting that over 28% of US electricity is produced by non-fossil fuel sources. This is the single most important reason that electric cars are cleaner than internal combustion cars.

Update -

According to the new Kelly Blue Book the Prius has one of the highest resale values of any car.

http://hybridreview.blogspot.com/2007/04...

Also the Nickel Metal Hydride battery they use is fully recyclable and contains no heavy metal waste.

Answer 3

While Nuclear power has been a favorite amongst energy reformists for years, the public refuses to overlook even unlikely problems, especially when reminded of incidents like taht of the Chernoble meltdown disaster, or the supposed unconfirmed meltdown and toxic radiation levels of Three Mile Island. In the end the consumers decide Nuclear Power simply poses too great a risk.

As for the issue of the production of electricty causing greenhouse gasses, studies on the actual amount of green house gasses and their link to global warming and climatic pollution have consistently proved inconclusive. One conclusion that has remained persistent is that the weight of pollution effected is far less than that of the typical internal combustion vehicle, especially when multiplied by the myriad of said vehicles on the road. Even a slight change in atmospheric disturbance, per vehicle, when multiplied by the scale of consumption, would make a drastic difference.

This is the primary reason why, althought electric cars has still been shwn to pollute, it is still an fovorable alternative to current vehicle engine systems.

Answer 4

I dont think that they are really

They are not as efficent as fuel cars due to weight of the batteries true they need power to charge and even though the idea is that they will be charged off clean energy thats a long way away, and the batteries only last a few years then have to be replaced which leads to toxic waste which needs to be disposed of

Sort of like how nuclear power is supposed to be green but there is tons of nuclear waste left over

I think biodiesel is the way as its cyclic as well as fuel cells they are only a few years away from being mass produced

Answer 5

The theory is that electricity will be produced by some "carbon neutral" or non-carbon dioxide generating means such as hydro-electric, nuclear, solar or wind.  Fact is, 75% of electricity in the US is from either coal (51%) or some other fossil fuel (oil/gas).

Another factor ignored is the amount of heavy-metal water and air pollution created from a battery-based power system.  This is just coming to light as Prius owners see resale values crash due to replacement battery costs.  Once the actual environmental impact costs finally catch up with perceived savings, everyone will see just how dumb an idea this is.

What IS advantageous about electric cars is that the pollution created from power generation can be in someone else's backyard.  In other words, away from the population centers.  Out of sight - out of mind!

That said, I do believe that someday a practical battery system (maybe charging but more likely swapping) will be developed and become as convenient to use as gasoline is now.  Imagine a system where you don't own the batteries in your car.  You drive through the "filling station" (which will look more like a carwash) and the batteries are automatically removed and replaced with fresh ones.  The process would be faster than filling with gasoline.  When you drive off your old battery will go into a machine that will check it for quality then recharge it.  A stack of already recharged batteries will be waiting for the next customer.

Ultimately what will solve all our energy problems is FUSION.

Answer 6

U are right but CO2 is not as critical as previously thought. The CO2 is removed by plants and photosynthesis.

Answer 7

Electric cars are cleaner because they are much more efficient than gas vehicles. Greater efficiency means more miles on less fuel - more miles on less fuel means less pollution, even if dirty fuels are burned. But we are even luckier than that, because not all electricity comes from dirty fuel.

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The quickest proof of the efficiency argument is right in the fuel prices. I happen to drive an electric car, which gets about 4 miles to the kilowatt-hour. A KWH of  off-peak electricity sells for 3 to 10 cents per KWH. Do the math - that's only a penny or two per mile. Gasoline costs 5 to 10 times more than this, and is steadily increasing.

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Electricity costs less than gasoline because it is more efficienty produced, distributed, and utilized. And this leads to far less pollution.

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