Can Coal-Powered Cars Be Clean?

by John DeCicco

Comparing apples-to-apples based on the gasoline vs. electric Mini Cooper

In recent months, sky-high mile-per-gallon ratings have been bandied about for some upcoming electric vehicles. Skeptics point out that swapping oil-based gasoline for coal-based electricity just moves pollution around, without reducing it much if at all.

For example, General Motors recently claimed a 230 mpg rating for Chevy Volt plug-in hybrid, prompting Nissan to twitter that their Leaf EV would rate 367 mpg. The blogosphere is cluttered with off-the-cuff retorts such as the Environmental Economics experts, who asked, “What is the EPA mppc (miles per pound of coal) for the Volt when running off the electric engine?”

Indeed, half of US electricity still comes from coal. That’s an improvement from decades past, when coal’s share of power generation was near 60 percent. Some states such as California, a long-time booster of cars that can run on electricity and other alt fuels, have cleaner power than average. Nonetheless, per unit of energy delivered to a car’s tank or battery, even California electricity entails more greenhouse gas emissions than petroleum fuel. On a national average, BTU-per-BTU basis, electricity is 1.7 times as planet-polluting as gasoline.

Source: Near-term estimates from GREET 1.8; Farrel, et al. (2006) for ethanol with credit.

read more

Popularity: unranked [?]

Share and Enjoy:

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
•