Electric Cars are no Greener than Diesel - Claims Danmark
Danish Petroleum Industry Association has recently finished a study in collaboration with consultancy company Ea Energy Analyses. They compared the level of CO2 emissions of different cars: petrol, diesel, electric cars and hybrids to find out which one will be the best for the environment.
Surprisingly, when it comes to CO2 emissions, there’s not much to separate electric cars and diesels. According to the study, CO2 emissions from hybrids and electric cars are similar, while diesel cars emit 8% more CO2. Emissions from petrol cars are around 35% higher compared with electric cars. Unfortunately, this study focuses on the good old CO2 and forgets about different kinds of pollution and eco-disruption.
The main problem is that the majority of global consumption of electricity is generated in coal plants. Electric cars will start making a difference when we switch to a greener electricity. According to the study around 5% of the electricity will be renewable by 2015. It could rise to 15% by 2025 - and that’s when we will really start seeing benefits of driving an e-car.
That is quite a pessimistic (yet realistic) approach to the matter. Please remember that if you switch to green energy today (by installing photovoltaic panels on your roof) your green motoring starts today and not in 2025.
A few months ago we discussed the findings of National Academy of Sciences concluding that the impact of hybrid cars will be insignificant by 2030.
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