http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/44010
This
article discusses the degree of pollution involved in using different modes of
transportation, particularly electric cars versus gasoline-powered cars.
Although the study carried out by researchers from the University of Tennessee
is based in China, I would venture to suggest that its findings can be loosely
extrapolated to those same modes of transportation in other countries as well. It
speaks to ideas about “perceived” pollution, which brings to mind the reading
by Arcury, et al for last week, which discussed perceived risk and control
among farm workers exposed to pesticides. The degree of “pollution” we think a
particular product or practice corresponds to in turn reflects the actions we
take. A variety of factors contributes to our beliefs and judgments regarding
these environmental issues, but in light of this article, it seems that the
realm of eco-friendly cars is an area where the general public has been
generally misinformed.
The
study found that gasoline powered cars are in fact more environmentally
friendly than electric cars due to the fact that the electricity’s source is
found in high emission coal plants. Previous studies were flawed in that they
only examined emissions from the cars themselves, not taking into account the
sum total of emissions involved in the cars’ energy cycle. This surprising
realization brings to mind questions about the lucidity of pollution and the
inaccuracy involved in judging “greenness” on a superficial level. It seems
there are lots of factors that can obscure the true (and ill) effects a product or practice can bring about. In
this case, electric cars’ pollution is hidden through the fact that the coal
plants are located in rural, not densely populated, areas.
This
article initially caught my eye because of what Serge Randhava from Unitel
Technologies brought up in class about the source of electric energies for
cars. I think an interesting study could be comparing the electric car industry
in the United States with that of the industry in China. Are we just as
dependant on coal as China, and if so, what does this say about the integrity
of companies who market their electric cars as “greener” than gasoline cars?
What are some ways that we as consumers can persuade the market to take into
account holistic measures of greenness? Furthermore, this article fails to
touch on the implications for environmental justice that a displacement of the
pollution brings. What can we do about the fact that in China, those in rural
areas suffer the effects of coal emissions while those in large cities
operating electric cars are therefore less exposed to gasoline emissions? What
type of car would you choose to drive?
I am wary to extrapolate the data from China to other places because of the wildly different political, social, and natural environments between China and most other countries. One note to keep in mind is that China gets the vast majority of its energy from coal, so of course anything that uses electricity is going to be traced back to coal. China is notorious for its dirty coal, air pollution, and trend of increasing coal use. Other countries have different resources and therefore may not even be able to use coal if they wanted in order to create electricity. Brazil is almost all hydropower, if they implemented a large electric car initiative, the electricity powering those cars would have to be traced back to hydropower. So I think that China is somewhat unique in this case.
ReplyDeleteAlso I think it’s important to keep in mind that alternative energy sources are a long-term investment. Its no secret that many of them are inefficient, but they will never get efficient if we don’t put research and development behind them. So while electric cars may be bad in countries that are coal-heavy now, the goal would be for more places to switch away from coal to cleaner sources of electricity which would then effect how clean electric cars are. Having said this, not all alternative energy sources should be given the same amount of time and money to be nurtured and prepped for possible large scale implementation. We mentioned how terribly inefficient ethanol is in class and there is little potential for it to become a suitable energy source on a large scale. I think a major problem is deciding which projects to continue funding and invest in for the long-term and which to give up on and stop wasting time and resources. I am more inclined to give electric cars a chance over ethanol, but is that influenced by green images of electric cars and a general villanization of ethanol (at least in the scientific community)?
Also, I think you bring up a good point about the displacement of the effects of coal emissions. This is definitely something that should be considered as we continue to attempt to find cleaner sources of energy. However I am always a bit concerned that these type of articles use sensationalized writing and a “gotcha!” mentality as if they’ve caught the electric car industry in a lie about their green image. It is always important to use scientific skepticism, but I think this sort of thinking also encourages people to see alternative sources of energy as a fad instead of a long term investment in the diversity of our future energy needs being met.