Wednesday, August 19, 2009
"Will Electric Cars Crash The Grid?"
Here's more on the Chevy Volt.
No doubt, it's a great idea; however, it seems that a lot of changes will be necessary before it's potential can be realized...
No doubt, it's a great idea; however, it seems that a lot of changes will be necessary before it's potential can be realized...
In a editorial, Investors Business Daily discusses the issues:
"Writing in the New York Post, he notes that in much of the nation, particularly in flyover country, many utilities use heavy fuel oil to generate that electricity. So the more electric cars you plug into the grid, we may actually be increasing pollution and carbon emissions by using oil that's not included in miles-per-gallon computations.
As Victor puts it, 'If a few thousand well-meaning dupes plug a few thousand new Chevy Volts into electrical outlets (especially in urban centers), you could actually add millions of pounds of dangerous, dirty unregulated pollution and carbon into the air we breathe — possibly more pollution than would be offset by putting the Volts on the road.'
Since most U.S. electricity generation is not carbon-free, the Congressional Research Service agrees. The 'widespread adoption of plug-in hybrid vehicles through 2030 may have only a small effect on, and might actually increase, carbon emissions,' it observes.
Also not included in these mpg calculations is the coal used to generate much of this electricity. A recent report by the Government Accountability Office says the move to electric cars may only shift the problem somewhere else."
