Norwegian scientists have claimed that electric cars may be just as bad, or even worse, for the environment than traditional automobiles.
The news comes via a recent study conducted by the Norwegian University of Science and Technology and published in the Journal of Industrial Energy. In the report, researchers said that if coal is used to produce the electricity needed to run electric vehicles then greenhouse gasses would see a sharp increase over current levels.
Moreover, research revealed that toxic byproducts created and re-deposited into the soil amid production and at the end of the life of an electric car creates a more pronounced effect on the environment than that of standard automobiles, the authors claimed.
Professor and co-author Anders Hammer Stromman said in the report, “The production phase of electric vehicles proved substantially more environmentally intensive. The global warming potential from electric vehicle production is about twice that of conventional vehicles.”
“Across the other impacts considered in the analysis including potential for effects related to acid rain, airborne particulate matter, smog, human toxicity, ecosystem toxicity and depletion of fossil fuel and mineral resources, electric vehicles consistently perform worse or on par with modern internal combustion engine vehicles, despite virtually zero direct emissions during operation,” he added, as reported by the BBC.
>Not true!
Did you read the article? I.e. “if coal is used to produce the electricity needed to run electric vehicles then greenhouse gasses would see a sharp increase over current levels.”
Of course, the “if” is important. Still, with power generation capacity not massively outstripping demand in most countries, it’s not unreasonable to consider that possibility.
Not true! There are many other designs for electric cars that make their own electricity from water and other sources… i sense that oil companies have finger here :/