Bob
Well-known member
Someone asked me whether my EV was actually saving the environment or hurting it. I didn't know, so I found some documents that give me facts to use in a head-to-head calculation. Please see below and let me know if you see any errors in this approach or if you doubt any of my assumptions.
For EV:
http://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.cfm?id=74&t=11" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Natural gas (a clean fuel) produces 1.22 Lbs CO2 per kWh produced
Sub-bituminous coal (bad stuff) produces 2.16 Lbs CO2 per kWh produced
Average those to 1.69 Lbs CO2 per kWh
My Nissan Leaf gets approximately 4.5 miles per kWh, better in summer, worse in winter
That means 0.3755 Lbs CO2 per mile or 170 grams of CO2 per mile with a Nissan Leaf
For ICE:
http://www.epa.gov/otaq/climate/documents/420f11041.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Combusting one gallon of gasoline produces 8,887 grams CO2
Assuming 40 miles per gallon, that is 222.2 grams of CO2 per mile with an Economy Car
I'm ignoring electricity transmission losses (15%?) and also ignoring fuel transportation pollution (no idea), blindly assuming that they wash each other out.
So in this comparison, the EV is slightly better for the environment.
What do you think? Are these assumptions valid? Is the data recent enough? Did I slip a decimal point?
Thank you for your comments.
Bob
For EV:
http://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.cfm?id=74&t=11" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Natural gas (a clean fuel) produces 1.22 Lbs CO2 per kWh produced
Sub-bituminous coal (bad stuff) produces 2.16 Lbs CO2 per kWh produced
Average those to 1.69 Lbs CO2 per kWh
My Nissan Leaf gets approximately 4.5 miles per kWh, better in summer, worse in winter
That means 0.3755 Lbs CO2 per mile or 170 grams of CO2 per mile with a Nissan Leaf
For ICE:
http://www.epa.gov/otaq/climate/documents/420f11041.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Combusting one gallon of gasoline produces 8,887 grams CO2
Assuming 40 miles per gallon, that is 222.2 grams of CO2 per mile with an Economy Car
I'm ignoring electricity transmission losses (15%?) and also ignoring fuel transportation pollution (no idea), blindly assuming that they wash each other out.
So in this comparison, the EV is slightly better for the environment.
What do you think? Are these assumptions valid? Is the data recent enough? Did I slip a decimal point?
Thank you for your comments.
Bob