New Study: China’s Electric Cars Contribute More to Pollution Than Gas Guzzlers
- Posted on February 13, 2012 at 3:44pm by
Liz Klimas
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- Electric cars are often assumed to be better for the environment and therefore better for public health.
- A study by the University of Tennessee of electric vehicles in China, however, found that when you factor in where and how the energy for those vehicles is produced, the result is actually worse for public health when compared to gas-powered cars.
- Several factors, including proximity of homesteads to the power plant, use of coal for energy production and number of electric vehicles, contributed to these findings.
- Experts say different sources of electricity, cleaner coal-fired power plants and fewer communities near these plants in the United States makes this type of a pollution less of a risk here.
- (Photo: China Car Times)
Electric cars have been heralded by environmentalists as being better for the environment and human health. But what if this wasn’t the complete truth? What if electric cars actually produced more pollution under certain conditions?
According to new research from the University of Tennessee, electric cars in China have had an overall worse impact on the public health with regard to releasing particulate matter compared to those guzzling gas. The research conducted by Chris Cherry, assistant professor in civil and environmental engineering, and graduate student Shuguang Ji, evaluated 34 major Chinese cities where electric vehicles, including bikes, outnumber conventional vehicles 2:1. Their research states that the number of electric cars have grown to more than 100 million in the country in the last decade.
“An implicit assumption has been that air quality and health impacts are lower for electric vehicles than for conventional vehicles,” Cherry said in a statement. “Our findings challenge that by comparing what is emitted by vehicle use to what people are actually exposed to. Prior studies have only examined environmental impacts by comparing emission factors or greenhouse gas emissions.”
According to a statement, particulate matter — dust, soil, metal, acids, organic matter — is released when fuel is combusted, like in a traditional vehicle, and during electricity generation, which would then be used by electric cars. The research states that 85 percent of electricity in China is generated from fossil fuels, 90 percent of which is from coal. On a per kilometer traveled basis in China, the researchers found that human health is more negatively impacted by electric vehicles than traditional models.
If the electricity used to power the vehicle were developed using a cleaner method, the researchers state electric cars would technically be the cleaner option. US News and World Report points out that in the United States, coal power plants have cleaner energy production compared to those in China. There are also smaller communities living near plants in the U.S., which reduces the number of those adversely affected by the pollution. It states that about half of U.S. electricity comes from coal:
But Cherry says his study clearly shows that electric vehicles aren’t the zero-emission savior many expect them to be.
“I think electric vehicles have a lot of promise, but I’m not an evangelist,” he says. “There are these electric cars out there touting themselves as being emission free, but you and I both know that’s not true.”
Late last year, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency enacted stricter regulations on particulate matter from coal-fired power plants.
US News and World Report records Justin Kitsch, vice president of communications at The Electrification Coalition, as saying that supporting electric vehicles would help the U.S. become more energy independent, making use of its own resources.
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Comments (83)
DD313
Posted on February 13, 2012 at 5:11pmIs anyone surprised? The consequences may have been unintended, but they were anything but unforseen.
Report Post »HKS
Posted on February 13, 2012 at 5:32pmIf you know anything at all about making batteries, solar panels and disposing of them and their waste or generating electricity to feed them, you know the score. That‘s why the Obama crap doesn’t wash here, not to speak of the out of this world cost of doing it. They know not what they speak of and that‘s why they think you don’t either.
Report Post »Sheepdog911
Posted on February 13, 2012 at 6:14pmThe dirty little secret of clean fuel vehicles … it isn’t clean. Not only is the source of the electricity a problem, but the whole vehicle is a HAZMAT scene. Viva Le Volt, let’s give them a few extra Billion.
Report Post »Gladius_Doctorae
Posted on February 13, 2012 at 6:38pmSpeaking of consequences, how about plastic vs paper bags. Silly tree huggers.
Report Post »getalong
Posted on February 13, 2012 at 7:32pmGo, VOLT?
Report Post »onthefrontline
Posted on February 13, 2012 at 9:11pmAnyone ever been near a battery that is being CHARGED ??
Report Post »Any lead-acid battery system when overcharged will produce hydrogen gas. If the rate of overcharge is small, the vents of each cell allow the dissipation of the gas. However, on severe overcharge or if ventilation is inadequate or the battery is faulty, a flammable concentration of hydrogen may remain in the cell or in the battery enclosure. Any spark can cause a hydrogen and oxygen explosion, which will damage the battery and its surroundings and which will disperse acid into the surroundings. Anyone close to the battery may be severely injured. Thank You. rmswing for the information.. Some will be CHARGING their VOLTS in their garages overnight, HMMMMMM ???
Some bits of info. they seem not to share with the Public…………..
joseph mitch nixon
Posted on February 13, 2012 at 10:50pmin an accident you got the acid all over you . the batteries are done in @ 5 years , dispose them ? huge polution , and the cost of the new ones ? and you charge the darn thing , ok , where you plug it into nuclear will be the best , but the rest polute . is not as clean as the communists in our gov think .
Report Post »thegodfather
Posted on February 13, 2012 at 4:54pmI guess Leonardo Di Caprio won’t be driving one to the Academy Awards this year
Report Post »Razorhunters
Posted on February 13, 2012 at 4:50pmin the early 1900′s we had electric cars that could get 40miles between charges…
green energy is bs scam.
search tesla for free energy.
Report Post »JRook
Posted on February 13, 2012 at 5:27pmWhat part about the basis being COAL produced electricity did you miss. If the electricity is produced from a non-fossil fuel source the positive environmental impact is obvious. Our perhaps too obvious.
Report Post »Lord_Frostwind
Posted on February 13, 2012 at 6:30pmPray tell JROOK, where do you think the US gets most of its power? It ain‘t coming from those solar and wind industry that’s for sure. Now make all the cars electric, and see look at how much power we would need to produce to match the drain. Then factor in all the environmental regulations regarding power-plants, and watch the electricity bill fly to the moon.
Report Post »SgtB
Posted on February 13, 2012 at 9:49pm@ JROOK, The only way that we could power all of our lives on electric only with little to no pollution would be to have thorium / salt nuclear reactors in the middle of solar stirling arrays from coast to coast. Currently, the fed won’t allow the market to build or even invest in newer nuclear reactors like the thorium salt reactor and the solar arrays planned to be built in the Mojave east of San Diego were put on hiatus due to the enviro-whackos claim that the array of solar collectors and their maintenance might adversely affect the desert tortoise in the area.
When you fix these problems, then talk to us about a better way to do things. Until then, know that the environmentalists who want to “fix” the nation are actually just fixing the nation’s dependency on oil, natural gas, and coal for the foreseeable future. However, that isn’t too bad seeing as we have the largest proven reserves of natural gas in the world and petroleum is an abiotic product that will continually be produced, although maybe not at the rate we use it some day.
Report Post »RightPolitically
Posted on February 13, 2012 at 4:48pmThe reason they call it “green energy” is because it will turn all of us green from poisons put into the atmosphere by the environmentalist whackos.
Report Post »Robert-CA
Posted on February 13, 2012 at 4:46pm& who wants to drive a Chinese car anyway ????????????
Report Post »it should be called suicide by cars .
G-WHIZ
Posted on February 14, 2012 at 1:45pmI take a 2500mile trip once or twice a year. With a gasoline-car, I make it (each-way) about 17hrs.
Report Post »Let’s see…40mi-per-charge, div-by 2400mi, add hi-charge-times= 2-weeks-each-way+lodging&extra food. If you donot bring your charging-station with you, or have a “paid”-outlet every 40mi., or donot use the aircond(electric) or heater(electric) to reduce your distance to about 20miles/charge, I suspect your trip will take you a bit longer. Also, China’s cole-fired are nowhere as clean as OUR equivilent generators. Remember the immages of Chineese-trafic-jams with the oxygen-masks on all the cops, and most of the pedestrians wearing face-masks. The media doesnot seem to show us these things annymore… to giveUS some…perspective.
elosogrande
Posted on February 13, 2012 at 4:44pmSo let me understand this. There is less polution in the U.S. because, unlike China, American coal-fired plants have fewer communities near the plants. Does this mean that it’s really true after all? If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there, it doesn’t make any noise?
The U.S. has the same problem with pollution from power plants as China, and there is another fact that our current government chooses to ignore. The electricity delivered to your outlet at home has only 32% or so of the energy needed to produce it. If you convert the oil, coal, natural gas or nuclear energy used at the power plant to watts/hour, you will find that the typical electrical power plant consumes more than 3 kilowatts of power for every kilowatt of electricity delivered to your home. After you charge your battery,, you are lucky if your electric car uses that electricity at more than 50% efficiency. We suck up six times the energy that the car would use if it burned gasoline or deisel fuel.
In my opinion, electric cars are currently a sham to promote Obama’s need to piss away money on green energy, in order to make his wealth doners even richer than they already are. The Volt and cars like it are money pits that do nothing but suck up cash from the Taxpayer, and make America weaker every day.
How long can people allow themselves to be sucked in by this garbage?
Vote them ALL out in the primary elections. Don’t wait for November.
Report Post »SANE_I think
Posted on February 13, 2012 at 6:29pmNOt really, here they have 1000‘s of reg’s. Scrubbers, clean burning systems on and on. In China, they throw the coal into a fire, period! over 3 times the pollutants from the average Chinese coal plant compared to American plants. That’s why we are selling massive tonnage of coal to China, because the only reason Obama is going after coal plants in the U S is because he is so green. Makes sense does it not ?????????? Not to mention handing China Canadian oil we could have had cheap. Lets not forget Brazil! We give them 2 Billion $$$ to drill deep water wells and then they make a deal with China to buy the oil we paid for them to drill???? ( George Soros owns a huge stake in Brazilian oil ) Everybody who is communist wins, America loses!!!! What an awesome leader we have. BONUS THOUGHT. Soros is buying up American fire arms and ammunition companies. Seven in 2-1/2 years, now THAT is the SCARIEST thing of all. He knows something we don’t?
Report Post »dagoff2003
Posted on February 14, 2012 at 11:30amCorrect….if a tree falls in the forest and no one is around it will not make any noise. Three things need to exist in order for sound to exist. 1. Something to cause a vibration. 2. A receptacle to receive that vibration. 3. A medium for the vibration to travel through, such as air. In the case of the tree in the forest two of the three required elements exist. The tree causing the vibration, and the medium for that vibration to travel through. However, the 3rd element is missing….something to receive the vibration. So the answer is, a tree that falls in a forest with no one around to hear it does not make a noise. It is completely silent.
Report Post »Anonymous T. Irrelevant
Posted on February 13, 2012 at 4:40pmOf course, does China have all the EPA-like regulations the USA does? Does China put scrubber after scrubber on each smokestack? I doubt neither they, nor India do.
Report Post »jonhova
Posted on February 13, 2012 at 4:40pm“What if electric cars actually produced more pollution under certain conditions?”
Then expect the government to outlaw those certain conditions.
Report Post »dcraw21b
Posted on February 13, 2012 at 11:40pmRight on. I’ll stick to my 13 mpg 4WD… And my O2 sensors are broken so my check engine light stays on.. This whole thing is a sham. But there will always be sheeple who want to buy these cars to look like they are smater than everyone else… I love passing these goons on the freeway. ha
Report Post »Man is not free unless government is limited
Posted on February 13, 2012 at 4:40pmI think there are plenty of technical problems that need to be solved with electric vehicles (especially with the battery capacity) . However, this article and the cited study missed one very important fact; it take about 7 kWh of electricity to refine one gallon of gasoline. Compare that to the approximately 12 kWh that it takes to charge a EV car like the Chevy Volt. Which means that if you are driving a conventional gasoline powered car that gets anything less than 22-23 MPG, you are actually using more electricity per mile than an electric car (plus all of the oil needed to make the gas). As an engineer, I never would have believed this unless I had done the research and the math myself. As I said, I am no fan of electric cars. But I was shocked at the amount of energy it takes to refine gasoline. Btw, a gallon of gas provides about 35 kWh of energy.
Report Post »Anonymous T. Irrelevant
Posted on February 13, 2012 at 5:05pmThere are too many product created using oil that we will never get away from using it. From plastics to make-up. Unless someone comes up with a way to create those products without oil, we will always have a use for it.
Report Post »SgtB
Posted on February 13, 2012 at 9:58pmBut did you ever think that the energy used to refine a gallon of gas also refines all of the other products from the crude oil? Oh, and where does this energy come from? Do you think that a petroleum company would pay for electric heating units when they have a cheap and endless supply of waste oil to burn that has little value on the industrial or commercial market? No. they burn waste oil to supply heat to separate the crude into its different density fluids and then the waste oil and sludge from that tank is used to refine even more oil.
Also, think of this, when someone gets smart enough to hook up a stirling engine to run off of the exhaust heat of an IC engine and increases the efficiency of every car by 30-50%, how will your electric cars look then?
Report Post »shogun459
Posted on February 13, 2012 at 4:38pmDrove a Hybred as a taxi in Telluride CO for a couple of years it got 35 MPG with the battery.
Report Post »My Dodge Neon got 40 MPG and cost me $7,000 how much did the Hybred cost?
50% of electricity for cars is from Coal.
TEIN
Posted on February 13, 2012 at 4:37pmI am waiting to see what the solution for semi-trucks, trains, and agricultural equipment will be….enviro wackos‘ won’t just stop at cars….
Report Post »AxelPhantom
Posted on February 13, 2012 at 5:25pmthe solution for semi-trucks, trains, and agricultural equipment …
Bring back the Budwiser clydsdales.
Report Post »21 Years and Counting
Posted on February 13, 2012 at 6:16pmTrains have been electric hybrids since the 40′s. They are all big diesel generators that produce electricity to run the electric motors that turn the wheels.
Report Post »onthefrontline
Posted on February 13, 2012 at 7:46pm@AxelPhantom
Posted on February 13, 2012 at 5:25pm
the solution for semi-trucks, trains, and agricultural equipment …
Bring back the Budwiser clydsdales
Can’t do that !!! Clysdales emit undesirable CO2 Gases..
Report Post »and drop HAZMAT in the streets, pis* off the GREENIES..
Anonymous T. Irrelevant
Posted on February 13, 2012 at 4:34pmOnce again, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. They wanted us using plastic bags, because we were “killing trees,” then they found out plastic bags were worse. Red dye, freon, bird flu, global warming/cooling, what crisis will they come up with next, to scare us, that they have a fix to, which will make someone like Al Gore rich? The greenies have too much time on their hands to practice their eco-religion.
Report Post »Razorhunters
Posted on February 13, 2012 at 4:29pmAgenda 21 For Dummies
Report Post »http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=rIgHK5x-4fY
Razorhunters
Posted on February 13, 2012 at 4:27pmAgenda 21 for lower living standards
Report Post »http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=GEzbQotyu9k
Wake up America! Still not convinced were in Martial law.flv
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=iQFN69iNcCg
AxelPhantom
Posted on February 13, 2012 at 4:22pmCleaner or not, they just don’t work well. We live in a very hilly area and I can’t tell you the number of times I have seen one of these electric cars with warning flashers going up one of the bigger inclines. They are dangerous at 30mph on a curvy, hilly road.
Report Post »FormerLib
Posted on February 13, 2012 at 4:32pmWhere do all these geniuses touting electric roller skates…er, I mean “cars” think the power to charge them for 6 hours at a pop will come from when there are 100 million of them? Magic Leprechaun dust? Can’t build any more nuke plants, coal fired plants bare a definite no-no, the want to breach the hydro dams already existing for the sake of the salmon runs, so….I guess we’ll put giant propellers on them, like big rolling beanie caps, and the wind can charge the battery. Won’t that be nice. Good luck in those 4 hour traffic jam commutes, though.
Report Post »AxelPhantom
Posted on February 13, 2012 at 5:21pmFormer Lib,
Just start breeding hamsters and buy a big wheel.
Report Post »SANE_I think
Posted on February 13, 2012 at 9:17pmAmerica does not have the electric infastructure to support charging electric cars if they hit the roads in mass. Your electric bill will skyrocket
Report Post »SpankDaMonkey
Posted on February 13, 2012 at 4:18pm.
Report Post »Why can‘t an electric car generate it’s own power? Once it is rolling why can’t one wheel contain a generator/alternator to charge the battery as it rolls down the road?………
Anonymous T. Irrelevant
Posted on February 13, 2012 at 4:25pmOr a flywheel, of course friction comes into play. I believe Toyota does what you are suggesting, according to one of their commercials.
Report Post »oldguy49
Posted on February 13, 2012 at 4:27pmif you had fuel cell it would not add to pollution and it would also power your home a swell as your car they had kept the fuel cell …………..but obama cancelled the gm project on this when he took over………go figure
Report Post »right-wing-waco
Posted on February 13, 2012 at 4:28pmThere is no such thing as perpetual motion.
Report Post »chips1
Posted on February 13, 2012 at 4:39pmPerpetual motion is why Obama hasn’t been impeached yet. He generates his own power.
Report Post »FormerLib
Posted on February 13, 2012 at 4:39pmWhat you are suggesting is a “perpetual motion machine”, a fantasy that has been sought after since machines began. The machine can never replace all the energy it expends. Since no energy is ever lost but merely transferred, and motion requires energy, that energy is lost and cannot be recycled by the machine itself and put back into the machine. Car charging systems come close, but even the best car batteries wear out after a few years. A car charging system need only create spark for ignition and run lights and heater motors. No so with an electric car. A system relying wholly on electricity for energy would need a massive battery storage capacity and charging system to come anywhere near the replacement ratio of a gasoline or diesel car’s charging system.
Report Post »okredstate
Posted on February 14, 2012 at 9:48amI have wondered that for a long time. Hell, there are 4 wheels that they could attach generators to.
Report Post »TheObamanation
Posted on February 13, 2012 at 4:12pmWill environmentalists embrace “evil” nuclear power … to make their electric car dream come true ?
Report Post »Anonymous T. Irrelevant
Posted on February 13, 2012 at 4:37pmDidn’t Georgia just get approval to build two nuclear plants? The first in 34 years.
Report Post »chips1
Posted on February 13, 2012 at 4:42pmGeorgia? Are you kidding me? Georgia? That’s like giving a Vette to a 6 year old.
Report Post »FormerLib
Posted on February 13, 2012 at 6:08pmAny nuclear power plants approved will face decades of environmental impact studies, followed by accusations that this salamander or that striped booger beetle will be threatened and a series of hearings will be required, followed by challenges in courts, followed by appeals….it is ironic that the same country that built the Empire State Building in a single year and the Grand Coulee Dam in five likely could not even get the permits issued in ten year today, if at all.
Report Post »oldguy49
Posted on February 13, 2012 at 11:35pmno georgia is not building a new nuc plant…..they got approval to add to the one that exist……….but i have a feeling that id bo is reelected this will not happen
Report Post »Lion420
Posted on February 13, 2012 at 4:11pmJust another example of how the environmental movement is a lie. They always conjure up boogeymen, and use them as excuses to damage peoples ablitity to earn a living. They almost never produce the intended results.
Report Post »republic2011
Posted on February 13, 2012 at 4:09pmBottom line is that you still need to generate the electricity. With the current Administration, the price to fill up your electric car will skyrocket in the next few years, making electric cars even less economical. Anyone check what you are currently paying per kilowatt on your electric bill? The price never goes down, and Obama said the prices will necessarily skyrocket. So, why invest in a technology that will cost so much to run? Makes no sense.
Report Post »FormerLib
Posted on February 13, 2012 at 4:41pmWhy, “fairness”, of course!
Report Post »TheObamanation
Posted on February 13, 2012 at 5:00pmYou can’t be progressive by sticking with what works
Report Post »bhohater
Posted on February 13, 2012 at 4:08pmHas government ever been right about anything?
Report Post »ZAP
Posted on February 13, 2012 at 4:08pmObama truth team get on this,fast
Report Post »bhohater
Posted on February 13, 2012 at 4:13pmI‘m so suspicious of government I’m afraid to take a flu-shot. Who knows what they might put in that concoction.
Report Post »CatB
Posted on February 13, 2012 at 4:14pmLOL that was my thought also!
Report Post »sWampy
Posted on February 13, 2012 at 4:04pmSomething you will never see on main stream media about these things is, the batteries in these things loose between 5% and 20% of their charge every 24 hours you leave them sitting there, so you have to keep them on trickle chargers. Think about all these green nuts worried about a wall wart draining 5 watts a day when you leave it plugged in not powering something. We are going to have these electric cars doing this on an fenominal scale.
Report Post »lukerw
Posted on February 13, 2012 at 4:00pmEcoLiberals…
Report Post »SREGN
Posted on February 13, 2012 at 3:54pmOh, no! Facts!
Report Post »I.Gaspar
Posted on February 13, 2012 at 3:54pmIf they are indeed worse than gas powered cars, then they should be known as Obamacars.
Report Post »Obama Snake Oil Co
Posted on February 13, 2012 at 4:06pmWell, no one is as bad as Obama, geez, even Jimmy Carter learned how to use a left handed hammer to build houses. Or knock them apart with, not sure what his goals were….
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