Whether the Environmental Benefits of an Electric Car Offset the Weaknesses - Essay Example

A CRITICAL ANALYSIS AS TO WHETHER THE ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS OF AN ELECTRIC CAR OFFSET THE WEAKNESSES [Module Code] [Module Title] [Assessment Title] [Class/Group] [Tutor Name] [Student Name] [Date of Submission] [Word Count] One of the most obvious benefits of electric car batteries is that they do not give out the emissions associated with conventional cars’ internal combustion engines. However, they still pose some threat to the environment, if we consider the source of the electricity that is used for charging them. In some governments, the electricity generated comes from fossil fuels and sometimes coal. Therefore, the main argument of this article will focus on whether the benefits of using the battery electric cars can overcome the weakness. Over the years, there has been a growing concern over global environmental pollution as a result of the use of coal and fossil fuels. Different governments have seen the import of battery electric cars as an option towards reducing carbon dioxide emissions and global warming (Georgano, 1996). Some of the scientists have questioned the green credentials of battery electric cars because the electricity that is used for charging them is derived from power plants that are coal fired. However, what comes out of the cars is totally clean. Most researches have shown that, in most circumstances, the electric cars have a lot of effect on global warming as compared to conventional cars (Amy, 2010). Further, this battery cars show a higher potential for future improvements. However, their ultimate success or failure largely depends on how different governments will make effort of cleaning up their electricity grid, especially in terms of the electricity used in charging the cars and that used in producing the batteries (Supramaniam, 2006). According to some investigations, intensive energy is used in manufacturing of battery electric vehicles. This implies that some of these cars may impact more on global warming than the conventional cars. The main cause of these being energy and the raw material required for the building of the lithium-ion batteries. In order to wholly understand as to whether the battery electric cars’ benefits outweigh the disadvantages, we got to evaluate on how electricity is generated. Most counties generate their electricity from coal fired plants. On the other hand, the batteries are used mostly during the day when electricity is more dependent on coal generating plants. This clearly means that the efforts to have many battery electric cars may translate to higher load demand from coal fired plants. This will lead to more environmental pollution and global warming. For instance, in 2012, the total electricity produced in the UK government increased to about 40% of the total production. This was due to soaring gas prices which led to reduced generation of gas-produced electricity. Since the generation of electricity from coal is the most polluting means of power generation, the environmental advantages of electric cars will be reduced to a great extent. The China government also produces a lot of its power from coal. The life cycle analysis of the battery cars in China illustrates that they pollute more as compared to the conventional cars. However, in other countries like Norway, where much of its power is from hydroelectricity, the battery electric cars benefits outweigh the weakness, and even outperform the conventional cars in terms of the overall impact on the environment. To save the environment, the overall dependency on the use of coal for production of power should be reduced. If we talk about an ordinary combustion engine in terms of its tail-pipe emission, and then compare it to the tail-pipe emission of the electric vehicles, the carbon emission to the atmosphere is purely 100 percent less than that of an internal combustion engine of a car. However, the criticism over the coal firing plants and the electric cars cannot fully undermine the global concern of reducing environmental pollution. We have other governments that do not rely on the use of coal for power generation. Also, there is a global concern focused on the use of renewable energies. The renewable energies are clean energy sources and if more of it is produced, the option of saving the environment by switching to electric vehicles will become viable. Coal consists of a smaller percentage of the overall global grid energy, and its production should not be used to underpin the manufacturing of electric car batteries as a matter of reducing global warming (Sandeep, 2001). According to Canada’s Electric Vehicle Association, even the electric vehicles that are charged from electricity generated by coal reduce the emission of carbon by almost 50 percent (Curtis, & Judy, 2010). If we further investigate on the electricity generated from the cleaner forms such as the hydropower, solar and nuclear plants, the carbon emission due to the use of electric battery cars reduces to less than 1 percent as compared to the emissions that is currently produced by the internal combustion engines. In other words, even in the worst cases, the cars that are operated by the rechargeable batteries are cleaner than those powered by the fossil fuels. Another important factor to look at is the cost of fuel as compared to electricity. Most people would prefer to switch to battery electric vehicles in order to make huge savings on the cost of fuel (Sheldon, 1981). Such a low cost of recharging the batteries will attract a robust number of people across the globe, thus reduce the carbon emission to the atmosphere. On the other hand, the rechargeable batteries are recyclable. In fact, 100 percent of them can be recycled (Fred & Richard, 1995). This will help in reducing the additional disadvantage of making the barriers a disposal problem and threat to environment. Most travelling is done on short distances, such as from home to work, home to shopping, home to a sports or entrainment centers. This means that short distance travelling contributes to an enormous amount of carbon emission as compared to long distance travelling. Therefore, the fact that most lithium-ion batteries take long to recharge may not be a limitation since most people can use back up batteries that can be recharged in their homes (Steven, 2011). Further, in case of long distances, electric cars can be vehicles of choice if we consider the situation of having battery-replacement stations, where individuals will simply swap their drained batteries for the fully recharged ones. This will reduce the long hours of having to wait for recharging of batteries. At the moment, the battery recharge stations have not gained significance (Michael, 2010). This makes the electric cars unfavorable for long distances. Electric cars are of great importance to the environment. Several global governments have taken the initiative to stress the importance of combating climate change and reducing the carbon footprint. A number of car companies have also capitalized on go-green initiatives, and began the production of electric car batteries that no longer rely on gasoline (Michael, 2011). Conventional cars burn the fuel in a series of combustions within the engine, thus producing a by-product, CO2, which is a greenhouse gas (Theodoros, 2012). When this gas is pumped out into the atmosphere through the exhaust pipe, it pollutes the environment by causing global temperature increase, contaminated air and wild weather. However, the electric cars seek to minimize the amount of CO2 that is emitted into the atmosphere. These cars, utilize the electricity instead of conventional fuels. The electric motors run the axle of the car, thus necessitating motion. This is done without the emission of any CO2 (Jeffrey, 2013). Electric vehicles cost a lot and are less efficient as compared to gas-burning counterparts. In the US, vehicles account for about 26 percent of the country’s carbon emissions. In such a situation, a shift to electric cars as a major form of transportation can largely minimize the amount of carbon dioxide emission into the atmosphere. Battery electric cars are an option for the future, following the depletion of the ozone layer, and the issue of oil shortage. Such an alternative is crucial in the transportation industry, and is not harmful to the environment (James & John, 2012). The particulate matter emitted out of the electric vehicles can cause asthma conditions, or even irritates the respiratory systems (Asif, Christopher, & Michael, 1996). The electric vehicles do not pose the problem of shedding the worn out radiator hoses, or fuel filters, which later get dumped in the overcrowded landfills, or leak the contaminated water sources, thus killing plant and animal life. On the contrary, electric cars are exceptionally quiet, and do not produce noise pollution (John & Aaron 1977). In fact, these vehicles are so quiet to an extent that a noise device is needed for alerting the pedestrians within any given area. In the conventional cars, the engine can remain running even when the vehicle is idle, but in the electric cars, the electric motor and the vehicle remain idle, thus saving the energy (Gijs, 2004). In some places, solar energy can be harnessed to recharge the electric car batteries. This produces a suitable emissions-free battery recharging alternative (GEA Writing Team, 2012). Thus, battery electric cars are a suitable option in reducing the gaseous and particulate emissions out of the vehicle travels (Chris, 2003). Even though some researchers argue that the power plants that generate the recharge electricity pose an additional problem of carbon emissions, such a claim should be dismissed because modern power plants are clean or “produce no pollution”. The renewable energy sector is also gaining ground, thus promising a cleaner source of electricity for recharging the electric car batteries. Further, even the batteries recharged out of the coal plant generated electricity have still shown a remarkable decrease in the overall carbon emission to the atmosphere. References Amy, F 2010, Global Warming, ABDO Publishing Company, Minnesota. Asif, F, Christopher, SW & Michael, PW 1996, Air Pollution from Motor Vehicles, Washington, D.C. Chris, O 2003, Global Warming, Capstone Press, United Kingdom. Curtis, DA & Judy, A 2010, Electric and Hybrid Cars: A History, McFarland and Company, Carolina. Fred, S & Richard, B 1995, Reduced Emissions and Fuel Consumption in Automobile Engines, Wiley & Sons, New York. Georgano, GN 1996, Electric Vehicles, John Wiley and Sons, New York. GEA Writing Team 2012, Global Energy Assessment: Towards a Sustainable Future, Cambridge University Press, Mexico City. Gijs, M 2004, The Electric Vehicle: Technology and Expectations in the Automobile Age, The Johns Hopkins University Press, New York. James, L & John, L 2012, Electric Vehicle Technology Explained, John Wiley and Sons, West Sussex. Jeffrey, L 2013, You Can Prevent Global Warming (and Save Money!): 51 Easy Ways, Jeffrey Langholz and Kelly Turner, Missouri. John, EW & Aaron, EK 1977, Electric Cars, Wiley-Blackwell, West Sussex. Michael, B 2011, The 2011 Electric Car Guide, Greenhouse Publishing, Warwickshire. Michael, B 2010, Owning an Electric Car, Greenhouse Publishing, Warwickshire. Steven, MG 2011, Oil Panic and the Global Crisis: Predictions and Myths, Wiley-Blackwell, West Sussex. Supramaniam, S 2006, Fuel Cells, Springer, New Jersey. Sheldon, RS 1981, The complete Book of Electric Vehicles, McFarland and Company, Carolina. Sandeep, D 2001, Electric Vehicle Battery Systems, Jeffrey Langholz and Kelly Turner, Missouri. Theodoros, IZ 2012, Cars and Carbon, Springer Science and Business Media, New York. Read More