The electrification of cars is a promising technology for decarbonising road transport and thus mitigating climate change. However, if electric cars are powered by fossil fuels and the electricity grid is not converted to use low-carbon energy sources, the use of electric cars can lead to increased emissions, further exacerbating climate change.
Grid decarbonisation underpins electric vehicles’ potential
The electrification of cars is a promising technology for decarbonising road transport and thus mitigating climate change. However, if electric cars are powered by fossil fuels and the electricity grid is not converted to use low-carbon energy sources, the use of electric cars can lead to increased emissions, further exacerbating climate change.
Nº 23
1) Europe, European Union
2) Asia; North America; Europe, European Union
- Climate & Atmosphere
- Transport Emission Reduction
- Electrification of Transport
some attempts made
past case
Region-1
Region-2
Region-3
Region-4
ongoing case
no attempts made
Grid decarbonisation underpins electric vehicles’ potential
1) The reduction in global warming potential of electric vehicles compared to internal combustion engine vehicles is highly dependent on the electricity mix that powers EVs. At the time of publication of Hawkins et al. (2013), the reduction potential of EVs based on the average EU electricity mix ranged from 10% to 24%.
2) Plug-in electric vehicles are being promoted in several places, including China, the United States and the European Union. While these electric vehicles have the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the preferential treatment of these vehicles and the exclusion of emissions from the production of the electricity used to power them underestimates the greenhouse gas emissions of electric vehicles.
- The problem-shift had no effect on the efforts to address the initial problem
- Multilple (effects disconected from each other)
1) Hawkins, T. R., Singh, B., Majeau-Bettez, G., & Strømman, A. H. (2013). Comparative Environmental Life Cycle Assessment of Conventional and Electric Vehicles. Journal of Industrial Ecology, 17(1), 53–64. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1530-9290.2012.00532.x
2) Gan, Y., Wang, M., Lu, Z., & Kelly, J. (2021). Taking into account greenhouse gas emissions of electric vehicles for transportation de-carbonization. Energy Policy, 155. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2021.112353
Zhang, R., & Fujimori, S. (2020). The role of transport electrification in global climate change mitigation scenarios. Environmental Research Letters, 15(3), 034019. 10.1088/1748-9326/ab6658
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