Environmental Lift of Battery Cars Is Limited

Electric cars, advocates say, are harbingers of a green, emission-free future, helping cut greenhouse gases and smog. Yet the environmental benefits of electric vehicles will be limited for years because most will be recharged by electricity produced by coal- and gas-fired power plants.

That means the ecological gain from driving an all-electric car—and putting up with its high cost, recharging time and limited driving range—likely won't be much greater than driving a hybrid gas-electric vehicle such as the Toyota Motor Corp. Prius, which keeps going as long as the gas tank is filled, experts say.laptop battery

People who drive a hybrid or all-electric vehicle both will cut greenhouse gas emissions by 30% when compared with a traditional internal combustion engine in most areas of the U.S., according to separate studies by the Department of Energy's Argonne National Research Center and the Electric Power Research Institute, which is funded in part by the power industry.laptop batteries
This so-called wells-to-wheels analysis, which looks at the carbon footprint of plug-in cars, comes into play as the Environmental Protection Agency is considering new fuel-economy and pollution window stickers for automobiles.
The first draft of new rules regarding how auto makers will advertise fuel economy leaves out the broader "carbon footprint" of an electric car, so it gives electrics top marks for environmental impact. But the agency is holding hearings on the matter and could broaden the carbon disclosure to the detriment of electric vehicles, said Cathy Milbourn, an EPA spokeswoman. power tool battery

The allure of electric vehicles, in part, is their ability to curb use of fossil fuels. But about two-thirds of the country's electricity comes from coal-fired or natural-gas-fed power plants, which spew out pollutants including greenhouse gases. camcorder battery

In the few parts of the country where a majority of electricity is produced by emission-free nuclear or hydroelectric power, such as the Northwest, the greenhouse gases linked to charging an electric car over a 10-year span could be as much as 80% lower than driving a traditional gasoline-powered car, according to the Argonne study. camera battery

Today, though, many buyers of electric cars will be charging up on power created by burning coal. "For modern coal-fired power plants, if you drive a mile on electricity it is practically the same as having driven it with a Prius," said Eladio Knipping, a researcher with the EPRI.

Another potentially troubling issue with the coming generation of electric and plug-in hybrid-electric vehicles is whether their lithium-ion battery packs will be recycled. As it stands, few recycling companies will even take replacement laptop batteries and cell phone batteries, let alone the exponentially larger battery packs used in electric cars.

Everything in the packs can be recycled, but it's just not economically worthwhile to do so, experts say. laptop ac adapter

Realizing they could face an environmental backlash if battery packs start ending up in landfills, car companies including General Motors Co. and Nissan Motor Co. are studying ways to give old car batteries a second life once a car is scrapped or the batteries reach the end of their ability to be charged fully.
GM has partnered with Swiss company ABB and Nissan with Sumitomo Corp. of Japan, both of which are looking at ways to use the old batteries as backup storage in the electrical grid. Such storage is needed to smooth out power load and to store power generated by wind and the sun for when the wind isn't blowing or the sun has set.