Skip to main content

New Study Says EVs Actually Create Pollution in the Midwest

A new study says that electric vehicles are causing pollution in the Midwest.

The study, published in American Economic Review, asserts that because the Midwest relies heavily on coal for electricity, the region sees higher pollution due to the increased presence of EVs. This is so, it says, at least when compared with other regions, which don’t use coal to produce electricity.

The study was carried out by a team at the University of North Carolina. The researchers looked at air pollution caused by vehicles and how it varied from region to region.

“In many locations, the comparison between a gasoline vehicle and an electric one is really a comparison between burning gasoline or a mix of coal and natural gas to move the vehicle,” the study says.

The researchers were comparing pollution by both region and type of vehicle in order to figure out what value subsidies for EVs have. In the case of the Midwest, the researchers found that subsidies for EVs didn’t reduce pollution, but increased it, thanks to the burning of coal to generate electricity.

While the study covered immediate emissions (such as the emissions produced as coal is burned to generate electricity), it did not account for other environmental costs related to production of materials, nor did it take into account the effect of environmental regulations on pollution. It also assumed that our current electrical grid will not improve and that current fuel technology will also remain the same going forward.

Because the study doesn’t take the effect of environmental regulations into account, that means the study is assuming that as more EVs are sold, there will be an increase in coal burning. That actually wouldn’t happen, due to environmental regulations.

“With these caveats in mind, our main results show that the subsidy for electric vehicles is not justified by environmental benefits,” the researchers said. They also said “a combination of innovation spillovers, learning by doing, and dynamic changes to the electricity grid.”

[source: American Economic Review via Inverse]

This article first appeared on hybridcars.com

The post New Study Says EVs Actually Create Pollution in the Midwest appeared first on VWVortex.



from VWVortex http://ift.tt/2kCK1ef
via IFTTT
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Watch: The Stig Drives (nearly) Seven Generations of Golf GTI

With Volkswagen announcing “major” updates to the Golf, it seems an appropriate time to look back on what we’ve had so far. And who better to guide us through the rich history of the most popular European car ever made than Ben Collins, the former Stig? Some say he’s never met a GTI he doesn’t love, and that he can’t grow any of his own facial hair. All we know is … Ben Collins is actually a pretty solid presenter. Working his way through seven generations of the GTI (skipping over the Mk6) Collins tells us a little bit about each one and matches each mark to its corresponding facial hair craze. The Mk1 GTI for instance, is light and quick, but can lose traction under hard acceleration (in heavy rain). Despite that, Collins calls the Mk1 a “pure gem.” The Mk4, meanwhile, is a powerful return to form after the perhaps too sensible Mk3. Collins ends in the only way he could, with the Mk7, which accelerates faster than a Lamborghini Countach and is all kinds of wonderful. Watch, ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Watch: The Story of the Ads that Made VW Big in America

The ads for the original Beetle are almost as famous and well-loved as the Beetle itself. Looking back now it’s easy to forget, though, just how easily things could have wrong. A new short from Dial M Films tracks the history of those early Volkswagen ads that sold America on the people’s car. The story, of course, begins with the visionary agency that made the ads: Doyle Dane Bernach (DDB). As a popular agency for Jewish products, no agency was more aware of the implications of Volkswagen, and no one, it seems, was more skeptical of the brand than DDB. “Remember Those Great Volkswagen Ads?” from Dial M Films on Vimeo . William Bernbach, though, was adament that the firm take the client, probably as a way of attracting other lucrative automotive clients. Saddled with a client that he didn’t want, art director Helmut Krone says in the film that he originally came up with ads that were all wrong. Krone tried to do what other manufacturers did and was intent on selling the Beetle ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Watch: The Zerouno Cruis’n USA

ItalDesign is drumming up excitement for its new supercar based around the same 5.2-liter Audi V10 that powers the R8. Naturally, it hit the road for a cruise around California last week to celebrate Monterey Car Week. There isn’t much in the way of V10 noise—which is a real shame given the sound it makes—but you do at least get a good look at the car inside and out in this video. With a body made entirely of carbon fiber and designed to be as aerodynamic and light as possible, ItalDesign figures that it will be good for a 0-60 time of just 3.2 seconds. “We put it our best skills into the production of the first car,” said Massimo Bovi, head of pre-series production, when the Zerouno was first unveiled in Geneva earlier this year. “Using some of the finest productions methods and engaging our high-skilled workers.” The car features clever aero tricks gleaned from single-seat racing, like a y-duct up front to improve downforce and turn-in. Available in a number of trim levels, the...
Post a Comment
Read more