Page 16 - European Energy Innovation - autumn 2017 publication
P. 16
16 Autumn 2017 European Energy Innovation
ELECTRIC VEHICLES
Electric vehicles:
sparking your interest As far as CO2 goes, diesel engines
exhaust 20% less in comparison to
While climate change sparks interest in electric vehicles, it raises petrol. Yet the difference between
questions as well. Professor Joeri Van Mierlo (pictured) from the both fuels is annually decreasing.
MOBI research group at Vrije Universiteit Brussel tackles them one Also biofuels produce 40 to 60%
by one. less greenhouse gasses, but they do
not significantly improve air quality.
Climate change, local air ARE ELECTRIC VEHICLES REALLY Moreover, we need surfaces as large
pollution and the economic THE BEST SOLUTION FOR THE as 2 football fields to power one car
dependency on imported ENVIRONMENT? per year. We do not have the space in
oil requires solutions to The short answer is yes. When Europe and would therefore move this
these severe issues. The transportation discussing environmental impact, it
sector is responsible for more than is important to take into account the
20% of the global warming emission, full life cycle of a vehicle. We have
more than 50% of the NOx emissions developed at the Vrije Universiteit
in Europe and 25% of the PM emission, Brussels reliable scientific models
harming our human health. Another for this purpose. This allows looking
striking figure is the billon a day beyond emissions from the vehicle
Europe is exporting out of its economy itself to the environmental impact of
to import crude oil. Without no doubt, batteries, the production of electricity
we must find alternatives in the and beyond.
transportation sector.
In a full life cycle, electric vehicles emit
Modal shift from passenger cars two times less carbon dioxide (CO2)
towards walking, biking and public in comparison to diesel engines if we
transportation is needed. But as the take the European electricity mix. This
use of private cars is a dominant can be even 4 times less is we take for
transport mode, one needs to find example the Belgian electricity mix.
technical solutions for environmental If cars were driving on sustainable
friendly vehicles too. electricity, carbon dioxide emissions
could be further reduced by a factor of
15. And this is the way to go.
If we look at vehicles from a “well-to-
wheel” perspective, electric vehicles
produce four times less particulates
and 20 times less nitrogen oxides
(NOx) (Belgian example) compared to
conventional vehicles. However, we
need to stress that the exploitation
and mining of raw materials in South
America and China leaves much
room for improvement. Recycling
can further reduce the environmental
impact. Car manufacturers have
already made considerable efforts to
reduce emissions of conventional cars
in general however; reducing NOx
remains a challenge, in particular for
diesel vehicles.
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