Electric cars 'pose environmental threat'---- BBC

[TRAE]

Electric cars might pollute much more than petrol or diesel-powered cars, according to new research.

The Norwegian University of Science and Technology study found greenhouse gas emissions rose dramatically if coal was used to produce the electricity.

Electric car factories also emitted more toxic waste than conventional car factories, their report in the Journal of Industrial Energy said.

However, in some cases electric cars still made sense, the researchers said.

Big impact
The team looked at the life-cycle impact of conventional and electric vehicles.

In essence, they considered how the production, the use and the end-of-life dismantling of a car affects the environment, explained co-author Prof Anders Hammer Stromman.

"The production phase of electric vehicles proved substantially more environmentally intensive," the report said, comparing it to how petrol and diesel cars are made.

"The global warming potential from electric vehicle production is about twice that of conventional vehicles."

In addition, producing batteries and electric motors requires a lot of toxic minerals such as nickel, copper and aluminium.

Hence, the acidification impact is much greater than that of conventional car production.

"Across the other impacts considered in the analysis including potential for effects related to acid rain, airborne particulate matter, smog, human toxicity, ecosystem toxicity and depletion of fossil fuel and mineral resources, electric vehicles consistently perform worse or on par with modern internal combustion engine vehicles, despite virtually zero direct emissions during operation," according to Prof Stromman.

A battery electric vehicle, with electricity produced by the power generation mix we currently have in Europe, compares favourably in the magnitude of 10% or so with diesel”

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-19830232


well there goes that idea for now

[Centric]

Petrol and diesel naturally makes more sense........ya don't have to charge a SR20 every 36 - 48 hours for 6 hours at a time. Bounce starter and help the environment. Use fuel!

[black start]

The problem lies at the root. There is a need for more sustainable source of energy that can be harnessed to produce electricity. An electric car is not the problem, but more so the generation techniques. It's time to look in a forward direction and see what's better for the environment in the long run.

[toyota2nr]

Everyone knows the BBC has been bought out by special interest groups especially the oil company so it is expected that they would try to discourage its use.

Can't wait for electric and more hybrid cars in T&T.

[redmanjp]

but through the life of the electric car doesn't that make up for the pollution caused during production?

and I've heard electric cars don't use any energy while stopped in standstill traffic- perhaps a hybrid is the best thing -if u forget to charge it yuh cud still run on gas

[ruffneck_12]

Can't wait for electric and more hybrid cars in T&T.

Prius races will be so funny

[silver]

Don't worry the tech will get better...

Better Batteries

New technology improves both energy capacity and charge rate in rechargeable batteries

EVANSTON, Ill. --- Imagine a cellphone battery that stayed charged for more than a week and recharged in just 15 minutes. That dream battery could be closer to reality thanks to Northwestern University research.

A team of engineers has created an electrode for lithium-ion batteries -- rechargeable batteries such as those found in cellphones and iPods -- that allows the batteries to hold a charge up to 10 times greater than current technology. Batteries with the new electrode also can charge 10 times faster than current batteries.

The researchers combined two chemical engineering approaches to address two major battery limitations -- energy capacity and charge rate -- in one fell swoop. In addition to better batteries for cellphones and iPods, the technology could pave the way for more efficient, smaller batteries for electric cars.

The technology could be seen in the marketplace in the next three to five years, the researchers said.

A paper describing the research is published by the journal Advanced Energy Materials.

“We have found a way to extend a new lithium-ion battery’s charge life by 10 times,” said Harold H. Kung, lead author of the paper. “Even after 150 charges, which would be one year or more of operation, the battery is still five times more effective than lithium-ion batteries on the market today.”

Kung is professor of chemical and biological engineering in the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science. He also is a Dorothy Ann and Clarence L. Ver Steeg Distinguished Research Fellow.

Lithium-ion batteries charge through a chemical reaction in which lithium ions are sent between two ends of the battery, the anode and the cathode. As energy in the battery is used, the lithium ions travel from the anode, through the electrolyte, and to the cathode; as the battery is recharged, they travel in the reverse direction.

With current technology, the performance of a lithium-ion battery is limited in two ways. Its energy capacity -- how long a battery can maintain its charge -- is limited by the charge density, or how many lithium ions can be packed into the anode or cathode. Meanwhile, a battery’s charge rate -- the speed at which it recharges -- is limited by another factor: the speed at which the lithium ions can make their way from the electrolyte into the anode.

In current rechargeable batteries, the anode -- made of layer upon layer of carbon-based graphene sheets -- can only accommodate one lithium atom for every six carbon atoms. To increase energy capacity, scientists have previously experimented with replacing the carbon with silicon, as silicon can accommodate much more lithium: four lithium atoms for every silicon atom. However, silicon expands and contracts dramatically in the charging process, causing fragmentation and losing its charge capacity rapidly.

Currently, the speed of a battery’s charge rate is hindered by the shape of the graphene sheets: they are extremely thin -- just one carbon atom thick -- but by comparison, very long. During the charging process, a lithium ion must travel all the way to the outer edges of the graphene sheet before entering and coming to rest between the sheets. And because it takes so long for lithium to travel to the middle of the graphene sheet, a sort of ionic traffic jam occurs around the edges of the material.

Now, Kung’s research team has combined two techniques to combat both these problems. First, to stabilize the silicon in order to maintain maximum charge capacity, they sandwiched clusters of silicon between the graphene sheets. This allowed for a greater number of lithium atoms in the electrode while utilizing the flexibility of graphene sheets to accommodate the volume changes of silicon during use.

“Now we almost have the best of both worlds,” Kung said. “We have much higher energy density because of the silicon, and the sandwiching reduces the capacity loss caused by the silicon expanding and contracting. Even if the silicon clusters break up, the silicon won’t be lost.”

Kung’s team also used a chemical oxidation process to create miniscule holes (10 to 20 nanometers) in the graphene sheets -- termed “in-plane defects” -- so the lithium ions would have a “shortcut” into the anode and be stored there by reaction with silicon. This reduced the time it takes the battery to recharge by up to 10 times.

This research was all focused on the anode; next, the researchers will begin studying changes in the cathode that could further increase effectiveness of the batteries. They also will look into developing an electrolyte system that will allow the battery to automatically and reversibly shut off at high temperatures -- a safety mechanism that could prove vital in electric car applications.

[toyota2nr]

Can't wait for electric and more hybrid cars in T&T.

Prius races will be so funny

True. You know how much beers you could drink watching that.

But who would race a Prius?

[maj. tom]

Everyone knows the BBC has been bought out by special interest groups especially the oil company so it is expected that they would try to discourage its use.

Can't wait for electric and more hybrid cars in T&T.

Really? The UK government pays for the BBC News and World Service mostly via taxpayers licence to own a tv in the UK. You have to pay an annual fee of 145 GBP to own and operate a tv in the UK.
BBC as well as Reuters have earned their reputations for being clear and unbiased in their news reporting since their formation. During WWII the entire of Europe tuned on to BBC, even when the nazis banned it simply because they reported the news fairly, even when the Allies lost battles.

And secondly, where exactly does the power come from to recharge the power cells of an electric car? Superman flies around the earth to induce a magnetic flux back into the coils to generate current? (even so, doesn't superman have to eat?). You cannot get energy from nothing, and most energy is wasted as heat. So if you draw more power from the Grid in places where they have to burn coal to move turbines, won't it just produce more waste and pollution in the end?

The answer is to develop more efficient ways to harness clean energy from the environment especially the wind and solar energy. Solar energy is so largely untapped because we don't have the technology yet to harness it efficiently. Nuclear energy is still very promising, but activists do not allow the development of this power source into a safer long term alternative to fossil fuels.

[RBphoto]

Bicycles and mass transitis the answer.

[ismithx]

^^^ that's right!

[UML]

just like the process for producing electricity for households increase carbon emissions....i think the real issue is creating electricity for these electric cars is the same and needs addressing.

[sMASH]

Bicycles and mass transitis the answer.

win!!!


the more complicated sumting is, the more likely it is to generate more waste in the production process.




we may be able to produce less and less emissions, but i doubt it would be down to nil or even close to at any rate. i also propose carbon oxide sinks. these would be mainly reforestation efforts on cumulatively large scales, also the implementation of any device which absorbs more carbo oxides that it takes to produce it.

the vegetation developed by these carbon sinks would help to trap heat instead of radiating it out into the atmosphere like the roofs and streets, and would help reduce local temperatures inside urban areas or create a lower temperature net when compared to urban areas.

i also say bio fuels are the way to go.


hybrids with two different sources of motive force is less efficient than a vehicle with one.
at any time one of the motors does not supply motive force, the one that is drive the vehicle also has to produce the energy to lug that extra weight around
... think about it, how efficient would the hybrid be when it is only using one of the motors to do work compared to when it is using that same motor, but with the other one removed?

[sMASH]

electric vehicles are an option except for the environment cost of production, which i do not know.
the problem with them is that they take too long to recharge when depleted.
what should be done is to stock batteries at charge centers, just like we do with cooking gas cylinders. the charge centers would charge batteries, and when u roll in to take one, u exchange your depleted one. they charge it for future customers. the charge would be calculated by electronics and u pay for how much charge available in each battery u take.


although i believe bio fuels are the way to go, i think that it should not be carbon based molecules, i think the biomass should be converted directly into hydrogen to use in fuel cells.
also, solar farms could be used to generate fuel cell hydrogen.
there is already research into bacteria which produce hydrogen, with the intended use for fuel cells.

[Mr. Wheeler]

At some point Electric cars will eventually change the First world car economy....Same way the hydro electric plants changed the Fossil Fuel industry.....Only accessible to those with the infrastructure. Our little Oil and Gas Country not ready for it....unless cars sold like cellphones here

[stev]

Can't wait for electric and more hybrid cars in T&T.

Prius races will be so funny

sounds like:

zzzzzzzZZZZZZ *click* zzzzzzzZZZZZZZZZ *krix krix* *click* zzzzzzzzzzzzZZZZZZZ......

[geodude]

our world runs on electricity, its powered by electricity, producing electricity got us in this mess.
I am constantly amused at all those so called alternate sources of energy, which at the end of the day all seek to produce the same energy end product,
until we truly find another source of energy for our planet other than electricity we are simply dressing up the same oudi and calling it ah B14.
Research into other methods of producing electricity while it may be useful in the short term will never solve the energy issues of our growing populations. Until ppl start thinking out of the box and come up with truly innovate solutions to begin weaning humanity of electricity and towards a more feasible energy source we will be spinning top in de mud.
But then again agendas must be pushed and the green hype will continue to be sold as our saviour.