Are electric vehicles good for the environment? I am slightly disturbed by how this topic has been politicized. I am not going to debate global warming here, but let’s at least agree that an excess of carbon dioxide (CO2) is unhealthy for you, me, and the environment.
Roughly two-thirds of the electricity generated in the U.S. is currently sourced from fossil fuels. The positive news is that only half of that comes from coal; the other half comes from natural gas, which produces half as much CO2 as coal (though it has its own side effects — it leaks methane). Another 20% of U.S. energy comes from nuclear power, which produces zero carbon emissions. The remaining 17% comes from “green” sources, such as hydro (7%), wind (6.6%), and solar (1.7%).
So if tomorrow everyone in the U.S. switched to an electric vehicle (EV), and our electrical grid was able to handle it, we’d instantly cut the nation’s CO2 emissions by more than one-third.
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/why-its-only-a-matter-of-time-before-oil-runs-out-of-gas-and-electric-vehicles-power-ahead-2019-10-08
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