Not So Fast, Plug-ins!

The Union of Concerned Scientists has a blog called Hybridblog (h/t Typepad). It is about hybrid vehicles, which run on alternative fuels and energy sources such as electricity. Hybridblog recently ran a post on the future of plug-ins -cars with batteries that can be re-charged from electricity grids:

"I discussed how plugins fit into the larger transportation/environment picture, and addressed the challenges this technology faces....those challenges are battery cost, safety, and durability, as well as the unknowns about the people who drive them (where they live, if they park on the street, when they’ll recharge, etc.)."

There is something cool about a car that you can recharge overnight by plugging it into the mains. But I have two concerns about plug-ins which go beyond the technical issues highlighted by Hybridblog.

The first is about how electricity is generated to re-charge plug-ins. If the electricity is generated by coal, oil or natural gas, plug-ins are not environmentally friendly. To be green, plug-ins have to run on electricity generated from renewable energy. But it is impractical to build sufficient wind and solar farms to power a large vehicle fleet. Building big hydro-electric dams would be an option, but would cause substantial environmental damage.

My second concern is the potential impact on state and national grids, which will struggle to cope with surges in demand as people power up their car batteries overnight. And there's a resilience aspect - if a grid is sabotaged, damaged in a natural disaster, or crashes due to overload, transport would grind to a halt.

Comments

[Quentin]

there is a video out called 'who killed the electric car' It is about the huge success of the electirc car in the 1980s, in the United States(?). I haven't seen this yet but will this weekend. The main thrust of the argument was that the main opponent to that success was the oil companies. And that's resilence for you. power money and nerve in the negative.

But after that, is the problem of sustainability as you say. Where's the 'extra' power supply going to come from? Given also, that power consumption is incredibly expensive even for residentials. I think more Wind Farms might help. They are sculpturally beautiful and magnificent machines. Solar Cell Farms would be a good idea as well. If I had money, (what! in today's economy-yeh right! he he he) I would invest in these infrastructures.

[Kotare]

Wind and solar farms are part of the answer. I would like to see a real move towards distributed generation, and a mix of renewable energy technologies, as this would give us more power, close to the source of demand, and bring about far greater resilience in our power supply and communities.

[Aaron]

"it is impractical to build sufficient wind"

Why would you think that?

[Kotare]

Hi Aaron

Technically it's possible, but...it's impractical because of the sheer area of land needed for wind turbines (to generate the electricity to power the plug-in cars); the requirement to vastly increase the capacity of often overloaded grids to carry the electricity; the need to vastly expand industrial capacity to design, produce, transport and install a large number of wind turbines (and overhaul grids); the energy required to make this happen; along with the inevitable friction in the system, such as community and environmentalist opposition to wind farms, expressed as objections in planning processes and legal challenges.

[Jay]

I heard a story in the radio today about super capacitors (or some such name) that are said to be set to replace batteries in a mere three years. Assuming these things come to light, they could prove a major boon for the EV market.