Frequent 2nd Green Revolution commentator Dalton Saunders brought a great question to our attention. He asked about side-by-side comparisons of emissions from plug-in hybrid cars (also known as extended range vehicles) and gasoline powered vehicles. As mentioned in the previous post, roughly half of the electricity generated in this country is derived from abundant, albeit nonrenewable, polluting coal reserves. (Please see the post for a detailed discussion of the topic). In the following  graph, plug-in hybrids are shown to have less emissions, even when accounting for their electricity’s original source, than a gasoline powered car.

In this graph, the emissions generated by the electricity required to charge a plug-in are compared to that of a standard gasoline vehicle. Please click the image for the original source.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory conducted a test looking at the anticipated increase in electricity required to power these cars. They surmised that if the charging were to occur during off-peak times, the need for extra power plants would be minimal.

- Eric Wilson