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Electric cars cause more pollution than petrol ones: Study
Tuesday February 14, 2012 08:19:57 PM,
IANS
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London: Though
electric cars are heralded as an environment friendly solution in
major cities, a study says their pollution levels are worse than
petrol-powered vehicles.
A study on pollution in 34 Chinese cities found that electricity
generated by power stations to drive electric vehicles leads to
more fine particle emissions than petrol-powered cars.
Researchers Chris Cherry and Shuguang Ji analysed the emissions
and environmental health impacts of five vehicle technologies.
They found that the electricity generated to power electric cars
caused more particulate matter pollution than that caused by an
equivalent number of petrol-driven vehicles.
Particulate matter comes from the combustion of fossil fuels, and
includes acids, organic chemicals, metals, and soil or dust
particles.
Cherry and his team focused on China because of the popularity of
electric vehicles. E-cars and e-bikes in the country now
reportedly outnumber conventional vehicles two to one.
In China, 85 percent of electricity production is from fossil
fuels, and about 90 percent of that is from coal.
In terms of air pollution, they found electric cars were more
harmful to public health.
The researchers used five vehicle types -- petrol and diesel cars,
diesel buses, e-bikes and e-cars. They then calculated the
proportion of emissions inhaled by the population.
The report, however, did not mention which organisation Cherry and
his team were affiliated to.
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