Have you Zinged someone lately?  Please forward a link to a friend, family member or neighbor.  You can sign up to receive ZingerKing by entering your email address in the box on the right (Subscribe).  You will receive the Morning Briefing and a link to the full article whenever a new article is published.  Your email information will be kept private.
____________________________________________________________________________
Wednesday  November 25, 2009
Happy Thanksgiving

Today's Zinger:

Staying One Step Ahead Requires Not Tripping Over Your Own Two Feet


The Morning Briefing:

 

Electric cars create more pollution than combustion engine cars.  In today’s New York Times, Bob Herbert writes about the future of electric vehicles and how they will not only reduce pollution, they may be the charge needed to bring Detroit back to life (here is a link to his article).

After reading the article I had to add a bit of reality to this entire conversation.  So many people are betting the bank on the ability of alternative energy to “save the planet” and in the process create “green jobs” that are high paying jobs here in America.  Electric cars do not reduce pollution, except under certain conditions.  As a matter of fact, electric cars create more CO2 than internal combustion engines.  Did I get your attention?

There is no question that there is a need to migrate to a new energy future but the laws of economics will ultimately prevail.  The government is much wiser to tax the cost of energy and let the marketplace drive innovation rather than the government dictate a direction or even subsidize alternatives.

                         

Zinger looks at the myth of electric cars and what must be done to drive our future.

 Who Said It:

"Energy will be the immediate test of our ability to unite this Nation, and it can also be the standard around which we rally".

Answer at the bottom of today's ZingerKing. 

The Discussion:

Electric cars do not pump soot and CO2 from the tailpipe.  For this reason many people believe that they are a form of clean transportation and that is why cars like the Toyota Prius are so successful.  The impression is that we are saving the planet if we use an electric or hybrid vehicle.  General Motors has bet the company of the new electric vehicle called the Volt, which will debut in 2010 at a estimated cost of $40,000.  The Obama administration has mandated that the automobile companies that the US government bailed out migrate to small fuel efficient and electric and hybrid vehicles.  In addition, the Obama administration included billions of dollars to replace current automobiles with hybrids in the government fleet to showcase the energy efficiency.  But is this appearance over substance?

 

Here’s a surprise: the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted over the life cycle of a fully electric vehicle is almost as high as that generated by the manufacture, running and recycling of an internal combustion engine-powered car.  More surprising is the fact that manufacturing an electric car generates even more carbon dioxide than making an internal combustion engine car. That’s with one important caveat – the electric car only generates more CO2 in manufacture, and almost as much CO2 over its life cycle, if the original power source used at the factory, and to recharge the batteries, comes from coal-fire power stations.  That’s according to a 2001 study by the Institute for Life Cycle Environmental Assessment.

 

Most people do not think about the total lifecycle costs of electric cars. Most of the attention seems to be on emissions only, rather than the entire cradle to grave costs of producing, running and then retiring an electric vehicle. It’s a failure of attention that will have to be rectified if, as many people seem to agree, we’re going to move to a future that’s predominantly transported by electric vehicles (EV).

 

So why does an electric vehicle (EV) create more CO2 than an internal combustion engine (ICE) car if it’s manufactured using coal-fired power?  It’s the batteries.  Batteries of all types are very energy intensive to make, and recycling them is a complicated, energy intensive business. With an ICE car, melting down an engine block is a relatively simple, but still energy intensive, process. Breaking down a battery is that much harder, and potentially a whole lot more toxic too.

 

According to this study, hybrids come second best when it comes to lifecycle costs which is an odd conclusion given that hybrids use the same batteries, although fewer of them, than a fully electric car. The best performer for overall lifecycle CO2 emissions is an electric vehicle manufactured with, and powered by, hydro-electric power.

Coal is cheap and plentiful in the United States and in the 1970’s the government encouraged the development of coal fired plants as an alternative to oil in order to move us further away from the economic and national threats posed by imported oil.   Today, more than fifty percent (54%) of our energy is produced by coal fired power plants.

 

Simply moving to a plug-in, EV future doesn’t automatically mean that we’re moving to cleaner motoring. What it does mean is more CO2 emissions from our coal fired power stations, which essentially moves the pollution from the tail-pipe of the car to the exhaust stack of the power station.  And what this means is that an EV is potentially just as polluting as a gasoline powered car.

 

The Conclusion:

 

Our energy future will require:

1)    Migrate away from coal fired energy plants.  Natural Gas and nuclear offer the best opportunity, on a national basis, to replace coal with a less polluting and economically viable alternative.

2)    Wind and Solar power are interesting alternatives but are mostly effective in local use.  To be effective on a national basis, the United States must invest in building a smart power grid to replace the existing distribution system.  This is a long and costly, but needed, expense.

3)    Develop battery technology that is less polluting to build, and more importantly less polluting to recycle.

4)    Impose more of the true cost of energy and products on the price.  Yes, this hints at cap and trade but rather than trying to control all carbon footprints, tax specific energy sources like coal fired plants and hybrid batteries that cost to recycle.  This will encourage the free market to develop cost effective alternatives in a timely manner.  Cap and trade is a broad taxing system on all carbon producing activity.  Targeted taxation that increases as time goes on will encourage development of viable alternatives.

 

Who Said It:

"Energy will be the immediate test of our ability to unite this Nation, and it can also be the standard around which we rally".

 

                                                                                                   Jimmy Carter

 

 

Today's ZingerToon:

     

      

Recent ZingerKing Articles:

Articles can be found under “Recent Articles” in the purple sidebar.   Older articles can be found in the archives that are stored by month.  These are found at the bottom of the purple sidebar.   Here is a list of the most recent articles.Click here to access the archives  www.ZingerKing.com

Geithner, Stimulus, Health Care for Troops and more

Torture, Rendition and Iran's Nuclear Ambition

2009 Elections.  How Losers Become Winners

The Cost of The Olympics.  Chicago's Bid

Health Care and Illegal Immigrants

Obama's Eight Month Report Card

Climate Change and Afghanistan

Missile Defense in Czech Republic and Poland

Escalating the War in Afghanistan:  Pelosi and Obama

President Obama's Speech To Congress Regarding Health Care

Part I:  Implications of a Radical Change in Life Expectancy

Zingers Alternative For health Care Reform

The Tug Of War Of Special Interest Groups and Health Care Reform




You can access these and other articles at  www.ZingerKing.com

Shameless Request For Support:

ZingerKing operates without advertising or government funding (obviously).  The purpose is to inform and educate its readers about economic and political issues that affect our lives.

Help ZingerKing grow. Have you Zinged someone lately?  Please forward a link to ZingerKing to a friend, family member or neighbor.  If you enjoy reading the Zinger please subscribe (see the subscribe box at the top of the article in the purple side band).  Subscribers receive the"Morning Briefing" when published with a link to the full article.Periodic alerts are sent to subscribers only with important updates and insights into critical issues.  Your email address will not sold to others and will not be shared.

Write To Us:

You can comment on any article by clicking on the comment button at the bottom of each article or you can write to us at    ZK@ZingerKing.com