According to the current Scientific American, the EPA projects that electric powered cars will cause more CO2 emissions than gasoline powered cars in most US locations, depending on the projected fuel mix used to generate the power.
As we get more electric cars and plug-in hybrids, peak electric power demand will not increase, off-peak demand will increase. Utilities will do the cheapest thing to meet this demand, which is to run their existing non-base-load plants day and night. The non-base-load plants tend to produce more CO2 per unit power than gasoline, depending on the location-dependent fuel mix. On Jul 27, 11:07 pm, Eric Swanson <[email protected]> wrote: > Lets see, the new Chevy Volt has a 16 kWhr battery, which is > programmed to operate between 30% and 85% of full charge. Thus, the > charge cycle requires about 8.8 kWhr plus allowances for > inefficiencies. Given 5 hours of sunlight a day, an array with > something like 2 kW production could conceptually recharge the > batteries. Newer panels, such as those from Evergreen Solar, produce > about 200 W per panel in full sun, so 10 panels could provide the > needed amount of electricity. That number of panels, plus a few extra > for spare, could charge the Chevy Volt during the day. > > The electricity from those panels might also be stored in a local > fixed battery bank, which could then be used to charge the Volt's > battery after dark. Add a few more panels and run your basic house > loads (other than the large loads of water heating, a cloths dryer or > A/C, that is). Add 2 or 3 solar thermal panels to heat your hot water > and passive thermal gain for winter heating and you are about there. > > E. S. > ---------------------------------------------------- > > > > Don Libby wrote: > > A vast solar pv array the size of an Airbus jumbo-jet's wing-span generates > > about enough power to drive a motor scooter. That's what I learned from > > the solar airplane experiment that flew in Switzerland this past week. To > > those who think they can recharge their Prius plug-in hybrid from a rooftop > > solar pv array, I say... > > > Good luck, > > -dl- Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text - -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Global Change ("globalchange") newsgroup. Global Change is a public, moderated venue for discussion of science, technology, economics and policy dimensions of global environmental change. Posts will be admitted to the list if and only if any moderator finds the submission to be constructive and/or interesting, on topic, and not gratuitously rude. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/globalchange
