Electric Vehicles And Climate Change: A Sustainable Solution? Essay.

Climate change is an empirical threat for most of the life on the planet, particularly humankind. There has been a loss of sea ice along with the growth in sea levels to the incidence of life- threatening events like droughts, hurricanes, or rigorous heat waves. After thorough research, it was found that the greenhouse gases such as methane, nitrous oxide, carbon dioxide, and aerosols are changing the atmosphere and have exposed the planet (Britishvolt, 2021). Therefore, in order to reduce the consequences, electric vehicles were launched. Also, as cars make up to 70% of the CO2 emissions in the environment, the market for electric vehicles is increasing and it seems to be a good result to fight climate change (Eddy, Pfeiffer and van de Staaij 2019). The main purpose of this paper is to research the electric vehicle industry and evaluate if they are sustainable or not. Also, this paper will include a reflective document that will state the compilation with sustainability ideals.

With the reduction of the ozone layer along with the shortage of oil supply, a major issue has been elevated where it has become important to look for substitute of fuel vehicles that will not impact the environment and will still offer the people a consistent source of transportation. As compared to the gasoline- powered vehicles, EV or electric vehicles are said to be 97% cleaner and do not produce tailpipe emissions (Garcia-Bernabeu et al. 2019). As the electric vehicle does not produce emissions, it is not required for the owner of EV to take it to an emission testing facility for reviewing emissions. In addition to this, another factor that makes electric vehicles so clean is that they do not use the parts that gasoline- powered vehicle does. Also, there is no risk of fuel filters, radiator hoses or more being deserted into a congested facility.

Electric vehicles or even are an important part of meeting the worldwide goals of climate change. Electric vehicles offer justification trails that limit global warming to below 2C to 1.5C, which is in line with the targets of the Paris Agreement. As no greenhouse emission comes from electric vehicles, they totally run on electricity in a larger part but is still formed from fossil fuels in several parts across the globe. In addition to this, energy is also used to make this vehicle; in particular, battery. In an analysis conducted by the researchers, it was found out that electric vehicles are accountable for an inferior emission over their life span as compared to the conventional vehicles across Europe, as a whole (Casals et al. 2016). In the regions with coal rigorous electricity generation, electric vehicles have smaller profits as they have a similar lifetime emission to most of the well- organized conventional vehicles like the hybrid- electric models. In the regions of UK, in the year 2019, the lifetime emission per kilometer of driving the Nissan Leaf Electric Vehicle was around three times lower as compared to the average conservative cars, before accounting for the falling of carbon power of the electricity generated during the overall lifetime of the car (Bailey, Mancheri and Van Acker 2017). It is very difficult to compare electric vehicles and conventional cars as it depends upon the vehicle size, the accurateness of fuel- economy approximations that are used, calculation of electricity emission, the patterns of driving, and also the climate of the regions where they are being used. There is no such accuracy of the estimate which is applied everywhere. There is even a huge vagueness regarding the emissions which are related to the production of batteries for the electric vehicle, with different types of studies producing variedly in different numbers.

Part A

The German researchers at the Think Tank Institute for Economic Research have initiated out that electric vehicles can barely help to cut see you to emissions in Germany in the upcoming years (HAUSFATHER, 2019). The working paper from researchers even suggests that “in the region of Germany, the CO2 emission of battery electric vehicles are, in the finest case, slightly higher than those of the vehicles which use diesel engine” (HAUSFATHER, 2019).

The other studies needed to electric cars in Germany have searched and have got opposite conclusions. A study found out that emotion from electric vehicles has emissions up to around 43% lower as compared to diesel vehicles. Another study comprehensed that in all of the cases studied, electric cars have comparatively lower life and climatic impact as compared to the ones with internal combustion engines (HAUSFATHER, 2019). These particular differentiations have risen from the assumptions are used by the researchers. Professor Jeremy Michalek who is the director of Vehicle Electrification Group at Carnegie Mellon University has said that whenever it comes to technology it is dependent on several things. It includes the exact vehicles which are being compared, the electricity grid mix, the average margin of electricity emissions which are being used, the driving factors of consumers, and also the weather (Kone?ný et al. 2020). The below- mentioned figure is modified from an investigation by the International Council for Clean Transportation and it shows an approximation of life- cycle emissions for a distinctive conventional car of Europe, the hybrid conventional car having the best fuel economy, 2019 Toyota Prius Eco and a Nissan Leaf electric vehicle for different regions along with the European Union average. Among all these, Nissan Leaf was the top- selling electric vehicle in Europe in the year 2018 (Jiao and Evans 2016). This particular chart contains tailpipe emissions, emission from the fuel cycle (which consists of oil production, refining, transport, and electric generation); emission from the trading of non-battery mechanisms of the particular vehicle along with an approximation of emission from the battery manufacturing.

In different regions, the maximum of the lifetime emissions of both conventional and electricity has come from the operation of the vehicle; fuel cycle, and tailpipe, rather than the manufacturing of the vehicle. However, there is an exception in the regions of Norway or France; for instance: nearly all of the electricity originates from zero- carbon sources like nuclear power or hydroelectric (Ortar and Ryghaug 2019). It is even worth noting that the carbon which is produced from burning a gallon of petrol or diesel cannot be condensed; however, it is not the same for electricity. The life cycle emissions for electric vehicles are minor in the regions of France or Norway as compared to the other regions (Gersdorf et al. 2020). The above- mentioned chart is based on emissions of electric vehicles on the present grid mix in each region. Although, if the climate goals which are set in the Paris Agreement are to be achieved, then the electric generation will become less carbon concentrated which might upsurge the advantage of an electric vehicle over conventional vehicles. For instance, in the region of United Kingdom, electricity generated emissions have fallen by 38% in just the past three years and it is even predictable to fall by more than around 70% by the middle or late 2020s which is good in the time of electric vehicles that are being obtained currently.

Electric vehicles and conventional vehicles

Are Electric Vehicle truly sustainable and the answer to reducing climate change?

Yes, electric vehicles are truly sustainable as well as the answer to minimizing climate change. Electric cars are becoming more and more famous nowadays and cheaper to manufacture. As these cars will be increasingly widespread in the next 5 to 10 years, the electric grids will expand, and charging stations for electric cars will emerge within the city all across the world which means that electric cars can have greater recharging access in the future (Thinkin Greener, 2022). Furthermore, EV can run on the resources like solar panels or wind farms; therefore, buying an electric car does not mean that the individual is supporting fossil fuel unless the charging stations run on a coal- powered grid. Even then, the sources of renewable energy promise that in the future the coal power grid will be substituted completely by renewable sources in the upcoming years. Hence, EV or electric vehicles promise to be a very sustainable decision for a very long time for both the environment as well as an individual’s affordability (Thinkin Greener, 2022).

Previously the organizations or human beings did not realize the importance of this aspect; however, it is of more importance is currently. Almost every organization or human being is taking sustainability seriously and they are contributing towards making the environment a better place to live rather than harming the environment. I take this very seriously and follow sustainability options as much as possible in my daily life. For instance: I generally avoid plastic packages when I go shopping for any items. However, I have noticed that despite the seriousness of the climate changes, several small shops are still using plastic packaging which leads to wastage. Therefore, in order to avoid it, I prefer taking my shopping bag so that I can contribute to the environment at its best. Apart from this, we have seen advertisements in several channels such as hoardings, television, social media sites, and more which states to save electricity. This does not benefit the company that is advertising the same but it can benefit every person in saving their money, reducing the utility bills, minimizing the emissions of greenhouse gas as well as allowing the economies they can meet the increasing energy demands across the world. But from my personal experience, I have seen my friends and some of the other people who do not take this seriously and does not contribute to energy efficiency. However, I use it in my daily life and use energy as less as possible. Whenever I observe that electricity is running without any reason and no one is there I switch off the lights and fans so that I can contribute to the efficient use of energy, which will ultimately help humankind. The way in which I see the seriousness of climate conditions currently, I want the other to see this problem as the same and adapt to the sustainable option which can benefit the earth.

Conclusion:

Lastly from the above discussion, it can be said that electric vehicles or EV are sustainable for this planet and people should start using electric vehicles rather than conventional vehicles. There are several types of research that state that climate change is speedily impacting the planet in a negative manner and automobiles along with combustion engines are one of the main reasons for global warming. Hence, to decrease the impact, it is important to grow awareness among the people to adopt EVS so that it can create a harmless environment for humankind. In order to encourage people to use electric vehicles as well as promote sustainability, the government must introduce liberalized petrol pumps with EV charging options so that people remain motivated to buy electric vehicles.

References:

Bailey, G., Mancheri, N. and Van Acker, K., 2017. Sustainability of permanent rare earth magnet motors in (H) EV industry. Journal of Sustainable Metallurgy, 3(3), pp.611-626.

Britishvolt, 2021. Britishvolt meets the Cop26 EV Convey. [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZyqevrQll4  [Accessed 2 March 2022].

Casals, L.C., Martinez-Laserna, E., García, B.A. and Nieto, N., 2016. Sustainability analysis of the electric vehicle use in Europe for CO2 emissions reduction. Journal of cleaner production, 127, pp.425-437.

Eddy, J., Pfeiffer, A. and van de Staaij, J., 2019. Recharging economies: The EV-battery manufacturing outlook for Europe. McKinsey & Company. Available online: https://www. mckinsey. com/industries/oil-andgas/our-insights/recharging-economies-the-ev-battery-manufacturing-outlook-for-europe (accessed on 28 October 2020).

Garcia-Bernabeu, A., Salcedo, J.V., Hilario, A., Pla-Santamaria, D. and Herrero, J.M., 2019. Computing the mean-variance-sustainability nondominated surface by Ev-MOGA. Complexity, 2019.

Gersdorf, T., Hertzke, P., Schaufuss, P. and Schenk, S., 2020. McKinsey electric vehicle index: Europe cushions a global plunge in EV sales.

HAUSFATHER, Z., 2019. Factcheck: How electric vehicles help to tackle climate change. [online] www.carbonbrief.org/. Available at: https://www.carbonbrief.org/factcheck-how-electric-vehicles-help-to-tackle-climate-change  [Accessed 2 March 2022].

Jiao, N. and Evans, S., 2016. Business models for sustainability: the case of second-life electric vehicle batteries. Procedia Cirp, 40, pp.250-255.

Kone?ný, V., Gnap, J., Settey, T., Petro, F., Skrúcaný, T. and Figlus, T., 2020. Environmental sustainability of the vehicle fleet change in public city transport of selected city in central Europe. Energies, 13(15), p.3869.

Ortar, N. and Ryghaug, M., 2019. Should all cars be electric by 2025? The electric car debate in Europe. Sustainability, 11(7), p.1868.

Thinkin Greener, 2022. Exactly how sustainable are electric cars? - Thinkin Greener. [online] www.thinkingreener.com/. Available at: https://www.thinkingreener.com/technology/exactly-how-sustainable-are-electric-cars/  [Accessed 2 March 2022].