If we fail to see it then it cannot be for a lack of trying on the part of campaigners. The apparent effects of climate change are clear for all to see. Changes in weather patterns, more frequent outbursts of severe weather and the steady shrinking of global ice caps and glaciers.
If anyone still doubts the effects of anthropogenic climate change the change caused by humans then perhaps we should just heed the words of no less a figure than Stephen Hawking, who has compared the seriousness of the climate situation to that of nuclear weapons when it comes to securing our future on this planet.
Private car use is seen as Public Enemy No 1 by environmental campaigners and that s why we re all now paying Vehicle Registration Tax (VRT) and motor tax on the basis of the carbon emissions of our cars.
It s also why there has been such a blaze of publicity (good and bad) about electric vehicles recently. Clearly, the car maker that can crack the conundrum of making a usable, desirable car that emits no exhaust gases will make a sales killing. It s not just something that we want to do: it s something that we have to do, says Dermot McArdle of ESB eCars.
The macro factors are moving in one direction only. Fossil fuel prices are increasing on almost a daily basis. As a country we ve also signed up to a lot of international agreements, which inform Government policy, and that policy is to move transport into a low-carbon environment.
How do we do that? By making electric vehicles a realistic possibility for as many people as possible. Choice is a factor, and every major car manufacturer is currently working on bringing either a battery electric vehicle to the market or a plug-in hybrid, and a lot of that is being driven by EU directives on carbon emissions.
What makes it realistic from a consumer point of view is an efficient network of recharging.
The ESB is crucial to the development of electric cars in Ireland, and the company s carbon emissions level will be one of the deciding factors in whether or not it s worth making the switch from fossil fuels to electrons.
This is expected to drop closer to 50g by 2020 as additional renewable generating capacity, mostly from wind farms, comes on stream. A conventional car in this case a Renault Fluence would cost 14.2 cent per kilometre on the urban cycle for a petrol model, 8.6 cent for the diesel version.
Of course, that s not to forget reduced maintenance costs, lower insurance costs and, thanks to recent budget changes, an even lower motor tax rate for EVs, says McArdle.
The ESB s figures assume the wind power component of the system is working efficiently, something that is not always the case, although electric cars offer a potential storage solution for excess wind power generated, especially at night.
There is also the question of the additional demand on power generation created by any major switchover to electric cars.
With a generating system still primarily dependent on fossil fuels, if we all bought electric cars surely we d just be shunting our emissions up the chain to power stations that use fossil fuels?
Yes and no. The ESB currently works under an emissions cap, which means any extra demand on the generating system must be offset.
So, theoretically, no matter how many of us purchase and run electric cars, that extra charging demand on the power plants won t lead to a rise in generation emissions but will lead to a reduction of emissions from transport. Potentially it s a win-win situation.
So if we reached 250,000 EVs by then, as a country we would be saving over EUR 30 million per year on carbon costs, not to mention other savings in generation, by increasing the night-time demand curve and thereby keeping generating stations on load, and also utilising wind energy that might otherwise go to waste.
沒有留言:
張貼留言