Batteries’ bigger impact
Despite the environmental footprint of manufacturing lithium-ion batteries, this technology is much more climate-friendly than the alternatives, Shao-Horn says.
In the United States, the
electric grid (which is a mix of fossil fuels and low-carbon energy such as
wind, solar, hydropower and
nuclear power) is cleaner than burning gasoline, and so driving an electric car releases less CO2 than driving a gas-powered car. "An electric vehicle running on [electricity generated with] coal has the fuel economy equivalent in the order of about 50 to 60 miles per gallon equivalent,” says David Keith, a professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management who studies the emergence of new technologies in the automotive industry. “So the dirtiest electric vehicle looks something like our best gasoline vehicles that are available today."
And an electric vehicle running on electricity generated by hydropower, solar, wind or other low-carbon energy sources can be significantly cleaner. "In New England or the Pacific Northwest, the fuel economy equivalent of an EV is into the hundreds: 110-120 miles per gallon equivalent," says Keith.
When you add this up over hundreds of miles, even though the U.S. electric grid isn’t currently carbon-free and even when accounting for the initial emissions associated with manufacturing the battery,
electric cars still emit less CO2 than gas-powered cars.2 This is a key feature, given that, within the United States, the transportation sector produces the largest share of greenhouse gas emissions—nearly one-third of the country’s total emissions.3
A second major environmental benefit these batteries could offer is energy grid stabilization, Shao-Horn adds. As the world moves towards renewable energy resources, like solar and wind power, demand grows for ways of storing and saving this energy. Using batteries to store solar and wind power when it’s plentiful can help solve one big problem of renewable energy—balancing oversupply and shortage when the weather isn’t ideal—making it much easier to switch from CO2-emitting fossil fuels.
“If we have more batteries, we would be able to increase load level and then use [renewable energy] when we have more demand,” she says.
: "No, child, the train car was not tilting sideways. That is one of your delusions, again."
