In Pierre-Oliver Roy’s article “Does Driving an Electric Car Help Decarbonize the Economy?” It is found that there are many different factors that contribute to why and why not electric cars could or could not be useful for lowering the amount of carbon and greenhouse gases in the air. Pierre-Oliver Roy conducted this study in 2016, he uses examples from Quebec, Germany, and China. His focus was on electric vehicles, their inputs, outputs, and environmental impacts all focused on greenhouse gases. His overall question is to his study was if driving an electric car will reduce carbon input in the economy.
The answer to all of this is it depends on how you use the electrical car. An electrical car is only as beneficial/green as the type of outlet/power grid that is used to charge it. The greenhouse gas release relies on the power grid and how much the car is driven. A grid in Canada, specifically Quebec, uses 99% renewable energy from hydroelectricity and wind energy which produces very low greenhouse gases through the caf and the grid. This is one of the cleanest power grids out there. Unlike the one in China which relies on coal, and the one in Germany which relies on fossil fuels. These both release large amounts of greenhouse gases into the air, causing the oxygen we breathe to be even more polluted that it already is.
It can also be seen that even with a cleaner grid, it depends on how far you drive an electric car and how much you drive the car to make an actual difference. Driving the car less, meaning it won’t have to be charged as much and not driving it as far, will help reduce greenhouse gases in the air. Also using an electric car for shorter distances and for small trips and carpooling are seen to reduce the toxin put into the air. It takes a lot to make a difference but even with the small steps it can help. In Quebec it is seen useful to have the electric car due to the clean power grids and the type of traveling being shorter. Germany is a place that is not as useful to have an electric, it’s about doing the same amount of damage as a normal car. But the worst place by far is China. To have an electric car there is the same as having a regular car, there is not much of a difference to be made. “You would need to drive an electric car more than 50,000 km in Quebec and 150,000 km in Germany to outcompete a conventional car in terms of greenhouse gas emissions.” says Roy. So he states that there is a difference that is made and that electric cars can be useful.
He finishes the article talking briefly about how electric cars are made. He states that yes they can be useful but to produce them releases large amounts of greenhouse gases. The type of materials needed to make an electric car can be just as bad as driving a regular car. So there is up and down benefits and it really does come down to how you use the car. Building an electrical car emits more greenhouse gases than making a regular conventional car. Overall Roy came to the conclusion that if you use electric cars in a clean power grid with the intent of taking small trips, there is a beneficial difference that can be made.
Works Cited
Roy, Pierre-Olivier. “Does Driving an Electric Car Help Decarbonize the Economy?” Anthropocene, The International Reference Centre for the Life Cycle of Products, Processes, and Services, 2016, www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/09/does-driving-an-electric-car-help-decarbonize-the-economy/.
