Electric cars will not save the planet without renewable energy

Several countries, including France, Norway and the UK, are planning to abandon fossil-fuel-powered cars by 2040-50 to reduce air pollution and combat climate change. The idea is to replace cars with internal combustion engines by electric vehicles. However, this is unlikely to help the environment, as electric vehicles are charged with electricity, which is produced from the same “dirty” fossil fuel.

By 2040, global electricity consumption by electric vehicles will rise to 1,800 TWh — about five times the current annual electricity consumption in the UK. Using UK data as a benchmark, carbon emissions will amount to an additional 510 megatons coming from the electricity sector worldwide. But this figure can be significantly reduced if electricity is produced exclusively from renewable energy sources and not from fossil fuels. Continue reading →