Zack Hill by John Deering and John Newcombe for January 05, 2023

good question, Zack

Bingo.

Where I live electric power is hydroelectric and my home usage is 30% solar. So my diesel 3/4 ton pick-up is justified…..get out-of my way!

This one is Excellent!!

Actually coal is now used for less then 23% of the electricity generation.

I wonder if Mr Grumbine could provide Zack with a more informed answer, in contrast to a slanted one-liner.

Considering the environmental hazard of making batteries for EV’s the answer is pretty informed.

Awkward.

Last time I looked, coal-fired plants in the USA accounted for about 22% of electricity.

Carl you nailed it

we now live in a world of “it’s what I want it to be” not what it really is. besides, how would I get famous on social media IF I only commented the truth instead of screaming the “sky is falling” – sensationalism (1 part possible truth to 10 parts made-up conclusions) has been around since UGH told OGH that cooking raw mammoth over a fire would cause your hair to fall out, he saw it on Instagram.

It keeps most of the pollution in the low rent district next to the power plant.

The trim levels of ICE vehicles has pretty well topped out. The auto industry needed a whole new angle.. so let’s sell the world on electric vehicles.

Because 300 million cars burning oil and gas is worse than centralized power plants that are improving efficiency, reducing reliance on fossil fuels and are part of a transition. Not even 1% drive electric cars right now, but we need more people to do so and need to eliminate coal power plants, (there are none being built in the US today, they will phase out and be replaced by cleaner plants). This whole, “we don’t have the infrastructure today” nonsense gets tiresome. When cars were first built it took years before we had the infrastructure to effectively use them. It took Eisenhower 62 days to drive from DC to San Francisco in 1919, who would ever invest in cars?

Too bad the US is too car-centric while the rest of the developed world is cluing in. We could have hydrogen-powered comfy trains by now (and that hydrogen wouldn’t come from coal-plant).

Because in many other countries they are using way less coal to produce electricity, with their share of renewables climbing steadily. As for why electric cars are better, seat behind a SUV and breathe deeply the exhaust fumes.

EVs are better for the environment because while producing gas and electricity both cause pollution, EVs don’t cause pollution emissions. 50% improvement is still better than 0% improvement.

And now there are new breakthroughs in sodium and aluminum ion battery technology, which will help solve the lithium problem.

Whoa, Brilliant question…

In the USA less than 20% of electricity is generated by coal fired plants. Worldwide less than 40%. But that is not the point. Using electricity, even coal generated electricity is better that burning coal or natural gas or oil to directly power our lives.

EVs are not intrinsically better than any other car. There are no regulations or policies that say that they have to be built to any particular standard. This means that you can buy an EV that take more energy to drive from than a small, efficient hybrid. All that energy is created somewhere else, and that creates more pollution, but it’s not ‘in your face’.

The same political environment that shuts down nuclear plant in favor of wind generators and solar power that only produces a fraction of the power.

Coal is 22% of total electricity generated. So Zack is wrong. https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/electricity/electricity-in-the-us.php

Fossil fuel power plants convert 50% of their energy source to energy. Counting transmission through the grid, and efficiency loss in an electric engine, this may drop as low as 40% for EVs. Diesel engines top out in the high 30s, with most regular cars ranging 11-30%. It’s not advanced math. The least efficient EVs fed on coal will still edge out the most efficient gas cars.