ENERGY 303 Lecture Notes - Lecture 29: Elon Musk, Free Market, Social Cost
Document Summary
Life cycle analysis, light bulbs, and electric cars. One of the advantages of electric cars is that they"re more energy efficient. One of the disadvantages of electric cars is the idea of range. What"s the total energy cost that goes into this and what about energy sourcing? (has to come from somewhere. If you want to compare vehicles, have to compare whole lifecycle. Coal and natural gas are the main sources of electricity. Don"t gain much (in co2 emission/pollution reduction) when use coal or oil to make electricity. Natural gas allows about 50% reduction in emissions. With geothermal, solar, nuclear, wind, and hydro, reduction becomes even higher (ranging from 91% to 99%) Depends on where you get your electricity in terms of how green your electricity is. Benefits of ev"s depend on where you live (and on the future of electricity production) Where we get out electricity varies regionally (state by state or country by country)
