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[–] DeepFriedPickles 0 points 1 point (+1|-0) ago 

I'm all for electric cars, but I'd like to point out that they're only as green as the electricity you use to charge them. So for example, if the electricity to charge your car comes from your local coal-burning steam plant you won't really be doing anything green. Just something to consider

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[–] Randomhandle ago 

Versus a refinery that uses electricity to make gasoline. So gasoline cars use coal and gasoline to run while electric cars only coal. So yeah. Still greener.

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[–] DeepFriedPickles 1 point -1 points (+0|-1) ago 

Oh yeah. But they aren't the green miracle some people claim them to be.

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[–] GreatDrok 1 point 0 points (+1|-1) ago 

This old argument has been debunked many times but keeps coming back. Even driven by electricity from a coal burning plant, an EV is cleaner because centralised power plants are able to run at full efficiency whereas petrol cars don't especially in traffic. Also, an EV is a car that gets cleaner with age as more power is generated by clean renewable sources, whereas an ICE car gets dirtier as it ages due to the engine wear and so on. That said, I get my power from a certified carbon zero supplier and also have rooftop solar so my car is 100% off fossil fuel. Even the batteries can be recycled and are used as backup load levelling for solar power once they finish their lives in the car so the pollution caused by building the car when taken as a lifetime view is far far less for an EV.

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[–] Randomhandle 1 point 0 points (+1|-1) ago 

Not to mention that refineries use coal and electricity to run to be able to refine oil in the first place. That's triple usage plus the gasoline exhaust.

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[–] AlphaWookie 1 point 0 points (+1|-1) ago  (edited ago)

You are not making a difference at all for the world. 1 billion Africans are going to buy air conditioning in the next 50 years off setting every environmental regulation and effort the first world makes to mitigate CO2. There is no way the first world is going to be able to tell Africa hey you can't have all this cools shit like A/C. Never mind the billion Indians and the other billion Asians that are going to buy A/C units. Just thought you should know.

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[–] DeepFriedPickles 1 point -1 points (+0|-1) ago 

I never said they were equal in energy greeness. I just said not to herald them as a green miracle like some people do. Personally I'm for the idea of electric cars if for nothing more than taking power away from OPEC. That said I'm still a realist and don't like to live in fantasies

Oh god don't get me started on solar. That's one of the dirtiest forms of energy production. Not to mention the least efficient. People think solar is clean because the actual conversion of energy is clean, but nobody ever looks at how they are made. Take a look at the nasty ass chemicals and toxic wastes that come from solar panel production and disposal. And this is a huge factor considering solar panels only have a lifetime of ~15-25 years at best. IMO the only clean energy sources are wind, tidal, and CANDU nuclear power. Source: chemical engineering with diploma in energy development.