Otherwise they become sort of ridiculous and continue to be a part of the problem. For example, I recently did a study and found out that in my home state of California that over 50 percent of the electrical generation is through Natural Gas which spins Steam turbines to generate electricity.
So, even if you buy an electric car, if you don't have solar panels or wind generators or geothermal or other renewables generating your power then you are at least 50% ridiculous and counterproductive because you are still burning hydrocarbons at a rate of 50% because of how electricity is actually generated in your state or country.
This is something no one likes to talk about but unless you consider this you are ill informed about the truths regarding electrical generation in your state or country around the world.
However, there IS another way to look at it which is that you are saving money by not buying gas and this is also true. It's possible that if you bought an inexpensive enough new Electric Vehicle that it might pay for itself in 5 or 10 years. This might be true too though it would be more likely that a used electric vehicle might pay for itself more quickly because it is less expensive to begin with. Also, if you buy a new electric vehicle in a place like California there are benefits and rebates and things like this that might help too. Also, paying 5 or 6 dollars a gallon for gas in California it might be more cost effective to own an electric vehicle for this reason too. However, it is important if you buy a used electric vehicle to check to see if the rechargable batteries need to be replaced soon because they only usually last about 7 years and it is expensive to replace them.
Here is an article with a quote of how electricity is generated by source in California that I compiled and wrote about recently:
begin quote from:
https://intuitivefred888.blogspot.com/2024/02/unless-you-can-generate-electricity.html
Sunday, February 11, 2024
Unless you can generate electricity with something other than Natural Gas effectively, all electric vehicles become ridiculous
This is the biggest problem with electrical vehicles now. People think they are saving the world driving them. But, as long as most of the electricity generated comes from Natural Gas (like in California) this is just stupid to be converting to All electric Vehicles in the end.
If you have solar power to your home and if you generate your electricity for your electric cars or trucks then this actually makes sense. If you have wind power and you generate the electricity for your electric vehicles then this makes sense.
But, if you are on the grid and getting electricity from it I did some research and actually the amount of Electricity generated by Natural Gas is much less than I believed before I started writing about this.
However, it is hard
to know for sure how electricity is generated that comes into the grid
from other states that California is buying also. So, the 37% is ONLY
for electricity generated in California and not from other states coming
into California.
For example, the present amount of electricity generated in California by Natural Gas is around 37% which I found incredibly surprising which means that 63% of electrical generation is from a source other than natural gas. Here is how it breaks down it appears:
begin quote from:
https://www.energy.ca.gov/data-reports/energy-almanac/california-electricity-data/2021-total-system-electric-generation
Translate
2021 Total System Electric Generation
Contact: Michael Nyberg | QFERGEN@energy.ca.gov
| Energy Assessments Division
- 2020 Total System Electric Generation and previous years
- 2009-2021 Total System Electric Generation Spreadsheet
Depending on browser width, scrolling of table may be necessary. Scroll bar is at bottom of table.
| Fuel Type | California In-State Generation (GWh) | Percent of California In-State Generation | Northwest Imports (GWh) | Southwest Imports (GWh) | Total Imports (GWh) | Percent of Imports | Total California Energy Mix (GWh) | Total California Power Mix |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coal | 303 | 0.2% | 181 | 7,788 | 7,969 | 9.5% | 8,272 | 3.0% |
| Natural Gas | 97,431 | 50.2% | 45 | 7,880 | 7,925 | 9.5% | 105,356 | 37.9% |
| Oil | 37 | 0.0% | - | - | - | 0.0% | 37 | 0.0% |
| Other (Waste Heat/Petroleum Coke) | 382 | 0.2% | 68 | 15 | 83 | 0.1% | 465 | 0.2% |
| Nuclear | 16,477 | 8.5% | 524 | 8,756 | 9,281 | 11.1% | 25,758 | 9.3% |
| Large Hydro | 12,036 | 6.2% | 12,042 | 1,578 | 13,620 | 16.3% | 25,656 | 9.2% |
| Unspecified | - | 0.0% | 8,156 | 10,731 | 18,887 | 22.6% | 18,887 | 6.8% |
| Total Thermal and Non-Renewables | 126,666 | 65.2% | 21,017 | 36,748 | 57,764 | 69.1% | 184,431 | 66.4% |
| Biomass | 5,381 | 2.8% | 864 | 26 | 890 | 1.1% | 6,271 | 2.3% |
| Geothermal | 11,116 | 5.7% | 192 | 1,906 | 2,098 | 2.5% | 13,214 | 4.8% |
| Small Hydro | 2,531 | 1.3% | 304 | 1 | 304 | 0.4% | 2,835 | 1.0% |
| Solar | 33,260 | 17.1% | 220 | 5,979 | 6,199 | 7.4% | 39,458 | 14.2% |
| Wind | 15,173 | 7.8% | 9,976 | 6,405 | 16,381 | 19.6% | 31,555 | 11.4% |
| Total Renewables | 67,461 | 34.8% | 11,555 | 14,317 | 25,872 | 30.9% | 93,333 | 33.6% |
| Total System Energy | 194,127 | 100.0% | 32,572 | 51,064 | 83,636 | 100.0% | 277,764 | 100.0% |
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