A recent study from a team led by Mark Holland from North Carolina University makes a remarkable statement, that “electric vehicles, on average, generate greater environmental externalities than gasoline vehicles.” The study compares electric vehicles (EVs) with gasoline vehicles and finds EVs wanting.
The key problem with the paper is that it uses already-outdated data and doesn’t in its main analysis consider the ongoing transformation of our grid, which changes the chief results quite remarkably. The culprit behind the Holland study’s findings is good old coal. But King Coal is dying in the U.S.
The grid is changing rapidly around the country. In fact, we are in the middle of a massive transformation of our electricity grid, as illustrated in Figure 1. The most obvious trends are a major reduction in coal power generation and a concomitant increase in natural gas generation. A less obvious trend, but more important for the long term, is a doubling of non-hydro renewables from 3.1 percent to 6.9 percent.
Figure 1: U.S. Electric Grid Mix, 2008 and 2014
Source: […]
