Electric cars got even cleaner in a year, new grid data shows

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GRA

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Via GCR: https://www.greencarreports.com/new...ot-even-cleaner-in-a-year-new-grid-data-shows
UCS annual report and map for U.S. average GHG emissions equivalent improved from 73mpg in 2015 to 80 mpg for 2016. Most of New York leads the way with 191 MPG, then Alaska at 112 and California at 109. Bringing up the rear is Oahu at 35 MPG, and Northern Illinois/Eastern Wisconsin at 38 MPG. direct link to UCS blog: https://blog.ucsusa.org/dave-reichmuth/new-data-show-electric-vehicles-continue-to-get-cleaner
 
Latest UCS survey, via GCR:
UCS report shows electric cars get even cleaner in 2018
https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1119135_ucs-report-shows-electric-cars-get-even-cleaner-in-2018

. . . The organization updated its widely-used 2009 study with the latest data available from the EPA from 2018.

It shows that counting the power used to generate electricity the average electric car produces the equivalent greenhouse-gas emissions of a gas car that gets 80 mpg. . . .

Another improvement that stands out from 2009, however, is that the cleanest hybrids have also become much more efficient, with the most efficient hybrids averaging 55 to 56 mpg, up from the mid-40s at the time of the earlier study. The areas where an efficient hybrid might be cleaner than an electric car have expanded in some regions. . . .
There are maps.
 
Latest UCS update for 2018 power grid, via GCR:
In less than a decade, electric cars have already become this much cleaner
https://www.greencarreports.com/new...ic-cars-have-already-become-this-much-cleaner



. . . According to the latest "well-to-wheels" data from the Union of Concerned Scientists, 94 percent of Americans now live in a place where, based on their local grid, driving an electric vehicle produces less emissions than driving a 50-mpg gasoline car.

When the organization first made this assessment, in 2012 (of 2009 utility data), it found that to be the case for 45 percent. And over that time, the fraction of U.S. electricity from coal has gone from 45% to 28%, while the fraction of electricity from wind and solar has gone from 2% to 8%.

The calculations from UCS include power-plant emissions plus the emissions from the production of coal, natural gas, or other fuels used for power generation.

In its January 2020 update, UCS tallied the emissions from power plants over the 2018 calendar year. UCS notes that power-plant emissions in the U.S. fell more than 5% from 2016 to 2018, from less coal and more natural gas, wind, and solar. Coal plants were retired at a record pace in 2019, so we would expect the grid is even quite a bit better today than this represents.

One other valuable takeaway is that there’s no longer any quibbling over outlier regions. The latest data confirms that the average EV is responsible for fewer global-warming emissions than the average new gas car anywhere in the U.S.

The organization also noted that versus two years ago, the average efficiency of electric vehicles has improved—especially considering Model 3 sales add up to more than a third of all EV sales. The 2020 Tesla Model 3 Standard Range Plus is the most efficient car on the market; and in California, it's the equivalent of a 161-mpg gasoline car—with one-fifth the global-warming emissions of the average gasoline car and more than 60% less than the average gas car.


There's the usual chart showing region by region.
 
Thank hydraulic fracturing and combined cycle power plants that hit 50 to 60% overall thermal efficiency for making coal obsolete.

That 2 to 8% growth in wind and solar was almost all wind.
 
Oilpan4 said:
Thank hydraulic fracturing and combined cycle power plants that hit 50 to 60% overall thermal efficiency for making coal obsolete.

That 2 to 8% growth in wind and solar was almost all wind.


6.5% (273TWh) to 1.5% (64TWh), but if you check the EIA website https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.php?id=427&t=3, small-scale behind the meter PV adds another 30 TWh or so. With the wind PTC expiring for new projects at the end of last year, we saw a surge in wind construction starts to get in under the wire of that - https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=39472
 
With opm expiring for big wind maybe the government will pay more attention to small solar. Since roof top solar has 4 things really important to power generation.
1 a person who wants it.
2 no nimby to deal with.
3 land with a nice hard flat sloped sun facing surface.
4 grid connection.
Then a bunch of little stuff, no bs environmental impact survey, no need to upgrade the power grid, no line losses, security, person who wants it coughs up some of the money.
 
In California, essentially all new homes built on/after this past Jan. 1st are required to have PV, so expect to see a significant uptick in behind-the-meter PV from that going forward. We'll see if other sunbelt states follow suit, although most of them are Red states so probably not anytime soon.
 
The only problem with making everyone put up solar is all that solar could cut into base load. If your base load is mostly coal, nuclear or natural gas fired rankine cycle and wind it causes a problem.
Not as big of a problem for natural gas brayton or hydroelectronic base load.
I don't know if it's a problem now. For traditional power grid management it would be.
Since socal is known for having brown outs and a lack of generation capacity during the summer it might not be a problem for a long time.
 
GCC:
CARB publishes 2020 CI values for electricity as transportation fuel: average 82.92 gCO2e/MJ, up from 2019
https://www.greencarcongress.com/2020/03/20200310-carbci.html


The California Air Resources Board (CARB) Executive Officer has certified the 2020 annual update to the carbon intensities (CI) of the lookup table pathways for a) California Average Grid Electricity Used as a Transportation Fuel in California and b) Electricity Supplied under the Smart Charging or Smart Electrolysis Provision.

The updated pathway CI values are available for quarterly fuel reporting under the Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) in 2020, beginning with Q1.

The CI of California average grid electricity used as a transportation fuel in California for 2020 is 82.92 gCO2e/MJ. This represents a slight increase over the CI of 81.49 gCO2e/MJ used in 2019.

The CI for the smart charging or smart electrolysis provision varies by time of day (using an hourly window) and quarter. It ranges from a low of 27.30 gCO2e/MJ for the window from 12:01 pm to 2:00 pm in Q1 to a high of 143.40 gCO2e/MJ from 7:01 to 8:00 pm in Q3. . . .

The current certified average CI—based on the average crude oil supplied to California refineries and average California refinery efficiencies—of CARBOB—the standard grade of gasoline supplied to the California market— is 100.82 gCO2e/MJ.


There's a chart, which only runs through 2018. Looking at that, the reason for the increase appears to be a decrease in large hydro and an increase in NG. All the renewables are also up. Direct link to report: https://ww3.arb.ca.gov/fuels/lcfs/f...68849&utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery
 
Since energy is measured in joules and watts are a conversion on top of all the other conversions due to type of generating source and its efficiency, I imagine it's easier to calculate gCo2e in (mega)joules.
 
GRA said:
Since energy is measured in joules and watts are a conversion on top of all the other conversions due to type of generating source and its efficiency, I imagine it's easier to calculate gCo2e in (mega)joules.

Energy = Integral of Power (watts) over time, e.g. kWh, joule - watt-second.
 
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