Oilpan4 wrote:I was reading an article from green car reports I think it was and they were saying that if all passenger vehicle became electric over night it would only reduce over all US carbon dioxide output by around 11%.
As long as most of the power to charge the electric vehicles comes from fossil fuels nothing really changes. A large portion would have to come from nuclear power to have any meaningful mitigating impact on CO2 release.
Most of this is because only 28% of green house gas (GHG) emissions come from the transportation sector in the U.S.. And passenger vehicles only represent a portion of this. Buses, planes, trains, ships, and commercial trucks represent a large part of that 28%.
Electricity production also represents 28% of GHG in the U.S., and this, like the transportation sector, continues to move towards more renewables. Yet residences only use a percent of this. Commercial and industrial buildings/facilities also use a large part, so it's not enough for a home to become electrically "net zero".
https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/source ... -emissions
Indirectly, we can have some influence on all sectors of U.S. carbon emissions by the way we vote. Directly, some things U.S. residents can do and have a lot more control over: upgrade to electric vehicle(s), solar PV, heat pumps for heating home air and water, efficient appliances, low/no animal source diet...
'19 Model 3 SR+, '19 Leaf SV, '12 Plug-in Prius (sold 3/19), '16 Leaf SV (prior lease), 11.43kW Solar PV (16MWh/yr prod.), 20.5 SEER/13.0 HSPF ducted air-source HP, 3.70 UEF HPWH, Induction Cooktop, Variable Speed Pool Pump, Battery powered yard tools