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Air Pollution Control
Electric cars may be only one aspect of urban air protection. Electric cars require electric power and electric power is generated mostly by burning coal, oil, wood, or natural gas.
Replacing a car that runs on oil with an electric car, puts one source of pollution into another. Power plants that work hard to make electricity for light-bulbs and toasters now have to work even harder so we can plug-in electric vehicles for an overnight charge.
This means incomplete combustion functioning to make steam that turns electric generators.
Much of our air contamination control efforts need to be focused on smoke stack scrubbers for power plants.
The choice fuel for heat to turn the electric generators doesn't matter much. They all pollute the air in regard to carbon dioxide (CO2). Some less than others.
The least CO2 polluting fuel is natural gas or methane (CH4). How much CO2 pollution exactly does natural gas produce?
A good example is given in Dr. Michael Fayer's new book, Absolutely Small (AMA, 2010). Burning natural gas to make electricity to run a 100 watt light bulb 24/7 for one year puts 1000 pounds of CO2 in the atmosphere. Heating oil is 1.3 times worse, and If we burn coal instead, “it will be 2000 pounds or the weight of a small car.”
If we had a United States Energy Policy - which we don't - and if that energy policy were comprehensive, with long term initiatives, then new air pollution could be prevented; existing air pollution could be cleaned up. What a concept.
Not dealing with air pollution is like not doing an oil change: we pay for it whether we get one or not. We suffer low gas mileage or bronchitis, and the cost is in the billions.
Most people live in cities. Most cities have oil-based motor transport. If we changed to all electric transport, the cities could become cleaner - providing the power plants put scrubbers on the smoke stacks.
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