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This electric vehicle myth refuses to die, because it’s so hard to pick apart

Cars have been described as “small pollution factories”. In contrast, a domestic solar power system – consisting of solar panels and a battery – can be seen as a small power station that generates pollution-free electricity for years. (Photo: BMW)

By Justus Visagie

2 Dec 2024

Even when battery electric vehicles are charged using Eskom electricity from coal-fired power plants, they are still less harmful to humans and the environment than petrol and diesel vehicles. This seems counterintuitive at first, but here’s why it holds true, and why it should not stand in the way of battery electric vehicle adoption.

In a transport utopia, every battery electric vehicle (BEV) gets its electricity from sustainable sources, like wind generators or solar arrays. However, most countries depend on a mix of energy sources and often coal makes up the biggest slice of the energy pie chart.

One might logically think that switching to BEVs is ineffective if the electricity used to charge them comes predominantly from coal, a dirty energy source that leads to the worsening climate crisis and a number of diseases, many of them deadly.

Hiten Parmar, of Electric Mission – a South African nonprofit focused on advancing the electric vehicle market – emphasises the urgency of dispelling misconceptions about electrified transport. “Electric vehicles are a technology we can deploy right now,” he notes, stressing that “coordinated efforts across South Africa and the continent are essential to seize this window of opportunity for sustainable mobility.”

A fork in the road

However, combustible fuel and electric “fuel” are not created with the same energy intensity and they do not have the same efficiency.

The first key distinction lies in the sheer amount of pollution involved in manufacturing petrol and diesel versus turning coal into electricity.

The second lies in the variance between the efficiency of electric motors and the inefficiency of combustion engines.

The third is that electricity is made at a single point, where all the emissions happen. This can be effectively managed, as opposed to emissions at the tailpipe that are more complex to manage or limit.

Finally, not all electricity is made from dirty sources.

A VWSA plant solar car park. (Photo: QuickPic)

Making petrol and diesel

The difficulty in grasping this concept stems from the fact that the lengthy and environmentally damaging processes involved in producing petrol and diesel often remain hidden from view, explains Winstone Jordaan, chief executive and founder of charging infrastructure company GridCars. “The negative impacts of this extensive ‘value chain’ – from extraction and refining to transportation – are either overlooked or not fully considered when evaluating the harm caused by conventional fuels,” he explains.

A long, oily tail

Producing petrol or diesel for vehicles begins with locating and extracting crude oil from deep beneath Earth’s surface, a process that is often complex, hazardous and environmentally risky. Take the infamous example of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig disaster in 2010, where 507 million litres of oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico, affecting marine life, coastal habitats and local economies.

After extraction, crude oil must be transported across vast distances, typically in large tankers, which present their own environmental risks. One of the most notorious incidents occurred in 1989, when the Exxon Valdez supertanker struck a reef off the coast of Alaska, rupturing 11 of its cargo tanks. The spill released about 41.6 million litres of crude oil into the ocean, highlighting the vulnerabilities in the oil transportation process.

The burden of heavy fuel

It gets worse. Transporting extracted crude oil requires a particularly polluting type of fuel to drive the ships’ engines. It is known as heavy fuel oil (HFO), or bunker fuel. HFO is a dense, highly viscous byproduct of refining crude oil. Since it is less refined and significantly cheaper than lighter fuels like diesel, it is the fuel of choice for large cargo ships, including oil tankers. However, its lower refinement level means it produces higher emissions, contributing significantly to pollution in the shipping industry.

How much?

Oil tankers, responsible for carrying both crude oil and refined products like diesel, consumed about 26 million tonnes of bunker fuel in 2022. This accounted for roughly 20% to 25% of global shipping fuel consumption, making them a major player in the burning of HFO compared with lighter fuels like LFO and diesel. Their massive fuel use underscores the environmental toll of transporting oil globally.

Energy-intensive production

Once crude oil reaches its destination, it undergoes energy-intensive refining processes at production plants, which generate significant toxic waste.

After refining, petrol or diesel is transported – often by cargo ships – to fuel-importing nations.

It’s worth noting that South Africa’s petrol and diesel carry a considerable carbon footprint. This is due to the country’s distant location from major oil-producing regions and the fact that we import more than 50% of our fuel, a situation worsened by the decommissioning of most local refineries.

When the fuel eventually arrives in South Africa, it still needs to be transported to fuel depots and filling stations. The trucks that handle this distribution run on diesel, further adding to the environmental impact of combustion fuel.

Cars have been described as ‘small pollution factories’. In contrast, a domestic solar power system – consisting of solar panels and a battery – can be seen as a small power station that generates pollution-free electricity for years. (Photo: BMW)

Simpler process for BEVs

For BEVs, even if the electricity is generated from coal, the overall process is more streamlined. Coal is typically burned at a single location – the power plant – often near the coal mine that feeds it. Once electricity is generated, it is transmitted via power lines to your home or a public charging station.

Since power plants are located away from populated areas, their emissions can be managed more effectively, using technologies like flue gas treatment. Exhaust gases and particles from cars and trucks, burning fuel in densely populated urban centres, cannot be managed successfully.

This is not to say pollution from burning coal is inconsequential, but Eskom is increasingly adding renewable energy sources to the national grid.

The unexpected benefit of ‘load shedding’

An unexpected but fortunate side-effect of regular power outages (“load shedding”) in South Africa has been the widespread adoption of domestic solar panels and batteries. Many households are now equipped to help limit pollution and save between 40% and 100% on transport energy costs, since solar power provides a much cheaper alternative to petrol or diesel.

Read more: Chomp ‘n charge — Company plugs gaps in electric vehicle network with off-grid top-up

While charging BEVs with Eskom’s electricity already leads to significant savings, charging with solar energy multiplies those savings. Homeowners with relatively large solar installations and using an EV sometimes pay zero cents per kilometre, while a combustion car’s fuel usually costs between R1,10 and R2,80 per kilometre.

Yes, it’s true that the manufacturing and transportation of solar panels and batteries carry a carbon footprint, but they only need to be imported once, with lifespans measured in decades. And – surprise, surprise – they can also be recycled.

Long-lasting batteries

The same applies to today’s BEV batteries, which can last more than a decade. Also, if a problem arises with a BEV’s battery, individual cells can typically be replaced, extending its lifespan even further. Batteries from recycled BEVs can also provide electricity storage at homes, offices, factories – basically anywhere electricity is required.

Cars have been described as “small pollution factories”. In contrast, a domestic solar power system – consisting of solar panels and a battery – can be seen as a small power station that generates pollution-free electricity for years.

A typical car, by comparison, burns about 16,000 litres of petrol over 200,000 kilometres, releasing harmful gases into the atmosphere every second the engine runs.

Going up in smoke

It must be clear by now that the production process of petrol and diesel is infinitely more intensive than producing electricity from coal. To this we can add that the national grid is slowly cleaning up its act, while some homeowners can charge their BEVs, of which the cheapest now costs R540,000, at home, using clean energy. DM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REeWvTRUpMk

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