but there’s evidence that this shift is already happening.
Shift? Dude that article has been debunked already.
thebusinessjournal.com/blog-harris-ranch-sets-rec…
BEV is effectively running on coal.
Funny thing is that EVs are still cleaner than ICE even when powered by a Coal grid
CrimeDad@lemmy.crimedad.work 2 months ago
A month after the Business Journal article, a Harris Ranch spokesperson confirmed that Tesla did set up diesel generators to power Superchargers for a time. So, it’s a thing that happens. Regardless, the point is that the energy in the gasoline and diesel fuel that goes into most of the fleet will still have to come from somewhere and there are no policies to make sure it comes from GHG-free sources.
If it’s not a problem for BEVs to run on electricity derived from coal, then it shouldn’t be a problem for FCEVs to run on hydrogen derived from natural gas. What I’m saying is that it doesn’t really matter how the energy from coal or natural gas eventually gets consumed. It’s a separate issue that we simply shouldn’t be burning any of that stuff.
AlternateRoute@lemmy.ca 2 months ago
There is no clean, cheap, efficient source of hydrogen. You still need to transport it around burning more fuel to transport it all around.
There are already multiple ways to get clean electricity for BEVs and the supply chain is cleaner… Plant, grid, car.
Also coal is already a TINY TINY % of US power production, www.eia.gov/energyexplained/us-energy-facts/ , going to natural gas sourced hydrogen would be a step backward.
When source to consumption is considered BEV is the cleanest option so far.
CrimeDad@lemmy.crimedad.work 2 months ago
That’s just not true. Electrolysis of water to produce hydrogen can be accomplished with electricity from any source and it even makes intermittent renewable sources feasible without massive, enviromentally unfriendly batteries or fossil fuel fired peaking plants. It is even possible to get hydrogen from natural gas by way of pyrolysis, which avoids CO2 emissions. Hydrogen can of course be safely and efficiently transported by pipeline, probably significantly more safely than overhead power transmission lines can “transport” electricity.
Fixed it for you. All these batteries are going to be a problem. Meanwhile, hydrogen just requires pressure vessels and pipelines for storage and transport, which are much safer for the environment.
As we have seen in Germany, the permanent reduction of coal fired electricity is not a sure thing. Regardless, the point is that whether you are driving a BEV or an FCEV, it will be running on an overall energy mix that is determined by separate national policies.
AlternateRoute@lemmy.ca 2 months ago
Electrolysis is at least 25% less as efficient than just storing the electricity in battery’s as it produces both oxygen and hydrogen and then you need to spend some more of the power compressing it…. Even before you get to transporting it. Otherwise we would just have electrolytes plants all over already.