Hybrids: Helping or Hurting
By Sarah Backe
Personal automobiles are one of the biggest factors contributing to air pollution. Knowing that our Earth is in danger from all of the carbon dioxide that is constantly being released into the atmosphere, people have tried to make their carbon footprint smaller. Hybrid and electric cars were invented so that people could reduce their individual carbon output. But are they really helping with overall carbon emissions?
The process of making hybrid cars results in a greater emission of greenhouse gases and burning more fossil fuels than it requires to make a conventional car. The reason that the production of hybrid cars causing more pollution than conventional cars can be explained by several factors. One of the biggest production problems with hybrid cars is the manufacturing of the battery. The process of making a hybrid car battery releases large amounts of gases such as sulfur dioxide. Not only do hybrid cars require a more intensive battery, a second motor is also needed. The production of this second electric motor generates even more carbon dioxide. The pieces of hybrid cars are not all made in one country. The pollution created from shipping pieces overseas must be accounted for in the total pollution created in manufacturing a hybrid car.
Once a hybrid car has been assembled it is put on the road. Will the energy it saves while driving outweigh the extra energy needed to produce this car? A hybrid car does run on regular gasoline part of the time and therefore produces the same greenhouse gases that a conventional car produces. The benefit of hybrid cars is that they run much more efficiently even on the same gasoline. While both types of cars are producing the same greenhouse gases, hybrid cars are producing less per mile driven than a gas only car. The Argonne National Laboratory conducted an experiment to compare the lifetime emissions of a hybrid car compared to a conventional car. If both cars travel 160,000 miles in their lifetime, a conventional car requires 6,500 British thermal units of energy per mile, and a hybrid requires 4,200 British thermal units of energy per mile, then the hybrid produces a much smaller amount of greenhouse gas in its lifetime. The difference is so great that the hybrid car does in fact make up for its greater emissions during production.
Another new technology in the personal transportation spectrum is a completely electric car. While the term “electric car” sounds like it isn't burning any gasoline, we must remember where our electricity comes from. According to the United States Energy Information Administration more than 45% of the United States’ electricity is generated by coal-powered plants. If an electric car is charged by electricity coming from a coal powered plant then it could be adding up to 10% more pollution to the atmosphere than a conventional car and up to 60% more than a standard hybrid car.
Research on comparative emissions of different types of cars is lacking. The information that we do have shows that the main problem with hybrid and electric cars is the production methods used. If everyone drove a hybrid car, the production could be streamlined and would reduce the amount of pollution created from shipping parts back and forth. The other major issue is that of charging electric cars. Once there is a renewable way to produce electricity, electric cars are almost guaranteed to be the most green way of personal transportation. So maybe the problem is the focus on personal transportation. The American Public Transportation Authority did a study that showed that mass transit produces nearly 50% less carbon dioxide personal transportation. If we really want to reduce our carbon footprint as a population then we should invest more in mass transportation rather than personal transportation.
[Photo, Prius C concept Hybrid, by Mariordo59. licensed by CC BY-SA 2.0]
By Sarah Backe
Personal automobiles are one of the biggest factors contributing to air pollution. Knowing that our Earth is in danger from all of the carbon dioxide that is constantly being released into the atmosphere, people have tried to make their carbon footprint smaller. Hybrid and electric cars were invented so that people could reduce their individual carbon output. But are they really helping with overall carbon emissions?
The process of making hybrid cars results in a greater emission of greenhouse gases and burning more fossil fuels than it requires to make a conventional car. The reason that the production of hybrid cars causing more pollution than conventional cars can be explained by several factors. One of the biggest production problems with hybrid cars is the manufacturing of the battery. The process of making a hybrid car battery releases large amounts of gases such as sulfur dioxide. Not only do hybrid cars require a more intensive battery, a second motor is also needed. The production of this second electric motor generates even more carbon dioxide. The pieces of hybrid cars are not all made in one country. The pollution created from shipping pieces overseas must be accounted for in the total pollution created in manufacturing a hybrid car.
Once a hybrid car has been assembled it is put on the road. Will the energy it saves while driving outweigh the extra energy needed to produce this car? A hybrid car does run on regular gasoline part of the time and therefore produces the same greenhouse gases that a conventional car produces. The benefit of hybrid cars is that they run much more efficiently even on the same gasoline. While both types of cars are producing the same greenhouse gases, hybrid cars are producing less per mile driven than a gas only car. The Argonne National Laboratory conducted an experiment to compare the lifetime emissions of a hybrid car compared to a conventional car. If both cars travel 160,000 miles in their lifetime, a conventional car requires 6,500 British thermal units of energy per mile, and a hybrid requires 4,200 British thermal units of energy per mile, then the hybrid produces a much smaller amount of greenhouse gas in its lifetime. The difference is so great that the hybrid car does in fact make up for its greater emissions during production.
Another new technology in the personal transportation spectrum is a completely electric car. While the term “electric car” sounds like it isn't burning any gasoline, we must remember where our electricity comes from. According to the United States Energy Information Administration more than 45% of the United States’ electricity is generated by coal-powered plants. If an electric car is charged by electricity coming from a coal powered plant then it could be adding up to 10% more pollution to the atmosphere than a conventional car and up to 60% more than a standard hybrid car.
Research on comparative emissions of different types of cars is lacking. The information that we do have shows that the main problem with hybrid and electric cars is the production methods used. If everyone drove a hybrid car, the production could be streamlined and would reduce the amount of pollution created from shipping parts back and forth. The other major issue is that of charging electric cars. Once there is a renewable way to produce electricity, electric cars are almost guaranteed to be the most green way of personal transportation. So maybe the problem is the focus on personal transportation. The American Public Transportation Authority did a study that showed that mass transit produces nearly 50% less carbon dioxide personal transportation. If we really want to reduce our carbon footprint as a population then we should invest more in mass transportation rather than personal transportation.
[Photo, Prius C concept Hybrid, by Mariordo59. licensed by CC BY-SA 2.0]