Of late I have come across many advertisements and articles which tout electricity powered vehicles as being environmentally friendly and clean. This information is grossly incorrect. The sight of an emission-less vehicle as compared to one which spews out noxious exhaust fumes is embedded in people's minds. This perception often makes people believe they are indeed adopting cleaner transport. But are they?
In India, close to 65% of the energy generated comes from coal based power generation. For every unit of energy consumed as electricity, 0.65 units is produced from coal, one of the dirtiest known energy sources. And by the time that energy is delivered to homes, over 30% of the energy goes wasted due to various losses. So, the energy companies end up producing more electricity and burning more coal to compensate for the losses.
By shifting to an electricity powered vehicle all one is doing is centralizing pollution and shifting the 'dirty' fumes to a remote location. But that's not all. The creation of infrastructure required to move the dirty fumes also end up polluting. So, there goes the myth of 'clean' electric vehicles.
