There is increasing concern over the impact of road transport on climate change. Never in human history 1 so high. 2 that over 36 billion tons of carbon were released into the atmosphere, and 14% of these 3 to come from vehicles. That's the main reason why 4 to be a great deal of interest in finding alternative fuels, and electric vehicles could offer a solution. 5 energy stored in a battery allows electric cars to produce zero emissions during operation.
However, there are some drawbacks. The emissions produced during the manufacture of a typical electric car are around 68% higher than a conventional gasoline-powered vehicle. Moreover, the battery must be charged 6 it to run. Thus, the car’s total emissions depend on 7 locally. In 8 countries where electric cars are widely in use today, electricity is generated in a relatively clean way. 9 , the total carbon emissions from an electric vehicle remain lower than those of a conventional one, 10 if we factor in the energy required for battery charging. However, this is not the case worldwide. In China, for example, many power stations are fuelled by coal. Therefore, in China electric cars could only be considered a cleaner source of fuel if the methods of generating power 11 change.
Another problem is the lithium required to manufacture the batteries, 12 there are fears that lithium mining operations are damaging local environment by lowering water tables and polluting water supplies. Again, all is not lost, as engineers are working on ways to produce lithium from groundwater using zero carbon technologies.
13 , electric vehicles do have the potential to reduce carbon emissions. However, they don’t offer a complete solution 14 the damaging impacts of electricity generation and mining. 15 is a coordinated approach by all these industries to work together in protecting our environment.
