Naysayers Strike Again! Global Warming Tradeoffs

[Dorian Gray]

Hybrid is the new thing and petroleum is baaaaad - but now this. Researchers have shown that more water is used in electric car use and manufacturing than is used in petroleum production (the water is used to cool power-generating turbines that create electricity). If it's not one thing or another.

I might have slightly garbled the message by paraphrasing, so be sure to read the article. But apparently man wasn't meant to travel quickly and conveniently. Petroleum fuel - carbon footprint - harmful to environment. Ethanol - food prices go up - starvation goes up. And now hybrid electric cars - water consumption goes up - droughts go up.

Unless someone invents a solar- or wind-powered car or plane, apparently everything we do is bad.

 

[Francesca R]

How is highlighting a tradeoff being a naysayer?

 

[Just thinking]

I don't understand what is being touted. Surely it's understood that the electricity generated for a hybrid is produced entirely within the vehicle by means of a generator being run off the engine --- no external generating plant is required. Only a fully electric car might result in their claims, yet they say ...

From the article ...

They estimate that hybrid and fully electric vehicles could sharply increase the country's water consumption, with each mile driven with electricity demanding roughly three times more water than gasoline.

Bolding mine.

 

[Beerina]

WTF, so I have to carry a 45 gallon water tank now instead of a 15 gallon gas tank?

In any case, electric vehicles would cut general pollution, presuming electric plants can have more effective polution scrubbers than a car's catalytic converter.

However, electric plants still burn hydrocarbons, mostly, and, counting energy loss, the net CO2 into the atmosphere would actually increase for electric vehicles, IIRC.

It's only good if we have a non-trivial switch to solar, wind, nuclear, etc.

 

[Just thinking]

Wait a minute ... isn't this impossible???

Doesn't it take more energy to release hydrogen gas from liquid water than the amount of energy you get out of burning said hydrogen?

 

[Dorian Gray]

I don't understand what is being touted. Surely it's understood that the electricity generated for a hybrid is produced entirely within the vehicle by means of a generator being run off the engine --- no external generating plant is required. Only a fully electric car might result in their claims, yet they say ...

From the article ...

Bolding mine.

Yes. More water is used, they say, and that's hard on drought-stricken areas.

The naysaying seems to be 'aha, hybrid cars really aren't that great for the environment after all."