One of the Obama administrations favorite holes in which to throw taxpayer dollars is electric vehicles; the Chevy Volt and Fisker are just two of the infamous names where you can find the ashes of government give-aways; now a study conducted by the Norwegian University of Science and Technology indicates that all that money may be little more than another misguided Liberal “feel good” fiasco.
According to the study that was published in the Journal of Industrial Ecology, “the production phase of electric vehicles proved substantially more environmentally intensive” than the production process for traditional gas-powered cars.
Eco-fanatics were caught with their pants down when the study found that factories for electric vehicles emit more toxic waste than gas-burning car factories and greenhouse gas emissions rise exponentially if coal is used to produce the electricity necessary to charge the electric vehicles.
Interestingly, when the researchers compared the overall life-cycle impact of petrol or diesel-powered cars and electric vehicles they concluded that the latter can significantly damage the climate.
“The global warming potential from electric vehicle production is about twice that of conventional vehicles,” the report said. “It is counterproductive to promote electric vehicles in regions where electricity is primarily produced from lignite, coal or even heavy oil combustion.”
The components of electric vehicles, specifically the batteries and motors, consist of toxic materials adding to their eco-unfriendliness.
One more pearl came out of the study was the authors making a recommendation not associated with electric vehicles and that was, that “a more significant reduction in global warming could potentially be achieved by increasing fuel efficiency or shifting from petrol to diesel.”
While the study is interesting, it brings up the question as to whether there is, in fact, any global warming, which will be the subject of an upcoming article.
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