The transition to electric vehicles will not reduce carbon emissions unless countries feed their electric networks with green energy. This was stated by a study conducted by researchers from the University of Auckland and the University of Xiamen in China, published in the Energy magazine.
The researchers analyzed the environmental impact of human activities and used a statistical approach to investigate the factors that determine the emissions of carbon dioxide (CO) of a nation. Using data from 26 countries over 15 years, they discovered a surprising trend: a greater dissemination of electric vehicles was connected to an increase in co emissions. The reason? In different countries, electric vehicles are still powered by electricity generated by burning fossil fuels such as coal or oil. Professor Stephen Poletti and the PhD student Miaomiao (Simon) Tao, authors of the research, did not observe a significant reduction in CO emissions globally thanks to the adoption of electric vehicles.
“On the contrary, the adoption of electric vehicles increases CO emissions,” says Tao. “This discovery appears counterintuitive; questioned the belief that i electric vehicles contribute to the decarbonisation. Our analysis highlights that the environmental benefits of electric vehicles depend on the composition of the electricity production mix of a country. “We take as an example the electrical vehicles recharged using electricity from the coal power plants, says Poletti.
“In this case, they could indirectly contribute to higher emissions than modern petrol or diesel vehicles, especially considering the entire life cycle, from production to disposal”. The results of the study suggest that the adoption of electric vehicles will contribute to Reduce CO emissions Only when the global share of electricity production from renewable sources will reach about 48 percent. In 2023, renewable energies, mainly wind, sunny and hydroelectric, represented only just over 30 percent of world electricity, so there is still a long way to go, says Poletti: “electric vehicles are often seen as the definitive solution to climate changebut our results show that it is not so if the electricity that feeds them is not clean “.