Oil, Coal, and Electric Transportation

A reader points out:

To replace coal we do not have to also displace oil. It is a common misunderstanding to equate oil companies with our general energy needs. 70% of refined oil products are used in transportation. 20% for heating and 10% for other petrochemicals like fertilizer and pesticides (approx.). So while it may be true that the world “runs” on oil, it gets most of its work done on electricity. 40% of carbon emissions come from making electricity. Although the electrical energy mix varies a great deal, overall less than 1% comes from oil.

That war is being fought in the transportation sector (30% of carbon emissions) not in the electrical energy field. Electric transportation is a separate issue but with a major advantage that it leverages the benefits of a cleaner grid energy mix. If we switched transportation from oil to electricity we may have to expand our electrical production by no more than 30%(night time charging and less refining would reduce this amount).  Air conditioning presently accounts for about 15% of electrical usage. Conservation in electrical usage (including the “smart grid”) could lower our usage by at least 30%. Although “carbon” is not all “pollution” it does give some idea of the source of emissions.

You’re correct here in what you say about oil and coal, i.e., that one is not a replacement for the other, and that replacing oil is a battle being fought in the transportation sector.  Actually, we could replace the internal combustion engines of all 230 million cars and trucks in the U.S. with electric drive, and increase the total load by only 14%, due to the extremely low efficiency of the ICE.

The problem is that, as long as coal is the “go-to” fuel for generating incremental electrical power, we’re shooting ourselves in the foot with EVs from an environmental standpoint. The real imperative is to change that as quickly as possible–here in the U.S., and especially in Asia.