Where does your electricity come from?

[rsmith1]

I saw this on another site and thought those here might be interested. I find the info from this site helpful when I have a discussion with people about my decision to get an EV. Inevitably the other person makes the point, "well you're just going to get the electricity from coal". This site allows you to put in your zipcode and choose your utility provider for a breakdown of fuel types used in making your electricity.

http://www.epa.gov/cleanenergy/energy-and-you/how-clean.html

 

[GetOffYourGas]

What about those of us who exercise our freedom to CHOOSE where our electricity comes from? I for one choose to pay a little extra for 100% wind. And in a few months, I will have 3kW of solar power on my roof.

 

[toffty]

What about those of us who exercise our freedom to CHOOSE where our electricity comes from? I for one choose to pay a little extra for 100% wind. And in a few months, I will have 3kW of solar power on my roof.

Then you already know where your power comes from? rsmith1 is just trying to be helpful and I'm glad he posted the link.

I am sad that i don't get any energy from nuclear, it does make me more inclined to by an omni-directional wind turbine in the near future and possibly solar in a few years - large roof area that faces south

 

[rsmith1]

In my area we can't choose 100% electric from the utility company. You can pay extra each month to invest in renewables, but it's just an investment. Although it is important to invest in renewables it wouldn't bring a special line of 100% wind to my house and direct the coal power to my neighbor's, it's all in the same mix. I hope to one day have all solar that is my own, but until then this gives me a good idea of where my power comes from.

 

[FocusSkeptic]

If someone says "you're electricity comes from coal so you are not doing anything to reduce pollution" you can tell them that, as long as you charge at night, they are wrong. There is enough unused electricity in the grid from 6pm to 6am to charge 46% of the vehicles in the US (if they were EVs). What this means is that for the foreseable future, if you charge at night, it's pollution free b/c that power was already in the grid. Follow the link below:

http://www.torquenews.com/397/senator-alexander-unused-electricity-our-greatest-national-resource

There have been several flawed studies on EV's and pollution that fail to take this fact into account. However even if charging your EV put a direct increase on coal power plant load, the pollution would still be less b/c the power plant is more efficient than ICE power generation and the EV uses that energy more efficiently (except in the winter), most studies put that reduction around 20%. Don't let people make you feel guilty about switching to an EV, it pollutes less no matter where your electricity comes from.

I get questions about why I want to drive an EV everyday, my response is that EVs aren't for everyone, but if you can drive one you will:

• 
  - Reduce pollution (as described above)
  - Reduce dependency on foriegn oil almost all of our electricity is generated using resources obtained from the US.
  - Help create a faster path to better, cleaner technology if cleaner or more efficient technology is discovered it's easier to upgrade a few thousand power plants than 200+ million cars.
  - Reduce toxic waste (no oil, anti-freeze, etc)
  - Have a more to recycle (batteries, an electric engine can be dismantled and re-used more easily than ICE, etc)

 

[GetOffYourGas]

What about those of us who exercise our freedom to CHOOSE where our electricity comes from? I for one choose to pay a little extra for 100% wind. And in a few months, I will have 3kW of solar power on my roof.

Then you already know where your power comes from? rsmith1 is just trying to be helpful and I'm glad he posted the link.

I am sad that i don't get any energy from nuclear, it does make me more inclined to by an omni-directional wind turbine in the near future and possibly solar in a few years - large roof area that faces south

I understand, I'm not trying to undermine his point, in fact I appreciate the link. I intended to suggest that some of us have an even better answer - we buy renewable. Also, as pointed out below, for the first couple of years (until we see large numbers of these cars), all cars charged at night will be using "no" extra electricity - only taking up the baseload generation that is created today and wasted.

<rant> Unfortunately, despite study after study, this question comes up a lot. I have to continuous argue to defend my support of EVs. I wish the mainstream media would publish some of these studies instead of just opinions (both hype and criticism). Unfortunately, fact-based reporting doesn't seem to grab people, so they just keep publishing these opinions. Maybe by omitting the facts, they prevent having the case closed, and allow themselves more to write about? </rant>

 

[dr61]

We have a solar PV system (3.1 kw), and produce about 1000 kwh more per year than we use (total about 5000 kwh/year), so when we procure an electric car, the first 1000 kwh will be from solar. If we use more, our local utility is about 40% renewable or hydro, with natural gas supplying most of the remainder.

We have an over-sized inverter, and additional roof area, so we can relatively easily install an additional string of panels.

 

[rabbit]

rsmith1,
Thanks for the great link. I see that where I live (Orange county NC) my electricity is only about half coal. That's a lot less than I would have guessed. Always more fun with the actual facts

 

[klaus]

Where I am in Washington state uses 50% hydro and 30% coal. Most of the hydro is probably coming from Canada.

If I do get a Ford Focus Electric vehicle maybe I'll have to convince my neighbor to let me set up a generator in is creek to charge it!