Electric Vehicles Can Benefit All Utility Customers
February 14, 2017 Luke Tonachel | NRDC
Despite the Trump administration’s apparent affection for the fossil fuels industry, individual states are looking at the numbers and coming up with a different conclusion: The future belongs to pollution-free electric vehicles, and the sooner we get them on the road, the better off we’ll all be. And there are some important new studies out that give a hint of just how much everyone will benefit.
From Massachusetts and New York to California, state governments are embracing plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) and are setting—and achieving—goals to put PEVs on the road and removing petroleum-burning cars and trucks. States are finding that they can realize big benefits from at least three directions:
- Electric vehicle owners will see their vehicle operating costs go down.
- All residents will likely see electric rates kept in check.
- All consumers will enjoy cleaner air and better health as more polluting vehicles are rendered obsolete.
The latest in a series of studies by M.J. Bradley & Associates, commissioned by NRDC, project huge consumer savings in New York, Connecticut, Maryland, and Pennsylvania as more PEVs take the road in those states. An earlier report also found billions in savings for consumers in Massachusetts. The researchers conclude that electric cars and plug-in light trucks will have lower operating costs and much lower carbon pollution. The group also projects that all utility customers will benefit because additional utility company revenue from PEV charging can support operation and maintenance of the existing distribution infrastructure, thus reducing the need for future electricity rate increases.
The analyzed eastern states seek to be market leaders in Zero-Emission Vehicle (ZEV) deployment. Most have signed on to a ZEV Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to put 3.3 million ZEVs on the road across eight states (NY, MA, VT, CT, RI, MD, CA and OR) by 2025. Additionally, they are promoting electric vehicle sales through purchase rebates and reduced-cost charging programs.
Read the article at the Natural Resouces Defense Council
Paris to Ban Fossil Fuel Cars by 2030
Yale Environment 360
October 12, 2017 | E360 Digest
Paris announced it will ban all gas- and diesel-fueled cars within city limits by 2030, allowing only electric vehicles onto its streets, according to Reuters. The decision is the latest effort by the city to grapple with its intense smog and air pollution problem, as well as combat climate change. These concerns have already led Paris to impose temporary driving bans, no-car zones, and restrictions on cars older than 20 years.
France had previously set an electric vehicle-only goal by 2040, but Paris officials said the new rule will push large cities to phase out fossil fuels even sooner.
“This is about planning for the long term with a strategy that will reduce greenhouse gases,” said Christophe Najdovski, a transportion policy expert in the office of Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo.
Cities across the globe have announced similar plans in recent months to reduce or eliminate gas- and diesel-fueled cars. Oxford, England, for example, announced this week that it will ban fossil fuel vehicles within its city center starting in 2020.
China Fossil Fuel Deadline Shifts Focus to Electric Car Race
Bloomberg News |September 10, 2017
China will set a deadline for automakers to end sales of fossil-fuel-powered vehicles, becoming the biggest market to do so in a move that will accelerate the push into the electric car market led by companies including BYD Co. and BAIC Motor Corp.
The world’s second-biggest economy, which has vowed to cap its carbon emissions by 2030 and curb worsening air pollution, is the latest to join countries such as the U.K. and France seeking to phase out vehicles using gasoline and diesel. The looming ban on combustion-engine automobiles will goad both local and global automakers to focus on introducing more zero-emission electric cars to help clean up smog-choked major cities.
The U.K. said in July it will ban sales of diesel- and gasoline-fueled cars by 2040, two weeks after France announced a similar plan to reduce air pollution and meet targets to keep global warming below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit).
No comments:
Post a Comment