environment

The ever more apparent negative effects of carbon emissions are driving a new urgency to reduce, if not eliminate, oil-based transportation emissions. 

Gasoline-powered vehicles are a major contributor to carbon emissions in the developed world, accounting for 33% of carbon emissions in the United States, and as much as 50% of carbon emissions in some of the countries in Europe.  Gasoline-powered vehicles also contribute to air pollution, which is increasingly problematic in urban centers around the world. According to the World Health Organization, 900,000 people die each year from causes directly attributable to outdoor air pollution.

To achieve major emissions reductions, we need to (1) increase the energy efficiency of our transportation system and (2) shift away from products that burn fossil fuels.

Mass adoption of electric vehicles provides an opportunity to achieve both of these goals simultaneously.  First, the inherent efficiency of electric motors allow us to travel three times farther in EVs than gasoline-powered vehicles per unit of energy. Second, by moving toward electricity-powered transport, we open up new opportunities to utilize excess electricity that currently goes to waste at off-peak times, and to create new markets for renewable energy from wind, solar, geothermal and tidal sources.

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energy
environment
economics