The main motivation behind the sales of millions of electric vehicles is to keep the planet a greener place but how far is this effort fruitful and what all is being done around the world to power up these EVs using alternative energy sources? Let’s dive into the details.
Steps Being Taken In Europe
The smart charging methods being used in several European countries enable them to ensure that the charging points of EVs are particularly energized through renewable sources.
Some European countries have even gone as far as setting up eMobility Service providers for this purpose.
ElaadNL is one such example which while operating in the Netherlands is now addressing the energy balancing requirements of up to 57 EV charging points.
The Netherlands is already producing a large portion of its energy requirements through windmills. This can act as a major source for powering up EVs in the future.
Why Is EV Renewable Energy The Future?
At present the following renewable sources, along with many others, are being used to meet the demands:
– Wind;
– Solar;
– Biomass;
– Biogas;
– Hydroelectric.
All of these methods ensure that the energy used to charge electric vehicles in these countries is clean and green, thereby contributing to carbon neutrality.
The use of renewable energy sources is critical if European Union countries are to benefit from the massive overall actions being taken across the continent.
Will The Results Be What We Wanted?
While the shift from internal combustion engines to EVs will be completed by 2035 but the results will be far from what had been anticipated.
As a result, even after expending billions of Euros and completely phasing out the existing automobile manufacturing technologies, the results will be abysmal.
Despite the zero tailpipe emissions of EVs, the overall impact will be negligible if the energy production for the electric segment is not green.
European Governments Are Highly Motivated
Governments around the world are now taking the issue very seriously and are working tirelessly to move from conventional energy generation methods to greener renewable methods that will be used particularly for charging electric vehicles.
Positive Perspective Of Renewable Energy For EVs
According to an estimate, more than a billion vehicles presently exist in the world. From those existing in Europe alone, more than 72% of the total air pollution is caused by road transportation means.
In future, all of these road transportation means have to be converted to the electric platform which means that the overall energy demand will be immense. Rather a total of 640ThW power will be required by 2030 to power the 250 million EVs.
Country Wise Percentage Of Energy Required By EVs In Europe
The below graph shows the percentage of energy that will be required for powering EVs in 2050 out of the total energy produced by the different European countries.
If the change to renewable energy sources is not given due consideration, it will mean that the pollution levels will continue to increase despite all efforts.
It is no hidden fact that power plants are a major source of pollution throughout the world, especially the coal burring plants that emit millions of tons of carbon-containing pollutants to the environment. So getting rid of them is vital.
Why Is The Shift To Renewable Sources So Imperative?
By having renewable energy sources, EVs will become carbon neutral in the true sense and thus the world will be able to fully benefit from this clean technology.
As shown in the graph below, shifting to renewable energy will help us avoid emissions in the transportation sector in the future.
Final Verdict
With the growing global environmental concerns, more efforts need to be put in as the number of air pollution is still much higher than what it was in the 1990s.
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