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I'd be interested in how reading more about how they're controlling for non-air pollution factors, particularly since they say the effects are most pronounced among the non educated.
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Is the particulate pollution just as grave as emissions pollution or a completely separate issue?
All pollution is some kind of particle - here it just means that emissions are coming out of the tail pipe as a byproduct of the internal combustion engine, as opposed to the particulate created from braking, etc.
NOx in particular is a big problem in European cities due to the proliferation of diesel cars.
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If the new power is generated in coal plants that might actually be a net minus, at least in particulates and SO2 terms. EDIT: I'm referencing this: A series of studies by Tsinghua University, whose alumni includes the incumbent president, showed electric vehicles charged in China produce two to five times as much particulate matter and chemicals that contribute to smog versus gas-engine cars. Hybrid vehicles fare li…
How so? A car's ICE is much less efficient than a power plant.
Electrification of surface transport is the most obvious way to improve air quality in dense cities. This needs to be a priority.
Studies have actually shown that electric cars produce more than 90% as much particulate-matter air pollution as fossil fuel cars. The reason for this is two-fold: 1. Modern gasoline cars produce very clean exhaust. 2. Most of the particulate pollution comes from wear on tires, brake and the road surface. And electric cars, being heavier than average, produce more wear on tires and road surface. Electrification is pa…
That means 90% of cars particulate matter must be coming from tyres and the road surface. How far does this travel? Does it just fall back quickly onto the road? Does it get washed away in a rain storm?
Do you have a source for that 90% figure?
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Studies have actually shown that electric cars produce more than 90% as much particulate-matter air pollution as fossil fuel cars. The reason for this is two-fold: 1. Modern gasoline cars produce very clean exhaust. 2. Most of the particulate pollution comes from wear on tires, brake and the road surface. And electric cars, being heavier than average, produce more wear on tires and road surface. Electrification is pa…
Those “studies” are pretty much nonsense. It’s true that tire wear may be increased slightly due to weight, but electrics aren’t that much heavier than combustion vehicles: typically 10-20% more for comparable vehicles of the same size/class. Under normal road/wear conditions, most tires degrade into relatively large particles that are not actually aerosolised. They end up on the road and get washed away by weather.…
In case anyone else wanted to quantify "huge": > “Polluted air can cause everyone to reduce their level of education by one year, which is huge,” Yale School of Public Health's Professor Xi Chen, one of the report's authors, said in an interview published in The Guardian.[0] [0] https://www.unenvironment.org/news-and-stories/story/air-pol...
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Depends on the pollutants you're looking at. From a CO2/efficiency standpoint, you're correct. A modern EV powered purely by coal power plants puts out less CO2 than a gasoline car, largely because of the efficiency difference between large power plants and ICE. From a SO2/NO2 standpoint, EVs powered by coal would be far far worse, assuming gasoline. Gas/Diesel these days is ultra low sulfur, which reduces SO2 signif…
IMO hybrid is the way to go for transport. I live in an earthquake prone area where a power cut would equal limited range one way or no transport when I most needed it if I only had an EV. Modern ICE are amazingly sophisticated, EV in comparison have limited range, potential polluting issues, battery creation rare earth component scarcity issues and a massive dead battery disposal problem. We'll get there with a grid…
Total cost of ownership of an EV is getting close to a tipping point where EV is a better deal than electric. One thing pushing that way is the many moving parts of ICE vehicles leading to more maintenance needed. Another is that modern car batteries are turning out to have longevity much higher than what was projected by critics (early Tesla cars still have 90% of initial battery capacity). Another is that the cost per mile in terms of energy is an order of magnitude cheaper. The only thing really stopping electric is that people have been wary to invest heavily in the factories that were necessary to produce the economies of scale that would lower the price. Since Tesla has done that, prices are dropping and everyone else is being forced to follow.
ICE vehicles are losing market share, because the more practical EVs you mentioned are already here.
Electrification of surface transport is the most obvious way to improve air quality in dense cities. This needs to be a priority.
China is using 100% methanol and other lesser methanol fuel that are produced from coal. But in other places you could use gas.
This would also be faster then full electrification. The US missed out massivly. The gas boom could have lead to very cheap and relativly clean fuel.
It would also be great to have that infrastructure because you can also do fuel cells with the same infrastructure.
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If the new power is generated in coal plants that might actually be a net minus, at least in particulates and SO2 terms. EDIT: I'm referencing this: A series of studies by Tsinghua University, whose alumni includes the incumbent president, showed electric vehicles charged in China produce two to five times as much particulate matter and chemicals that contribute to smog versus gas-engine cars. Hybrid vehicles fare li…
Power plants can be in low population density areas.
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Plus it provides health benefits! Its not for everyone in every big city but certainly the Dutch model of transitioning cities from cars to transit and pedestrian/cycle focus is probably the clearest model for sustainable and healthy tansport out there.
I live in the Netherlands and I can confirm that. In just a couple of decades they transformed all their car friendly cities and made cars second rate citizens Cycling infrastructure is amazing. It is almost always faster to travel by bike than by car. They did it so long ago and the world still hasn’t caught up. I’m very sad about that. Also somehow the amount of cars per capita is still very high in NL.
I live in the UK and I probably wouldn't consider getting a bike again, simply because I know it would be nicked within a month.