14 DAY TRIAL // If I hadn't known any better, I could have sworn this was a conspiration to discredit hybrid and electrical vehicles, in the benefit of petrol cars. Since the end of the last month, hybrid cars have gone down the drain, as scientists proved that they actually produce more carbon dioxide than petrol vehicles. Instead of reducing the emissions, it's now time for electric cars to take a serious blow from yet another study, regarding the water resources this time.
It's true that hybrid cars can also run for limited distances of electric power alone, however while engaging into longer trips the petrol engine kicks in. On the other hand, fully electric cars work on battery power alone. Both emit relatively low or no green-house gases, however indirectly they might actually contribute to world pollution in a greater percent than petrol cars. For example, both types of vehicles rely greatly on water supplies.
Why? Well, it is well known that electric cars have problems with cooling their system, however this isn't it. Electric and hybrid cars require electricity, energy which is mostly produced with the help of power plants that require large water supplies to cool the Steam coming out of the steam turbines. The Southwest, Southeast and West regions of the United States are already affected by high water consumption.
Michael Webber, one of the researchers involved in the study, says that the water required to power a fully electric vehicle over a mile of road is about three times greater than that used by petrol power vehicles, greatly increasing the U.S. water consumption.
However, this doesn't mean that we should stop using electric cars altogether. "It just means there might be some tradeoffs", says Webber. One potential solution would be to stop the use of water as primary cooling fluid for the steam, and imply an air-cooling strategy for example. The problem is that air-cooling systems are extremely expensive. Alternatively, Webber proposes the use of ocean and recycled water, and even wastewater to operate the heat exchangers.
Last but not least, we would eventually get to the true root of the problem. The fossil fuels which power the generators and replace the traditional power generators with alternative and renewable energy solutions, such as solar or wind power, may also find use.