While I have a great deal of respect for
Bjorn Lomborg, I would like to see an itemized chart showing how he came to the
conclusion that electric vehicles are more polluting than those that rely on internal
combustion engines. Beyond the obvious fact that electric cars are only as
clean as the means whereby the electricity is generated, Lomborg does bring up
the overlooked issue of battery life and the resources needed for their
manufacture and disposal. The fact that rechargeable batteries contain highly
reactive chemicals that degrade over time has always been my greatest concern
with electric cars. Since Lomborg regards hybrids as the “greener” alternative,
I would like to see his take on this 9-year old article citing a study by the
auto marketing researcher Art Spinella, concluding that the Toyota Prius
consumes more resources than a Hummer. Granted, the article I am citing is from
by a magazine with a libertarian agenda, I do not think that Spinella's original intention was to discredit this government-subsidized technology. Nonetheless, some of the basis for
Spinella’s comparison between the Prius and the Hummer may no longer be valid
because during that time, the technology was new and the Prius was unfairly
penalized for resource consumption related to its research and development. On the other
hand, much like Lomborg in his analysis of electric cars, Spinella takes
into account the Prius’s alleged short life (about 100,000 miles) and the
disproportionate amount of resources needed for their manufacture and disposal
(what the author refers to as “dust to dust” analysis).
While I have never regarded electric cars
as a "greener" solution, I do think that having a few on the road
helps create conditions and infrastructure for improvements in EV technology (such as the use of chemical-free super-capacitors instead of batteries). Most
importantly, since EV’s are the ultimate flex-fuel vehicles, this technology may help address our concerns about energy security and fracking.
