![Greenhouse-gas emissions of battery-electric vehicles globally in MPG equivalent [U of Michigan TRI]](https://images.hgmsites.net/tmb/greenhouse-gas-emissions-of-battery-electric-vehicles-globally-in-mpg-equivalent-u-of-michigan-tri_100631743_t.gif)
When electric cars first arrived in 2011, it was a reasonable question: Aren't you just shifting emissions from the tailpipe to the smokestack? The answer is yes, but the carbon emissions per mile of an electric car—properly measured on a wells-to-wheels basis—are virtually always lower than those of a gasoline or diesel car. It's not... Electric cars emit less carbon than average U.S. new car, everywhere in the world
When electric cars first arrived in 2011, it was a reasonable question: Aren't you just shifting emissions from the tailpipe to the smokestack? The answer is yes, but the carbon emissions per mile of an electric car—properly measured on a wells-to-wheels basis—are virtually always lower than those of a gasoline or diesel car. It's not... ![Frame from man-on-the-street interviews on electricity, utilities by E-Source LLC, 2011 [YouTube]](https://images.hgmsites.net/tmb/person-on-the-street-interviews-by-e-source-llc-about-electricity-and-utilities-2011-youtube-clip_100630638_t.gif)
Everyone knows what a gallon of gasoline is, or what they paid the last time they put fuel in their car. But trying asking your friends, relatives, and neighbors how much they paid per kilowatt-hour in their last electric bill. Or even what a kilowatt-hour is. We guarantee you that 19 out of 20 of them won't have a clue. DON'T MISS: Chargeway: the... ![Containers holding spent nucleat fuel [Nuclear Regulatory Commission photo]](https://images.hgmsites.net/tmb/containers-holding-spent-nucleat-fuel-nuclear-regulatory-commission-photo_100501742_t.gif)
Pity Energy Secretary Rick Perry, the man now running the cabinet department he couldn't remember that he wanted to eliminate altogether during a notorious 2011 presidential debate. He has pulled off an unusual feat, by uniting lobbyists for fossil-fuel interests with their counterparts advocating for renewable energy. Given the ascendance of... ![Tesla Kauai solar-energy generation and storage project [photo: Tesla]](https://images.hgmsites.net/tmb/tesla-kauai-solar-energy-generation-and-storage-project-photo-tesla_100625574_t.gif)
Tesla’s summer announcement of the world’s biggest battery-storage system in South Australia characteristically kept key details confidential. Fortunately, while mystery and mystique still shroud that project, more can be unearthed or inferred for Tesla's solar panel and battery energy-storage deployment in Kauai, Hawaii, which came... 
Although electric cars do not emit exhaust, it's widely recognized that the electricity to charge their batteries often still comes from fossil fuels. This has led to the scrutiny of electric cars to determine whether their overall "wells-to-wheels" carbon footprints exceed those of regular vehicles powered by internal-combustion engines. For most... ![The White House, Washington, D.C. [Creative Commons license by dcjohn]](http://images.hgmsites.net/tmb/white-house_100170583_t.gif)
The Trump administration has reneged on one aspect of a promise widely discussed throughout the 2016 presidential campaign: reviving the coal industry. President Donald Trump declared the United States coal industry would thrive under his watch, but the Trump administration and the Energy Department have just delivered a blow to the... 
For southern California residents, it's an excellent time to start considering the purchase of a BMW i3 or Nissan Leaf electric car. San Diego Gas & Electric has joined a host of other utility companies in the state in offering incentives towards the purchase of an i3 or a Leaf. In total, the incentives slash $10,000 from the purchase price of... 
The industrial revolution that began around 1750 was powered in large part by coal, and the carbon-rich fuel had 200 good years after that. By the middle of the last century, however, serious studies had begun of its deleterious effects on human health—and that was before the climate-change impact of human emissions of carbon dioxide became... 
The future of energy production remains in considerable debate, but some new research provides a more optimistic view for a lower-carbon future. Sources for new and replacement energy production remain uncertain, especially the degree to which renewable sources can replace those based on fossil fuels. Even with the newer, optimistic predictions... 
The U.S. is coming up to its Independence Day holiday, in which we celebrate the Declaration of Independence from England and reflect on our history and traditions as a nation. This is an interesting time to do that, and there's a cynical argument to be made that backroom politics is as American as apple pie and bald eagles. Which brings us to the... 
Scientists generally debate their studies and projections in relatively civil language, but perhaps the currently adversarial tenor of U.S. politics has spilled over into science. A 2015 study on the potential for renewable energy use in the U.S. has now produced not only a stringent attack, but a harsh rebuttal to that attack in language rarely... 
It's now widely acknowledged that the energy and electricity-generation landscape is changing rapidly. The U.S. has vastly increased its oil and gas production, driving down prices of fossil fuels globally. At the same time, ever-cheaper renewable energy—not only solar, but surprisingly fast-growing wind generation—is now... 
With more plug-in electric vehicles on the road today than ever, automakers are working to solve an impending issue: what to do with used lithium-ion batteries. Once the batteries are no longer suitable to power vehicles, automakers must recycle or repurpose them. Now, through a partnership with The Mobility House, the Renault Nissan Alliance is... ![Electric-car wells-to-wheels emission equivalencies in MPG, May 2017 [Union of Concerned Scientists]](http://images.hgmsites.net/tmb/electric-car-wells-to-wheels-emission-equivalencies-in-mpg-may-2017-union-of-concerned-scientists_100608699_t.gif)
Electric cars have no tailpipe emissions when running. But unless they're charged entirely on renewable energy—still statistically unlikely today—there are emissions associated with generating the electricity used to charge their batteries. For several years now, rigorous "wells-to-wheels" analyses of the carbon-dioxide emissions... 
The 2017 Nissan Leaf might well be the hottest electric car deal on the market right now, with a slew of potential discounts. Nissan is working with numerous partners to provide $10,000 off a 2017 Leaf lease, which adds to the $7,500 federal income-tax credit, giving a total of $17,500 in incentives. Among the partners offering the $10,000... 
Sometimes a picture is truly worth a thousand words. In the case of the rapidly rising rate of solar generation for electricity, numerous forecasts by internationally respected bodies have proven woefully conservative. The image in the tweet below, created by Auke Hoestra at the Technical University of Eindhoven, in The Netherlands, shows it... ![2015 Nissan Leaf with CHAdeMO fast-charging cable plugged in [photo John Briggs]](http://images.hgmsites.net/tmb/2015-nissan-leaf-with-chademo-fast-charging-cable-plugged-in-photo-john-briggs_100558582_t.gif)
California already offers generous incentives to get consumers into electric vehicles, but now the electric utility Southern California Edison has joined in. SCE has announced what it calls the Clean Fuel Rewards Program to offer a $450 purchase rebate for battery-electric and plug-in hybrid vehicle owners. The utility company isn't limiting the... 
It is widely accepted in the energy industry that U.S. coal production will fall as a percentage of the total electric grid mix. That has little to do with its high carbon footprint per kilowatt-hour generated; it is largely due to far greater supplies of much cheaper fracked natural gas. It is also widely accepted that renewable energy sources...