PHEVs: A halo for 'clean' coal?
Let's play hide behind the hybrid!The 'halo effect'. According to some, the 'halo effect' created by the Toyota Prius has provided a huge boost to Toyota automobile sales beyond just the Prius. Likewise, the 'halo effect' of the Chevy Volt has generated a huge amount of media buzz and consumer hype around GM.
Are utilities now trying to use the halo effect of plug-in hybrid vehicles to sell 'clean coal' to America? Every day now, Southern California Edison, one of my local utilities, is running ads correlating PHEVs and clean coal.
Yet, can coal ever be really clean? The chorus of carbon sequestration critics continues to grow louder, and even if technologically possible, the costs of carbon capture can be astronomically expensive. Considering these costs, might not more renewable energies now be worth the investment? Isn't it time to accept the fact that fossil fuels are dead fuels?
PHEVs are a very good idea. PHEVs powered by renewable energy are an immensely better idea.
Labels: plug-in hybrid vehicles
posted by Dahcredyns at
8:31 AM
2 Comments:
Mind you,
USA has a 500 years quantity
of coal in explorable
sites for future use.
It can thus be a way
to try for a vast
plug-in fleet of cars.
though it might not be a
clean way to do it.
If the environment isn't considered, coal offers a great short to mid-term solution for America's energy needs.
I for one, however, believe that protecting our environment is worth the effort. Aside from global warming, coal produces plenty of other nasty forms of pollution - it's also destroying incredibly beautiful landscapes.
I think humans are smarter. Unfortunately, when short term profit drives the world, expect the worse.
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