Topic: Green Technology- ‘Green’ Cars
Executive Summary:
Green technology is the creation of environmentally friendly goods that encompass recycling, reusing, reducing waste, energy efficiency, conservation of resources, safety and health risks, and more.
In this paper, I will focus on one particular innovation: ‘Green’ cars. Some examples are the Mild Hybrid, full Hybrid, The Range Extender and Fully Electric cars. I feel that cars-our basic mode of transportation, is so essential in our daily lives that if one day we do not have coal or fossil fuels left to generate the power of our vehicles, our lives will change drastically. Although we have trains, which are generated by electricity, those alone are not enough to transport us to any area or corner in the world. Therefore, I feel that everyone should support the use of hybrid and electric cars, as they will essentially be the type of vehicles that will facilitate our commutation.
This paper will talk about the history of electric cars and how these cars had changed our lives. In fact, these cars were invented in the 1900s and have experienced extinction in 1990s. Now, the ‘wave’ of electric cars is back. The implications of this significant innovation and my personal thoughts on the possible policies or actions we can enforce to ensure the sustainability of this innovation will also be discussed in this paper.
Introduction/Background/ History:
Green Technology was not invented in the 21st Century; it started way back in the 1800s. People then saw the need to develop alternative sources of energy to create a cleaner and greener environment for mankind to live in because resources such as coal and fossil fuels are non-renewable and will soon be diminished. Such renewable resources of energy include the invention of windmills, solar-powered panels and battery-powered cars for transportation.
Conventional cars harm the environment by releasing toxic emissions, adding to the greenhouse effect, thus damaging air quality and the Earth’s ozone layer. Such emissions have allowed more harmful rays to penetrate through the ozone layer and have caused the death of certain vegetation as well as the melting of snowcaps. Hence, there was a need to invent the electric cars, as it would greatly reduce such effects.
In the 20th Century, electric cars were popular. They did not contribute much to noise and air pollution as compared to the gasoline cars and their engines were easier to start. General Electric invented the battery-powered car EV1 in the 1990s. Mayor Michael Bloomberg encouraged people to buy hybrid cars and an electric taxi company was flourishing as it brought service to an entire metropolis. However, due to the decrease in prices for gasoline cars and the fact that gasoline provides more power per galloon, the demand for electric cars declined and almost became extinct. Only the upper class could afford electric cars because they had massive carriages with fancy interiors.
Today, the craze for electric cars is back. Pressured by stricter government regulations, energy security concerns and higher oil prices, car companies are looking into reducing the level of car emissions and increasing fuel efficiency.
With regards to the future, the Boston consulting group has stated in their report, that by 2020, most people will be driving hybrid cars and they will most likely win an overall market share of 28 percent. Hybrids will have a market penetration of above 20 percent and the range extenders will be about 7 percent. Moreover, in countries such as China, Japan, North America, and Western Europe, it has been estimated that 1.5 million fully electric vehicles will be sold in year 2020.
Issues/Challenges/Key Observations
More often than not, ‘green’ products such as these cars may soon be depleted if the demand for them is not high enough. This is due to the fact that businesses that have the visions to produce and sell such products to consumers are relying on the customers’ needs and wants. For instance, if the demand is not there, companies are not able to continue supplying goods. This poses a great challenge for green technology in sustaining the environment.
Furthermore, these electric cars allow the use alternative fuels to generate them. They can reduce carbon emissions up to 25%. However, it is very costly to install additional gas tank and necessary funneling infrastructure. As such, we need big multinational corporations, preferably in the green technology industry, to invest into these operations.
After analyzing the worldwide power generation market, the Boston Consulting Group has stated that in China and India, replacing the internal-combustion engine vehicles with electric cars will not make much of a difference in carbon emissions today or year 2020 because the operations that involve power mixing in electric cars are so carbon intensive. Hence, the carbon emission involved in using electric cars is almost as much as using conventional cars.
Discussion and Analysis:
Can technology replace today’s economy that was built on the usage of non-renewable sources of energy such as fossil fuels and coal?
There has been a rise in concerns over whether these electric cars have the abilities to completely eradicate the internal-combustion engine vehicles in the near future. It is pertinent to note that although these green cars do emit less carbon emissions than the conventional cars, the operations involving power mixing do emit a relatively high level of carbon emissions as well. However, in Europe where power mixing operations are much cleaner and less harmful to the environment, an electric car continues to generate about 55 percent less carbon emissions than a traditional car. Thus, it can be seen that it is in fact, feasible to a relatively large extent, if more drivers are willing to convert to green cars. Not only that carbon emissions will be reduced, the price of maintaining a car will presumably declined as well. This is because oil prices have been on the rise, and it may be cheaper in the long run to purchase an electric car instead as cost of maintenance is alleviated.
It was technology, which accelerated the economy’s growth, and it was technology, which determined the direction corporations had geared towards the past few decades (manufacturing, burning of natural resources to produce energy Etc.). Henceforth, technology should and may actually be the tool that will change the methods of production and improve the economy simultaneously.
Taking Things Forward/ Opportunities:
Clearly, to make this innovation effective in changing everyone’s lives, stronger federal support is required. We need relevant stakeholders to come into play for green technology to dominate our society and save our environment.
First and foremost, governmental authorities should step in and ‘push’ the automotive corporations towards the direction of creating more electric cars and in doing so, minimize the amount of carbon emissions involved. As such, tax incentives or subsidiaries may be provided to both the automobile companies and consumers to encourage them into providing and accepting the use of electric cars today. In addition, the government has to work hand-in-hand with power companies to build public electric charging infrastructure in accessible places (that can act like oil stations) for electric cars to power up their car engines.
On the other hand, these automobile corporations should do whatever it takes to allow the success of such vehicles, that includes implementing prices for both conventional and electric cars on the same level. They need to work with the right companies to ensure the smooth efficiency and safety of the electric cars. Several cooperative arrangements include Toyota and Panasonic as well as Volkswagen and Sanyo. Moreover, these battery manufacturers and suppliers should focus on developing affordable and reliable batteries that can bring about great convenience to both the car companies and consumers.
If more governments can learn from Europe who uses renewable and nuclear energy, power mixing will be cleaner. The processes, in generating electricity to charge the electric cars, release less carbon emissions. Therefore, overall carbon emissions will be reduced tremendously. Other than providing tax incentives to automobile companies and consumers, the governments could educate or encourage its citizens to think long term. They can presumably come up with a policy such as subsidizing the next generation’s electric car when parents have purchased the first one.
Due to the income disparity between the developed countries and less-developed countries, the amount of resources and capital involved in ensuring the future of electric cars may put the less-developed countries at a disadvantage. Although electric cars have been released in African nations including Ethiopia this year, some argue that Africa has yet to provide stable power supplies and sufficient wealth to gain the trust of consumers. Furthermore, such electric cars are seen as luxuries and many Ethiopians who receive low incomes are unable to afford them. To tackle this problem, Solaris, an automobile company, has offered a credit system for the less affluent people to encourage them to switch to driving environmentally friendly vehicles. This approach is especially crucial for the less-developed countries.
According to World Bank, motor vehicles are more common in developed countries (in 1998 there were 585 vehicles per 1000 people in high income countries to just 9 in 1000 people in low income countries and 104 in middle income countries). However, motor vehicles in less developed countries cause severe air pollution as they are saturated in a few large cities where there are poor mechanical conditions and few emission standards. In many transition countries, the number of cars in use increased drastically despite the contraction in economic activity and reduced per capita incomes in the early 1990s. For instance, the passenger car fleet grew 17.5 percent a year during 1990 to 1994 in Moscow. Henceforth, it is critical that more consumers switch to more environmentally friendly vehicles for commutation and more less developed countries receives aid from the automobile corporations in ensuring the future of electric cars in their nations.
Conclusion:
Green technology is the key to preserve the environment and to ensure the future of mankind. Alexis Madrigal (senior editor at the Atlantic) has once said that ‘ Technology doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It is influenced by society – and society, as Madrigal points out, can and does change, which gives us hope for the future ‘. As discussed earlier in the paper, mankind needs to move towards sustainability and that encompasses increasing people’s awareness towards protecting the environment as well as stress the importance of switching from conventional cars to electric cars. Not only do they greatly reduce carbon emissions, the switching process is a form of long-term solution towards solving many of our environmental problems.
