{"id":11826,"date":"2019-05-21t18:57:16","date_gmt":"2019-05-21t18:57:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dpetrov.2create.studio\/planet\/wordpress\/how-to-ensure-your-ev-is-powered-by-renewable-energy\/"},"modified":"2023-02-28t18:36:59","modified_gmt":"2023-02-28t18:36:59","slug":"electric-vehicle-renewable-energy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/story\/electric-vehicle-renewable-energy\/","title":{"rendered":"how to ensure your ev is powered by renewable energy"},"content":{"rendered":"

by brady jones<\/strong><\/p>\n

driving an electric vehicle plays a critical role in reducing carbon dioxide emissions, but the impact of this reduction gets diminished if the electricity comes from fossil fuels. the sources of electricity used to power your car must be green too and several choices are available to make that happen.<\/p>\n

it all comes down to this: how can you ensure that you are maximizing the amount of electricity that comes from renewable sources used to charge your vehicle?<\/p>\n

the two highest contributors of u.s. greenhouse gas emissions<\/a> in 2016 were transportation and electricity production, according to the u.s. environmental protection agency. in illinois, 40% of the state\u2019s electricity is produced by coal and natural gas\u2014only 7% is produced by wind and solar, reports the u.s. department of energy<\/a>. fortunately, some power companies offer green energy options for your power. and there are steps you can take to maximize the percentage of renewable sources for your electricity. how you do that depends first on where you live.<\/p>\n

\u201cif we\u2019re talking just in a single area, or we\u2019re talking about across the u.s., there\u2019s a difference. that\u2019s because the u.s. is broken up into these different interconnections,\u201d said jordan schnell, a postdoctoral fellow in the department of earth and planetary sciences at northwestern university. \u201cbasically, depending on where you are, that\u2019s your regional mix of electricity. the chicago area is different from the rest of illinois. if you live in central illinois, you go into a different mix than you do if you live in the chicagoland area. these are called interconnections.\u201d<\/p>\n

schnell uses mathematical models to study air quality issues and said that the most obvious way to ensure utilizing renewable electricity for a car is to live in a region that already produces a large amount of its electricity from renewable sources such as wind and solar. illinois’ neighbor iowa is the heaviest producer of wind energy, and wind turbines dot the landscape along i-55 in illinois.<\/p>\n

\u201cthe pacific northwest has a lot of hydroelectric and california is really ramping up its solar,\u201d schnell said. \u201c[in] west virginia, they get over 90% of their electricity from coal. unless you put a solar farm on your house, you\u2019re not going to be getting clean energy.\u201d<\/p>\n

since moving may not be an option for most people, consider bringing the options home. the most significant opportunity is to contact your electricity provider. schnell said that the company should be able to provide a breakdown of the times when they incorporate the most renewable energy. most often this occurs during the day\u2014a time often associated with when people use the most electricity or the peak load. electric companies typically charge more for electricity during this peak load period, but this is the best time to recharge your electric vehicle to maximize renewable sources.<\/p>\n

\u201cthat\u2019s when the electricity demand is higher,\u201d schnell said. \u201cso, all these generating sources are online, potentially. at nighttime, the demand is quite a bit lower, so that is picked up by the base load electricity supply which is predominately fossil fuels in most locations. so, the timing is the big thing. generally, it\u2019s better to not charge during the evening. it\u2019s better to charge during the day because there\u2019s cleaner sources during the day.\u201d<\/p>\n

in illinois, your electricity provider is most likely commonwealth edison company (comed), which is a subsidiary of exelon corporation. comed provides electricity to 70% of illinois residents, including 4 million in the northern part of the state. in the 12 months ending in september 2018, 60% of the electricity provided to comed\u2019s customers came from coal and natural gas, according to their environmental disclosure report<\/a>\u20144% came from wind, hydro, and solar. nuclear power plants produce the rest. comed did not respond to multiple requests for comment on the sources of electricity provided to illinois residents.<\/p>\n

direct energy, a subsidiary of u.k.-based centrica, provides power to roughly 67,000 illinois residents. amanda parrish, public relations manager, did not say exactly how much of the company\u2019s electricity mix is made from renewable sources but reiterated that you are more likely to have access to these sources during the day.<\/p>\n

\u201csolar is clearly only producing during the day,\u201d she said via email. \u201cwind can blow at all hours, but in certain places we get the most at night. biomass can be used anytime.\u201d although biomass is identified as a renewable source of energy, it does release some carbon dioxide into the atmosphere when it is burned to produce fuel.<\/p>\n

the illinois power agency act<\/a>, created in 2007, requires all large investor-owned electric utilities to produce 25% of their electricity from renewable sources by 2025. for the energy year 2019\u2014which ends in may\u2014these companies are required to source 14.5% of their electricity from renewables, and the percentage required increases incrementally up to 2025.<\/p>\n

the best method to ensure that your electric vehicle is charged by renewable energy is to take production out of the hands of energy companies and produce the energy yourself.<\/p>\n

\u201csome people can get solar power installed at their home,\u201d said marc geller, vice president and co-founder of plug in america, via email. the advocacy group provides consumer information such as installing photovoltaics on homes to power vehicles. \u201cin that case their car could be effectively 100% solar powered.\u201d<\/p>\n

producing solar energy at home guarantees that your electricity is made by renewable sources and storing it in a home battery system means you can charge your vehicle via renewable energy at any time. the installation costs and amount of energy produced can vary based on location and installation company, but installing solar panels at home puts the control in the hands of the consumer.<\/p>\n

\u201cyou could make your own electricity and store it in this battery,\u201d schnell said. \u201ceven though you don\u2019t have your car at home during the day where the sun is actually generating the electricity, you can sell it back to the grid or you can store it in your battery. then you can charge it at night from all the solar you generated throughout the day. it depends on where you live and how much you drive\u2014northern illinois is not great for solar\u2014but it can do a significant amount.\u201d<\/p>\n

illinois shines offers renewable energy credits (rec) to owners of approved solar panels, and these credits can be sold to utilities to help offset the cost of solar panel installation. comed offers several rebates and tax incentives to install solar panels at home. additionally, solar cooperatives are growing in popularity, allowing a group of individuals to share the cost of solar panel installation and to distribute solar energy among its members, effectively bypassing electricity companies.<\/p>\n

regardless of how you power your electrical car, it offers a positive benefit. the electricity is getting more renewable overall and represents the clean future of the transportation system. according to the union of concerned scientists’ ev emissions tool<\/a>, electric vehicles in randomly selected illinois zip codes release approximately 46% less of carbon dioxide equivalent (co2e) compared to gasoline vehicles.<\/p>\n

\u201celectricity in most of the u.s. is already cleaner than gasoline,\u201d geller said. \u201cand it’s getting more renewable every year everywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

driving an electric vehicle plays a critical role in reducing co2 emissions, but the impact of this reduction is diminished if the electricity comes from fossil fuels. brady jones of medill reports.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9417,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5196,4910],"tags":[1450,632,1497,1397,10,591,1290,12],"storyfest_categories":[],"class_list":["post-11826","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-past-storyfest","category-renewable-energy","tag-biomass","tag-clean-energy","tag-electric-vehicles","tag-ev","tag-solar-energy","tag-storyfest","tag-utilities","tag-wind-energy"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nhow to ensure your ev is powered by renewable energy - planet forward<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/story\/how-to-ensure-your-ev-is-powered-by-renewable-energy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_us\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"how to ensure your ev is powered by renewable energy - 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