QUESTIONING THE ELECTRIC CAR

[EDIT: Amsterdam/Louvain, September 24]
An article appeared in top Dutch and Belgian papers, NRC Handelsblad and De Standaard, recently stating that the electric car was not going to be a solution for the problem of the changing climate. This was by Guus Kroes, who is a specialist in patents in Louvain. He notes that the electric car produces just as much in terms of carbon emissions as the ordinary car and large-scale introduction would introduce problems for the production of electricity.

“Electric cars are expensive and don’t help because the energy doesn’t come from nothing. The electricity that is required to get electric cars moving has to be generated and sustainable. The sustainable generation of electricity by wind, sun and biomass will, at the present time, not be able to make a substantial contribution to this.

“The development of electric cars will cost many billions, including the development of a distribution network of stations where cars can be charged, and the required additional electric power plants and contamination effects of rechargeable batteries is not discussed. Lithium, the major component, is scarce and cadmium and lead are poisonous.

“What then will the environmental cost be?”

Mr Kroes goes on to say that it makes more sense to focus on fuel economy and drive less, but that is something that people don’t want to hear. In this connection, De Volkskrant also published a piece by Karel van Broekhoven, an electrical engineer and a former councilor responsible for traffic in Harlem. He says that if we want to move in the direction of green transport then the solution is fewer cars and more public transport. Why is there so much discussion of electric cars? His answer is simple: “There’s a need for good news about the car.”

http://www.express.be/