Hybrid and electric vehicles (EVs)

Abstract

Environment protection is vital for survival of mankind and other species of fauna and flora and pollution poses one of the greatest threats to the survival of mankind. The greatest dangers to environment degradation come from emission of greenhouse gases mainly CO2 emissions from power generation, industries and transportation sector. Use of fossil fuels on a large scale by man for transport and power generation has led to increase of CO2 emissions which have increased trappings of solar insolation within atmosphere and thus leading to increasing average global temperature over decades. On an average it is estimated average global temperatures are increasing by 0.1℃ every decade after the start of industrial era. The average global temperature has already increased by 1.5℃ above the pre industrial era. Transportation sector is one of the major contributors of CO2 globally (17%) next only to industries (24%). The 2015 Paris climate treaty[1] signed by 200 countries as on March 2021 represents steps to be taken globally to mitigate CO2emissions. The two major carbon sinks, oceans and the Amazon Forest on land are unable to sequester ever increasing excess CO2 thus threatening to increase average global temperatures. The quest is therefore on for adopting those technologies and processes that can make entire cycle carbon free by eliminating CO2 emission from source of fuel to tail end exhaust of vehicles.To this end hybrid and Electric Vehicles (EVs) can reduce tail end CO2 emissions enormously.Furthermore, globally the share of RE (Renewable energy) power from solar, wind hydel etc increasing in total power generation shall also go a long way in reducing CO2emissions. However, we must capitalise this opportunity of increasingly cheap abundantly available RE power to charge battery banks of EVs and hybrid vehicles so that the total cycle starting from generation of RE power to it being used to charge batteries of EVs till their tail end emissions becomes free from CO2 emissions. This is the ultimate road map which shall reduce carbon footprint in power generation and transport industry which are major CO2 emitters.