Why are electric cars put forward as the answer to the car problem? Don we use coal as fuel to generate electricity?
You are right that if all electric cars ran on coal-fired power, we would only be adding to our greenhouse emissions. Hybrid cars use a battery to provide the electrical power, combined with a petrol engine. But even batteries produce some emissions in their manufacture, not to mention some nasty chemical to dispose of. Some electric cars can be plugged in overnight and charged from renewable sources. Imagine if you have GreenPower in your home sourced from a wind farm or solar plant. You can then charge the battery of an electric vehicle with very low greenhouse emissions. The rechargeable car might be just around the corner, but we will also need enough renewable energy to charge them.
