by tbleakne (Posted Thu, 25 Jul 2013 11:50:45 GMT)
The following chart appears to be based upon a Canadian study. It may have been posted before, but I only studied it yesterday. It is not quite in the format I would like, but it contains the kind of direct carbon footprint information I have been seeking.
![Image]()
It shows:
1. Carbon footprint of Leaf battery is significant, but NOT an overwhelming share of the car's manufacture footprint.
2. The total Leaf footprint is a strong function of the carbon mix of the electric generation where the car is driven.
Quebec and British Columbia score the best because they are almost 100% hydroelectric.
Alberta scores the worst because it uses coal and tar sand.
3. The chart shows the Leaf in California just barely beating the plugin Prius in BC, presumably because CA uses natural gas for about 50% of its power. However, one can argue that cars charged at night use surplus wind power, and many of us also have solar to pay back our grid usage.
One key caveat from the footnotes: the chart plots tonnes of CO2 for a 320K km (200K mile !) lifespan. We all know that is totally unrealistic for the Leaf on its original battery in CA or most states.
The chart data confirms and quantifies how the more miles you drive the Leaf, the lower your footprint per mile.
The following chart appears to be based upon a Canadian study. It may have been posted before, but I only studied it yesterday. It is not quite in the format I would like, but it contains the kind of direct carbon footprint information I have been seeking.
It shows:
1. Carbon footprint of Leaf battery is significant, but NOT an overwhelming share of the car's manufacture footprint.
2. The total Leaf footprint is a strong function of the carbon mix of the electric generation where the car is driven.
Quebec and British Columbia score the best because they are almost 100% hydroelectric.
Alberta scores the worst because it uses coal and tar sand.
3. The chart shows the Leaf in California just barely beating the plugin Prius in BC, presumably because CA uses natural gas for about 50% of its power. However, one can argue that cars charged at night use surplus wind power, and many of us also have solar to pay back our grid usage.
One key caveat from the footnotes: the chart plots tonnes of CO2 for a 320K km (200K mile !) lifespan. We all know that is totally unrealistic for the Leaf on its original battery in CA or most states.
The chart data confirms and quantifies how the more miles you drive the Leaf, the lower your footprint per mile.