Tag: greenhouse

Are Electric Vehicles more harmful to the Environment?

Article

November 4, 2022
/ Leave a Comment on Are Electric Vehicles more harmful to the Environment?

4 min
1 year
698 words

Tagged alternative, diesel, Electric Vehicles, Environment, fuel vehicles

Are Electric Vehicles more harmful to the Environment?

Electronic vehicles are an essential strategy in the immediate term to reduce local emissions and help improve local air quality.

Keywords:- Electric Vehicles, environment, maintenance, greenhouse, government, global warming, petrol, diesel, alternative, fuel vehicles

With the depletion of the earth’s ozone layer and the shortage of our oil supply becoming an issue, researchers developed electronic cars as an alternative to fuel vehicles.
As the growing pollution has become a serious concern, electric cars are quite a relief. And, according to the research, electric cars are better for the environment. Whereas, the fuel vehicle emits harmful gases like carbon due to petrol or diesel. But, electric vehicles produce fewer greenhouse gases and air pollution than petrol.

Introduction

All-electric vehicles, also referred to as battery electrical vehicles (BEVs), have an electric motor instead of an internal combustion engine.
The vehicle uses a large traction battery pack to power the electric motor and must be plugged into a wall outlet or charging equipment, also called electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE).

Why One Should Use Electric Vehicles?

Environment Friendly: Its environmental friendliness as compared to gasoline or diesel-powered vehicles.
Lower Running Costs: The running cost of an electric vehicle is much lower than an equivalent petrol or diesel vehicle. Electric vehicles use electricity to charge their batteries instead of using fossil fuels like petrol or diesel.
Low Maintenance Cost: Electric vehicles have very low maintenance costs because they don’t have as many moving parts as an internal combustion vehicle.
Zero Tailpipe Emissions: Driving an electric vehicle can help you reduce your carbon footprint because there will be zero tailpipe emissions.
Tax and Financial Benefits: Registration fees and road tax on purchasing electric vehicles are lesser than petrol or diesel vehicles. There are multiple policies and incentives offered by the government.
No Noise Pollution: Electric vehicles have the silent functioning capability as there is no engine under the hood. No engine means no noise.

Electrical Vehicle Incentives By Government

Purchase Incentives: Direct discount provided to the user on the cost of the electric vehicle
Coupons: Financial incentive where the amount is reimbursed later
Interest Subventions: Discount offered on the interest rate while availing loan
Road Tax Exemption: Road tax at the time of purchase is waived off
Registration Fee Exemption: One-time registration fee applicable on new vehicle purchase is waived off
Income Tax Benefit: Provided as a deduction on the tax amount payable by an individual to the government.
Scrapping Incentives: Provided upon de-registering old Petrol and Diesel Vehicles
Others: Incentives such as interest-free loans, top-up subsidies, special incentives on electric three-wheelers, etc. can also be availed Companies producing electric vehicles-
- Tesla
- Lucid Motor
- Zoox
- Aptiv
- Rivian
- NIO
- Nissan
- Volvo

But here is something new. The companies are not marketing electric cars as economically friendly as the batteries that are used to electric power vehicles are not really eco-friendly.
The disposal of these batteries also damages the environment to a great extent. This is because these batteries contain a large amount of plastic which is not really biodegradable. According to new research, Electric cars might pollute much more than petrol or diesel-powered cars.

Harmful Effects Of Electric Vehicles

Production Phase: The production phase of electric vehicles proved substantially more environmentally intensive, comparing it to how petrol and diesel cars are made.
Global Warming: The raw materials for making the car have to be mined, and the process of mining creates a lot of greenhouse gases. Then the raw materials have to be refined before they can be used, which again emits more greenhouse gas. The more greenhouse gas is emitted in the manufacturing process. The global warming potential from electric vehicle production is about twice that of conventional vehicles.
Toxic Minerals: Producing batteries and electric motors requires a lot of toxic minerals such as nickel, copper and aluminium.
Working: Electric vehicles consistently perform worse or on par with modern internal combustion engine vehicles, despite virtually zero direct emissions during operation.

Conclusion

Electronic vehicles are an essential strategy in the immediate term to reduce local emissions and help improve local air quality.
BUT Electric cars are coal-powered cars. Their carbon emissions can be worse than gasoline-powered cars. Electric cars aren’t pollution-free; they have to get their energy from somewhere.

Author: Tanishka Ranjan

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Mail us at edumoundofficial@gmail.com

What is Climate Change? Causes and Effects

Article

October 9, 2022
/ Leave a Comment on What is Climate Change? Causes and Effects

6 min
1 year
1,187 word

Tagged Climate Change, Environment, global warming, greenhouse, sustainable

What is Climate Change? Causes and Effects

Climate change has become a global concern over the last few decades. These climatic changes affect life on the earth in various ways. These climatic changes are having various impacts on the ecosystem and ecology.

Keywords: Climate Change, environment, global warming, trees, sustainable, greenhouse, carbon

Climate change refers to the changes in Earth’s climate condition. It describes the changes in the atmosphere which have taken place over a period, ranging from decades to millions of years.

Difference between Global Warming and Climate Change

Global warming is a gradual increase in the overall temperature of the earth’s atmosphere generally attributed to the greenhouse effect caused by increased levels of carbon dioxide, CFCs, and other pollutants. Global warming is just one aspect of climate change.

Climate change refers to the long-term changes in the climate that occur over decades, centuries or longer. These shifts may be natural, such as through variations in the solar cycle. But since the 1800s, human activities have been the main driver of climate change, primarily due to burning fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas.

Causes of Climate Change

1. Generating Power

Generating electricity and heat by burning fossil fuels causes a large chunk of global emissions. Most electricity is generated by burning coal, oil, or gas, which produces carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide – powerful greenhouse gasses that blanket the Earth and trap the sun’s heat.

2. Manufacturing Goods

Manufacturing industries produce emissions, to produce things like cement, iron, steel, electronics, plastics, clothes, and other goods. Mining and other industrial processes also release gases, as does the construction industry. Machines used in the manufacturing process often run on coal, oil, or gas; and some materials, like plastics, are made from chemicals sourced from fossil fuels.

3. Cutting Down Forests

Cutting down forests to create farms or pastures, or for other reasons, causes emissions, since trees, when they are cut, release the carbon they have been storing.

4. Using Transportation

Most cars, trucks, ships, and planes run on fossil fuels. That makes transportation a major contributor of greenhouse gases, especially carbon-dioxide emissions.

5. Producing Food

Producing food causes emissions of carbon dioxide, methane, and other greenhouse gases in various ways, including deforestation and clearing of land for agriculture and grazing, digestion by cows and sheep, the production and use of fertilizers and manure for growing crops, and the use of energy to run farm equipment or fishing boats, usually with fossil fuels.

6. Powering Buildings

Globally, residential and commercial buildings consume over half of all electricity. As they continue to draw on coal, oil, and natural gas for heating and cooling, they emit significant quantities of greenhouse gas emissions.

7. Consuming too Much

A large chunk of global greenhouse gas emissions are linked to private households. Our lifestyles have a profound impact on our planet.

Effects of Climate Change

1. Hotter Temperatures

As greenhouse gas concentrations rise, so does the global surface temperature. Higher temperatures increase heat-related illnesses and make working outdoors difficult. Wildfires start easily and spread rapidly when conditions are hotter.

2. More severe Storms

Destructive storms have become more intense and more frequent in many regions. As temperatures rise, more moisture evaporates, which exacerbates extreme rainfall and flooding, causing more destructive storms. The frequency and extent of tropical storms is also affected by the warming ocean. Cyclones, hurricanes, and typhoons feed on warm waters at the ocean surface. Such storms often destroy homes and communities, causing deaths and huge economic losses.

3. Increased Drought

Climate change is changing water availability, making it scarcer in more regions. It is leading to an increased risk of agricultural droughts affecting crops, and ecological droughts increasing the vulnerability of ecosystems. Deserts are expanding, reducing land for growing food. Many people face the threat of not having enough water on a regular basis.

4. A Warming, Rising Ocean

The ocean soaks up most of the heat. As the ocean warms, its volume increases since water expands as it gets warmer. Melting ice sheets also cause sea levels to rise, threatening coastal and island communities. In addition, the ocean absorbs carbon dioxide, keeping it from the atmosphere. But more carbon dioxide makes the ocean more acidic, which endangers marine life and coral reefs.

5. Loss of Species

Climate change poses risks to the survival of species on land and in the ocean. These risks increase as temperatures climb.

6. Not Enough Food

Changes in the climate and increases in extreme weather events are among the reasons behind a global rise in hunger and poor nutrition. Fisheries, crops, and livestock may be destroyed or become less productive.

7. More Health Risks

Climate change is the single biggest health threat facing humanity. Changing weather patterns are expanding diseases, and extreme weather events increase deaths and make it difficult for health care systems to keep up.

8. Poverty and Displacement

Climate change increases the factors that put and keep people in poverty. Floods may sweep away urban slums, destroying homes and livelihoods. Heat can make it difficult to work in outdoor jobs. Water scarcity may affect crops.

SOLUTIONS TO CLIMATE CHANGE

1. Keeping Fossil Fuels in the Ground

Fossil fuels include coal, oil and gas – and the more that are extracted and burned, the worse climate change will get.

2. Investing in Renewable Energy

Changing our main energy sources to clean and renewable energy is the best way to stop using fossil fuels. These include technologies like solar, wind, wave, tidal and geothermal power.

3. Switching to Sustainable Transport

Reducing car use, switching to electric vehicles and minimizing plane travel will help to stop climate change.

4. Improving Farming and encourage Vegan Diets

Businesses and food retailers can improve farming practices and provide more plant-based products to help people make the shift.

5. Restoring Nature to absorb more Carbon

The natural world is very good at cleaning up our emissions. This can be done by planting trees in the right places or giving land back to nature through ‘rewilding’ schemes.

6. Protecting Forests

Forests are crucial in the fight against climate change. Cutting down forests on an industrial scale destroys giant trees which could be sucking up huge amounts of carbon.

7. Protecting the Oceans

Oceans absorb large amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, which helps to keep our climate stable.

8. Reducing the use of Plastic

Plastic is made from oil, and the process of extracting, refining and turning oil into plastic (or even polyester, for clothing) is carbon-intense. It doesn’t break down quickly in nature so a lot of plastic is burned, which contributes to emissions.

CONCLUSION

We need to follow the path of sustainable development to effectively address the concerns of climate change. If we will not do anything and things continue to go on like right now then a day in future will come when humans will become extinct from the surface of the earth. If every human will start contributing to the environment then we can be sure of our existence in the future.

“Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s need, but not any man’s greed”.

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Author: Tanishka Ranjan

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Mail us at edumoundofficial@gmail.com

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