Hidden benefits of electric vehicles for addressing climate change

Li, Canbing; Cao, Yijia; Zhang, Mi; Wang, Jianhui; Liu, Jianguo; Shi, Haiqing; Geng, Yinghui

doi:10.1038/srep09213

Hidden benefits of electric vehicles for addressing climate change

Journal Article · Thu Mar 19 00:00:00 EDT 2015 · Scientific Reports

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/srep09213· OSTI ID:1194167

Li, Canbing ^[1]; Cao, Yijia ^[2]; Zhang, Mi ^[2]; Wang, Jianhui ^[3]; Liu, Jianguo ^[4]; Shi, Haiqing ^[2]; Geng, Yinghui ^[2]

Hunan Univ., Changsha (China); Michigan State Univ., East Lansing, MI (United States)
Hunan Univ., Changsha (China)
Hunan Univ., Changsha (China); Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
Michigan State Univ., East Lansing, MI (United States)

There is an increasingly hot debate on whether the replacement of conventional vehicles (CVs) by electric vehicles (EVs) should be delayed or accelerated since EVs require higher cost and cause more pollution than CVs in the manufacturing process. Here we reveal two hidden benefits of EVs for addressing climate change to support the imperative acceleration of replacing CVs with EVs. As EVs emit much less heat than CVs within the same mileage, the replacement can mitigate urban heat island effect (UHIE) to reduce the energy consumption of air conditioners, benefitting local and global climates. To demonstrate these effects brought by the replacement of CVs by EVs, we take Beijing, China, as an example. EVs emit only 19.8% of the total heat emitted by CVs per mile. The replacement of CVs by EVs in 2012 could have mitigated the summer heat island intensity (HII) by about 0.94°C, reduced the amount of electricity consumed daily by air conditioners in buildings by 14.44 million kilowatt-hours (kWh), and reduced daily CO₂ emissions by 10,686 tonnes.

Research Organization:: Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-06CH11357

OSTI ID:: 1194167

Journal Information:: Scientific Reports, Journal Name: Scientific Reports Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 5; ISSN 2045-2322

Publisher:: Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

References (12)

Characteristics of the heat island effect in Shanghai and its possible mechanism Longxun, Chen; Wenqin, Zhu; Xiuji, Zhou Advances in Atmospheric Sciences, Vol. 20, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02915522	journal	November 2003
Interaction between urban microclimate and electric air-conditioning energy consumption during high temperature season Li, Canbing; Zhou, Jinju; Cao, Yijia Applied Energy, Vol. 117 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2013.11.057	journal	March 2014
An investigation of urban heat island intensity (UHII) as an indicator of urban heating Memon, Rizwan Ahmed; Leung, Dennis Y. C.; Liu, Chun-Ho Atmospheric Research, Vol. 94, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosres.2009.07.006	journal	November 2009
The effect of aerosols on long wave radiation and global warming Zhou, Y.; Savijärvi, H. Atmospheric Research, Vol. 135-136 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosres.2013.08.009	journal	January 2014
The effect of the London urban heat island on building summer cooling demand and night ventilation strategies Kolokotroni, M.; Giannitsaris, I.; Watkins, R. Solar Energy, Vol. 80, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.2005.03.010	journal	April 2006
Environmental Implication of Electric Vehicles in China Huo, Hong; Zhang, Qiang; Wang, Michael Q. Environmental Science & Technology, Vol. 44, Issue 13 https://doi.org/10.1021/es100520c	journal	July 2010
Valuation of plug-in vehicle life-cycle air emissions and oil displacement benefits Michalek, J. J.; Chester, M.; Jaramillo, P. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 108, Issue 40 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1104473108	journal	September 2011
Unclean at any speed Zehner, Ozzie IEEE Spectrum, Vol. 50, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1109/MSPEC.2013.6545121	journal	July 2013
Global Change and the Ecology of Cities Grimm, N. B.; Faeth, S. H.; Golubiewski, N. E. Science, Vol. 319, Issue 5864 https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1150195	journal	February 2008
From Gasoline Alleys to Electric Avenues Kintisch, E. Science, Vol. 319, Issue 5864 https://doi.org/10.1126/science.319.5864.750a	journal	February 2008
Survey of daily vehicle travel distance and impact factors in Beijing Hou, Cong; Wang, Hewu; Ouyang, Minggao IFAC Proceedings Volumes, Vol. 46, Issue 21 https://doi.org/10.3182/20130904-4-JP-2042.00002	journal	January 2013
The Correlationship between Urban Greenness and Heat Island Effect with RS Technology:A Case Study within 5th Ring Road in Beijing: The Correlationship between Urban Greenness and Heat Island Effect with RS Technology:A Case Study within 5th Ring Road in Beijing Di, Suchuang; Wu, Wenyong; Liu, Honglu Geo-information Science, Vol. 14, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.3724/SP.J.1047.2012.00481	journal	August 2012

Cited By (2)

Urban heat island modelling of a tropical city: case of Kuala Lumpur Wang, Kai; Aktas, Yasemin D.; Stocker, Jenny Geoscience Letters, Vol. 6, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1186/s40562-019-0134-2	journal	April 2019
Impact of Road-Block on Peak-Load of Coupled Traffic and Energy Transportation Networks Yang, Xian; Li, Yong; Cai, Ye Energies, Vol. 11, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.3390/en11071776	journal	July 2018

Similar Records

The Role of Vapor Pressure Deficit in the CLM Simulated Interaction Between Urban Heat Islands and Heat Waves Over CONUS

Journal Article · Mon Mar 10 00:00:00 EDT 2025 · Geophysical Research Letters · OSTI ID:2530483

Load calculation and system evaluation for electric vehicle climate control

Technical Report · Wed Oct 27 00:00:00 EDT 1993 · OSTI ID:10146054

Related Subjects

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION

Hidden benefits of electric vehicles for addressing climate change

Citation Formats

References (12)

Cited By (2)

Similar Records

Related Subjects