{"id":115625,"date":"2026-06-27T08:05:27","date_gmt":"2026-06-27T06:05:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sonnenseite.com\/?p=115625"},"modified":"2026-06-27T08:05:28","modified_gmt":"2026-06-27T06:05:28","slug":"power-grid-inequalities-limit-the-emission-reduction-benefits-of-electric-vehicles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sonnenseite.com\/en\/science\/power-grid-inequalities-limit-the-emission-reduction-benefits-of-electric-vehicles\/","title":{"rendered":"Power grid inequalities limit the emission reduction benefits of electric vehicles"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
The carbon-reduction benefits of electric vehicles vary across cities in China as richer cities can transfer much of their carbon emissions from power generation to less developed cities, burdening them with additional costs, a new study led by UCL researchers has found.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Over the past few years, millions of new electric vehicles have hit the roads in China, with the majority being adopted in its richer cities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While electric vehicles have huge benefits compared with the carbon emissions from petrol and diesel-fuelled cars, the total amount of electricity needed to run so many vehicles is significant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This drives up total electricity generation across the shared grid network, affecting poorer, fossil-fuel-dependent cities \u2013 which in turn endure higher pollution from the carbon emissions created in generating that power, as well as the additional cost of measures to mitigate that pollution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The researchers say their findings, published in Nature Cities<\/em>, could be applicable to richer and poorer cities in countries worldwide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Senior author Professor Zhifu Mi (UCL Bartlett School of Sustainable Construction) said: \u201cElectric vehicles are one of the most important pathways for decarbonising transport, and their rapid growth in China is a major opportunity to reduce national emissions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHowever, our study shows that the carbon benefits of electric vehicles depend strongly on the power system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDecarbonising the grid must go hand in hand with promoting electric vehicles, while policies should ensure that less developed cities do not bear disproportionate carbon burdens.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The study tracked 245 million vehicle registration records across 285 major cities in China in 2020, and how those cities sourced their electricity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The researchers found that the growing popularity of electric vehicles is increasing power demands in the richest cities that have been the biggest adopters of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, through the interconnected power grid, much of their surging electricity demand is met by power produced in nearby less developed cities that still rely on coal or other fossil fuels, minimising the carbon-reduction impact of electric vehicles, and putting a greater environmental and economic burden on these poorer cities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In total, 41.8% of electricity used by electric cars in the most economically advanced cities is transferred in from less developed cities, effectively shifting the carbon footprint of the rich cities\u2019 vehicles to the poor cities that generate their electricity. This in turn is increasing the carbon emissions per electric vehicle in lower income cities by between 16.9% and 52% compared with petrol vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Though focused on China, the researchers said that the findings have implications for countries around the world including the United States, India, Brazil and others where more developed cities are the primary consumers of electricity, and less developed areas are responsible for supplying electricity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This transfer obscures where energy is being used compared to where it\u2019s being produced, complicating emissions accounting and affecting reduction policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By sourcing power production from outside their own city limits, it appears on paper as if richer cities have reduced their carbon footprint, when in fact they just shifted part of the associated emissions to a different location, limiting the overall carbon reduction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The researchers found that while it appeared the country\u2019s 20 most economically advanced cities account for 80% of carbon emission reductions, 136 of the cities they analysed (nearly 50%) have become \u2018carbon importers\u2019 \u2013 cities that have increased their carbon footprint by shouldering the power generation burden for electric vehicles used elsewhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
People living in these carbon importer cities tend to have lower than average incomes, and the cities themselves are more economically disadvantaged. The national government has set carbon emission reduction requirements on cities, but these additional carbon emissions add an extra cost burden to these already disadvantaged cities in order to meet these requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lead author, Dr Jianing Liu, now at Tianjin University, China but who conducted the research at the UCL Bartlett School of Sustainable Construction, said: \u201cElectric vehicles are integral to reducing a country\u2019s total carbon emissions by ending reliance on greenhouse gas-emitting petrol. But to truly cut emissions, the electric plants that power the vehicles need to use clean energy as well, otherwise it risks shifting the carbon emissions from the vehicle\u2019s tailpipe to the power plant\u2019s smokestack.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Electric vehicles in China<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Altogether, about 10% of China\u2019s national carbon emissions come from cars and trucks. To reduce this, in 2012 the national government set electric vehicle adoption targets across the country. Local and national financial incentives have helped drive electric vehicle sales, with 8.1 million new electric vehicles sold in 2023, making up 60% of global electric vehicles sales that year. National efforts have also broadened the electric vehicle charging infrastructure in cities across the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In total, electric vehicles have reduced China\u2019s net carbon emissions by about 3.38 million tonnes in 2020, or about 0.5% of total emissions from passenger vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There have been significant economic disparities in the adoption of electric vehicles. About 75% of China\u2019s electric vehicles are concentrated in just 10% of cities in 2020, predominantly those with the highest GDP per capita. This means that the cities adopting electric vehicles fastest are generally not the same cities producing the electricity and carbon emissions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Professor Mi said: \u201cElectric vehicles are necessary, but not sufficient on their own. To maximise their climate benefits, we need cleaner power grids, better carbon accounting, and compensation or support mechanisms for cities that bear transferred emissions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n