Little known fact – personal autos are a small part of U.S. carbon emissions:
Among the most visible targets of the energy transition are the gas-powered cars and trucks on the country’s roads. They make up a big part of the transportation sector, which accounts for more than a quarter of U.S. emissions.
Source: Green Energy Transition: Where the U.S. Stands in Five Charts – WSJ
Did you catch that? The entire transportation sector is “more than a quarter of U.S. emissions” – but cars are just one component of the entire transportation sector.
The percentage has been about the same for a long time. Years ago, roughly 18% of emissions came from personal autos and light vehicles (cars, pickups, etc) used in businesses. About 10% came from air travel, railroads, semi-trucks and ships at sea. The remainder, about 72% came from electricity generation and industrial processes (which are often onsite electricity generation).
Most people don’t know this. If we switched all personal and small vehicles to EV tomorrow, we’d see a small reduction in greenhouse gas emissions when the vehicle’s lifetime energy (including manufacturing) is included. EVs are, generally, more efficient as vehicles, but most will still be charged from fossil fuels for many years to come.
Cars are highly visible – so people erroneously think that is the main source of carbon emissions. If we converted all the light vehicles to EVs tomorrow, the total lifetime emissions of automobiles might lower carbon emissions by a mere 5%.
