Wasted energy could power entire U.S. fleet

Posted on Sun Apr 20 2008

By: Eve Rickert in Black Gold, Environment, Science & Technology

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The United States power grid produces huge amounts of energy at night that is currently wasted.  According to a study by the U.S. Department of energy, that excess electricity is enough to fuel 84 percent of all passenger cars and trucks in the United States, if they were all magically converted to electric power at once.  By plugging in their during the night and other low-demand periods, seven of every eight U.S. drivers could fuel their vehicles without requiring even a single new power plant to be build, which could actually lower electricity rates across the board.  The study contains a caveat, however: it only includes power generated from coal and natural gas--fossil fuels.  Plants that use renewables, they say, are already running at capacity.

Source: Spare power sufficient to fuel switch from gas to electric cars.  Scientific American, December 13, 2006.

Image: The Toyota RAV4 EV, an electric vehicle with a cost equivalent of over 165 miles per gallon.

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