E-vehicles are a green option, even in HK
No one can dispute that taking public transport, walking or riding a bike is greener than driving a car. The point is that, if you acknowledge that the other 10 per cent of Hongkongers who can’t take public transport all the time will drive a private car, then EVs with no local emissions are better for Hong Kong people.
Stapleton tries to back up his “EVs-aren’t-green” claims by citing Hong Kong’s fuel mix of 53 per cent coal and 22 per cent natural gas – from outdated 2012 figures.
In my last letter, I referenced an exhaustive report by the Union of Concerned Scientists, “Cleaner Cars from Cradle to Grave”, which said: “By the end of their lives, gas-powered cars spew out almost twice as much global warming pollution than the equivalent electric car.” From that statement alone, it is clear that, in their lifetime, EVs are truthfully the greener option – even when the fuel mix to generate electricity is over 90 per cent coal, as it is in the US state of Kentucky. The report did also take into account manufacturing emissions.
Zero-emission EVs indisputably help to reduce roadside air pollution – that alone is reason enough to support them.
