News I United Nations Publishes iCET Report on Sustainability of Electric Vehicles in China
The United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development has published a report by iCET, entitled "ELECTRIC VEHICLES IN THE CONTEXT OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN CHINA." This paper, which will serve as background information for the 19th Session of the Commission on Sustainable Development in New York, 2-13 May 2011, highlights some of the environmental opportunities and risks of developing electric vehicle systems in China.
This
report provides a comprehensive and systematic analytic overview of China's
automotive electric-drive technology development and electric mobility promotion
policies and programs, and recent trends and projections in technology
development and electricity use in private and public motor vehicles are
analysed. Significant findings of the report include:
• China's financial
support for electric vehicle development, while significant, is lagging behind
other nations
• Although high-speed, high-tech vehicles are on the policy
agenda, low-speed, low-cost electric vehicles are selling well across China
• China will require the development of new lithium resources, or import of
lithium, in order to complete its mid-term targets for electric vehicle
implementation
• Accounting for energy losses and GHG emissions from resource
extraction, power production, transmission and distribution of power, charger
and battery efficiency, lifecycle analysis indicates that electric vehicle use
will result in GHG emission reductions in Southern China as well as in the
Central China region, while resulting in possible GHG emission increases in
cities such as Beijing, Tianjin, Tangshan, Dalian, Shenyang and other northern
places.
The paper concludes that China should not overemphasize the benefits of electric vehicles in regions where they are not environmentally appropriate, and continue to follow its policy of transport energy diversification depending on local circumstances. Given the potential of electric vehicles to provide stable storage to the grid, the grid should be optimized to provide renewable energies to electric vehicles, and for electric vehicles to provide power back to the grid during peak times. Plug-in hybrid technology should be utilized to maximize the benefits of both ICE and battery drive systems, and finally, fuel economy and GHG emission standards should be expanded to include electric vehicles.
The
report is available at the United Nations website at:
http://www.un.org/esa/dsd/resources/res_pdfs/csd-19/Background-Paper-9-China.pdf
