Energy Matters

Electric Cars, Range Anxiety, Plug-in Hybrids Is it time to get an electric car (EV)?  Aren’t EVs with a large “range” expensive? Can you afford one with enough range to get where you need to go in Maine? Will you be stranded in the middle of nowhere without a charging station? And then, how long does it take to charge? To address the range anxieties, consider a plug-in hybrid. We won’t go into finances here except to note that there are currently rebates from Efficiency Maine and tax credits from the federal government designed to help with EV affordability, and the plug-in hybrid qualifies. Electric car range is improving every year.  Typical all-electric models can now go between 200 and 300 miles on a charge.  Most of the average person’s driving keeps them near home and the best option for charging is in their own driveway or garage. That means that most of the time, range anxiety should not be an issue.  The problem is what to do when going on a long trip. Location of charging st

  Is Hydro Really Dirtier than Coal? Once again, when it comes to energy choices and the environment, it is not sufficient to say something is good or bad, right or wrong. There are no absolutes here.  If we hope to arrive at sensible policy to save our atmosphere, we need to pay attention to quantitative comparisons. The Numbers may set us free! Jonathan Carter of the Forest Ecology Network recently wrote that Hydropower is dirtier than coal (Franklin Journal 3/12/21).  Is it? Let’s investigate. We know coal plants are dirty in a number of ways, emitting an array of polluting gases, particulates and traces of toxins such as mercury and arsenic, as well as producing huge amounts of solid waste (see our last column).  Obviously, they emit a significant amount of CO2 and nitrogen oxides--and hydropower is worse? Yikes!   Here we want to address the quantity of greenhouse gases (GHG) generated in the process of producing hydro-electricity.  We’ll use “grams of carbon dioxide (CO2) equival