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Does anyone the difference of the environmental impact a between fuel powered thing like a car or lawnmower versus an electric car or lawnmower powered by a coa

• ZeroGravitas 5y ago
  The Union of Concerned Scientists has a map that calculates the MPG equivalent of an EV car for real local grid carbon intensities. The bottom line is, they're already better everywhere today, and the grid is only going to get cleaner.
• csours 5y ago
  There are several different ways to slice this. "Pollution" should be characterized by effect - CO2 is a greenhouse gas that causes global warming. We need local and global strategies to reduce it and replace systems that create it. Other pollutants have a direct effect on human health. Some pollution has a very fast effect, some pollution has a delayed or chronic effect. We need to replace systems that create this pollution immediately. For small tools like a two stroke gas engined lawn mower, weed eater or chainsaw, you have an immense immediate benefit from not having the particulate, unburned gas and oil, NOx, and carbon monoxide in your lungs. This immediate benefit to human health makes the transition worth it at almost any cost. For larger things like vehicles or heat pump based home heating, you need to consider the pay off time. The pay off time is shorter (better) when replacing less fuel efficient vehicles (as low as 20,000 miles). If you have an existing vehicle that gets decent mileage (35+ mpg) and your local electricity is coal powered it can take much longer (50,000 miles or longer). But there is always a finite payoff time for any realistic scenario.