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Does refining oil into gas have a CO2 cost?
by seanmcdirmid 3y ago
Does refining oil into gas have a CO2 cost?
- tzs 3y agoAlmost certainly. A more thorough comparison would need to take that into account. It would also want to consider electricity generation because not every place has 100% clean electricity. But if all one is trying to determine is whether 30.3 kg/kWh cradle-to-gate cost of batteries is enough to bring EV cars up to anywhere near the CO₂ cost of ICE cars for a typical use case the ICE car uses way more without taking making the gas costs into account so there is no need to go farther. I've updated the original to include a look at the case of non-clean electricity and to consider the CO₂ cost of producing gasoline.
- duskwuff 3y agoAbsolutely -- both in terms of the energy cost of refining and in direct emissions from the process. Extracting crude oil, transporting it to the refinery, and transporting the resulting gasoline to the gas station all have substantial carbon costs associated with them as well.