3 ms·
It's practical today with overhead power cables - these have already been trialled on major highways in Germany and Sweden. Although one of the test lines in Ba
by seabass-labrax 2y ago
It's practical today with overhead power cables - these have already been trialled on major highways in Germany and Sweden. Although one of the test lines in Baden-Württemberg is going to be taken down, the test results from the Hessen test line on the A5 show that on an efficiency basis, the greenhouse gas emissions are reduced by 16%-21% compared to diesel trucks. In parallel to these tests, there are also discussion in progress for a Europe-wide voltage standard to avoid the kind of problems that have stymied cross-border rail travel.
There are many people who say that the technology is not appropriate, and these are mainly based on two claims: firstly, that electric propulsion will not be more environmentally friendly whilst the electricity is still produced from fossil fuels, and secondly that existing electric trucks are less reliable than their diesel counterparts. Neither of these are reasons to abandon overhead lines on an efficiency basis, though - the concept is sound.
- IshKebab 2y ago> 16-21% That seems very low and not really worth it. Does it really make that little difference?
- vardump 2y agoGermany's power production is pretty dirty. That figure is likely to get a lot better over time.
- seabass-labrax 2y agoIt's a little hard to compare countries when measurement techniques differ, but my rough layman's interpretation puts the proportion of renewable energy as a part of Germany's total electricity generation at around 40%. For the USA, this is just above 20%, and for the UK it's somewhere around 60%. And in Norway, well, that rounds up to 100% :) That only takes into account electricity production, though - these countries might still import large amounts of oil and gas for burning, such as Germany, or simply buy their electricity from other countries.