Introduction
The development in the automotive industry has resulted in the production of various sustainable technologies. The paper is going to examine the problem of the pollution and contribution to reduction of the automotive industry to the climate change in carbon dioxide emissions. The partial solution for the transport industry has already been introduced with the technology of electric vehicles. The sustainability of the technology will be examined with the shortcomings and disadvantages of the battery production of electronic vehicles. The thesis of the paper is that electric vehicles are more sustainable than the traditional cars and use sustainable technology and contribute a lot to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
Background of the importance of electric vehicles
The Ministry of Environment has pointed out various climate change impacts that will impact New Zealand in the future. For tackling the issue and decrease the greenhouse gas emissions the reduction of the CO2 emissions, which is one of the major contributors to the pollution also in this part of the world, will need to be decreased. The climate change will result in higher temperature that will be more evident in the North of the island, rising sea levels, various extreme weather patterns such as floods and droughts in the east of the island, the patterns of the rainfall will change where less rain will be on the east part and more in the west. The water demand along with the water quality will be affected (Ministry of Environment, n. d.).
The reduction of CO2 can help to diminish the severe climate change consequences. The road transport produces around 40% of all energy sector emissions in the New Zealand. The percentage of transport emissions are increasing. From the year 1990 to the year 2013 the national transport and energy emissions measured in the kt CO2-e have increased for around 60.4%. The emissions in transport are dominating in the New Zealand and contribute the most to the pollution and climate change (Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment, 2013). The areas the electric vehicle technology could play a vital part are public and private transport that contribute the most to the CO2 pollution in the country. They have the potential to use transport in a more sustainable way as the traditional cars which use the fossil fuels. The OECD (2015) has recognized the potential of reduction of emissions in the transport with plug-in hybrid and electric vehicle fleet in the country. The electric vehicles are a good fit for the New Zealand since the country produces high proportions of energy from renewable resources. The actions are needed in order to reach the given target by the year 2020 to reduce the emissions. New Zealand energy supply is a majority produced by the renewables – 38.1%, 33.7% with oil, 21.3% with gas and 7% with coal. The transport sector is responsible for 18.1% of the greenhouse gas emissions. The biggest contributors to emissions are agriculture with 46.1% and energy production with 24.2%. The use of electric vehicles in the country could help to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that have been per capita and per unit GDP high based on the international comparison. The transport emissions intensities are relatively high with low use of public transport (OECD, 2015).
Sustainability of electronic vehicles
The electric vehicles have an impact on all factors that are found in the quadruple bottom line – environment, social, economic, governance. In order for technology to be sustainable all four different aspects must be taken into an account. Sustainable technology can be labeled as such only if it is environmental sustainable which means it does not uses the natural resource in a way that they can one day become scarce and that does not contribute to the pollution of the environment. In order for technology to be sustainable in the area of social context, it must advocate health and must provide prosperity and satisfy the social needs. Economic sustainable technology means it can provide development and economic growth. And last but not least the governing factor can contribute to the sustainability in all mentioned areas. With the promotion of sustainable actions and incentives the business and economy will be moving towards more green solutions.
Environmental and social impacts
Electric motor needs electric battery for moving which means the pollution coming from petrol and diesel is diminished. The petrol and diesel transport contribute around 20% to the greenhouse gas emission in New Zealand. The increased use of electric vehicles can have a positive impact on the environment with the reduction of emissions. The technology can be used sustainable since the majority of the energy is produced with renewable resources and the future plans are that all of the energy used would come from renewables. The “fuel” for the car is therefore environmentally friendly and also cheap since it does not need to be imported such as oil and other traditional fluids. Another fact that contributes to the sustainability of the technology is lithium batteries that are not as scarce as oil and natural gas. With having no exhaust they do not produce the monoxide fumes. The engine and whole vehicle have lees parts than traditional combustion one. The price still remains a core problem since the cars with high battery capacity and longer range are very expensive. Based on the driving patterns from citizens of the country which are doing on average 28 kilometers per day the cars with shorter range would suffice. The new cars are very expensive in comparison to the used ones, which is why many used are being imported from Japan. By calculating the running costs the electric cars can be a lot cheaper than the petrol one. The cost of traveling by electric car is 7 times cheaper than driving with petrol car, which can result in savings. They also need less maintenance. The future could also result in changing the unsubsidized purchases for electric vehicles in the country which would help to achieve governmental plans on reduction of emissions by lowering the price (Magnusson, 2015).
There have been some issues raised about the batteries. The lithium is not scarce resource, but the reserves are found in geopolitical unstable regions (Fornahl, Hanke, Hulsmann, 2012). Further one, the electric vehicles are free of emissions of greenhouse gas emissions and toxic, but the sustainability has been questioned because of large quantity of electric power needed to function (Hsu, 2013). The use of energy for the New Zealand does not represent the fact that would endanger the sustainability of technology, but the second concern raised is the sufficient production of the energy if all cars would become electric in the future. Another fact that is contra the sustainability are the consequences related to the recycling of spent batteries. The issue is that the electricity needed to produce the batteries is rising concerns not the sole functioning of the electric vehicle. The energy production is usually responsible for the low quality of air which is used to produce and charge the batteries on which electronic vehicles run on. Three major concerns have been high lightened: “the energy required to produce batteries, emissions in producing batteries, and energy and environmental consequences in recycling consumed batteries” (Hsu, 2013, 4). It seems that sustainability of this technology can be reached only internationally with producers of batteries using more clean energy. The sustainability must be viewed with the different phases such as extraction of materials need for technology to function, production of the materials and components, distribution of the technology and its usage and waste.
Social conditions can be satisfied with the improved battery range. With the environmental awareness and the travel patterns citizens could use a more green transport. The technology can guarantee and satisfy the current needs of the population with required ranges and flexibility, since the cars can be charged at home or public stations. The range of the current vehicles is from 150 to 300 kilometers (Fornahl, Hanke, Hulsmann, 2014). The calculation could be done for the New Zealand, based on the number of vehicles present in the country and how much energy would be needed to replace all of the conventional vehicles. The electric vehicles can result in insufficient power supply, which can cause serious socioeconomic issues (Hsu, 2013). The air quality, noise and pollution are reduced with the implementation of the technology, but it rests on the individual decisions and economic capability whether to decide to buy and drive more environmentally friendly car or not.
Economic and governance impact
Economic conditions of electric vehicle are interlinked with the political and economic institutions. The established chain of electric mobility is important. The wider use of the technology could result in less dependence on the imported fossil fuels. The economic impacts on the direct and indirect costs play a vital role in purchasing an electric vehicle. The costs for the electric vehicles are a lot higher in comparison to conventional cars because of the high costs of batteries and research and development. The attractiveness will be increased because the predictions for the future are that the costs for batteries will decrease. The automotive industry can achieve international competitiveness in the area of electric vehicles (Fornahl, Hanke, Hulsmann, 2014). The costs for fuel per kilometer are calculated to be in the electric vehicle $0.03 and for the diesel vehicle $0.10. The difference is seen also with the costs of maintenance where per kilometer the costs for electric vehicles is $0.04 and for diesel $0.11. Better performance can be seen with diesel vehicles in larger range and possible top speed. The busses related costs have been predicted for the electric battery at $900.000 and for the diesel $400.000, but the long time cost benefit analysis shows electric vehicles are cheaper (The Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority - EECA, 2012). The fact is that electric vehicles are more energy efficient than conventional vehicles. The calculation has been made that it takes around 13 years to pay off the initial costs for electric vehicle and it can ultimately save consumers money (Aguirre et al., 2012).
The electric mobility can be promoted or hindered by the government. It can involve the provision of information, granting of privileges or financial support (Fornahl, Hanke, Hulsmann, 2014). The government plans are to targeting 90% of renewable electricity production by the year 2025 and has in the reports promoted the electric vehicles. The prices of electricity are higher during the day and the electric vehicles could be re-charged at nights with lower prices. The electricity system is perceived to be able to care of the increased demand for the electric transport in the future. For the year 2010 it was calculated that with 390.000 light electric vehicles on the road by the year 2025 would not significantly add to the required energy which capacity would not exceed 2% of current installed capacity (The Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority - EECA, 2012). The governance actions in promoting electronic vehicles could result in independence of the increase prices of oil. The future prediction is the price of oil will increase as well as the costs of greenhouse gas emissions, which could result that the technology can be proven to be cost efficient in shorter timeframe with indisputable positive impacts on the environment. The government of New Zealand has expressed the importance of improving the renewable resources and reduce non-renewable and can use these resources for the benefit of the whole nation. The governance is pointed toward achieving sustainable development with shifting from oil, gas and coal towards more green energy in accordance with the environmental responsibility. The government has set the goal to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions for 50% based on the 1990 levels by 2050. The 44% emissions from transport can be reduced (New Zealand Energy Strategy 2011-2021, 2011). The economics and governance sustainability can be achieved by implementing the electric vehicles that can help to achieve various governmental targets.
Future of the electronic vehicles
With improving technology and improving the capacity of batteries their production will become more attractive to the regular consumers. The price will likely drop or it will become more equal to the conventional vehicles because of the rising price of oil. The recycling, faster chagrining ability and battery span need further research (Aguirre et al., 2012). For the future, it is important to consider the population opinion, since it is individual right to decide to buy an electric or conventional vehicle. The country has nearly the highest ownership of cars in the world. The electric vehicles can play an important role in the future of transport emissions. In 2015 in the country were around 660 electric vehicles in use. There has been research and survey conducted among the citizens about the electric vehicles. There have been major barriers expressed, such as price, range and charge time. The price will likely drop in the future and the government can play a vital role in promoting them with financial incentives. Various concerns raised can be diminished with better awareness and information sharing about the life span costs, potential and possible range, positive impacts on the environment (Green Grid, 2015).
Conclusion
Sustainable transport systems are one of the core factors for sustainable development in the New Zealand. It is one of the most important factors in the society and economy as a whole. Transportation sector contributes a major part to the greenhouse gas emissions. The global climate change, energy security, rising oil prices and scarce resources of fossil fuels are further contributing to the implementation of the alternative vehicle technologies. The thesis of the paper that electric vehicles are more sustainable than the traditional cars and contribute a lot to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions can be confirmed. New Zealand is a country that could use the technology of electric vehicles in a sustainable way, since the production of the energy is done mostly with the renewable and green energy resources, but it cannot affect the unsustainable way of the battery production.
Work Cited
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