A decade ago, the country’s (India's) iconic auto-rickshaws had three wheels and a diesel engine. Battery-powered versions existed, but only enough to be seen as a novelty and unregulated threat. Officially, just 12 e-rickshaws were sold nationwide in 2014. How far we’ve come. The place where road transport is shifting most rapidly to battery power isn’t Oslo or Shenzhen, but Delhi. E-rickshaws took a 54 per cent share of India’s three-wheeler market last year, driven by zippy, longer-range models and running costs that are a fraction of petroleum-powered alternatives. Visiting the country last week, one of the first stops for Uber Technologies Inc. Chief Executive Officer Dara Khosrowshahi was to get behind the wheel of a Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. electric three-wheeler and promise an expansion into two- and three-wheeled ride-hailing. Read more at: https://www.deccanherald.com/opinion/electric-scooters-are-choking-oils-boom-market-2913594 Although three wheelers don't consume much gasoline, the larger population of two wheelers consumes 17% of India's oil supply. The electrification of these is already bending down the increase of oil consumptions. Other small, limited distance four wheel vehicles are likely next. Electrification in India is likely to occur from the bottom up, especially commercially used vehicles, instead of starting with high-end sedans and SUVs. The same approach should also apply in much of the rest of South and Southeast Asia.
Unless you know how the electricity to charge the batteries on these vehicles is being produced, being able to declare that oil consumption is lower is a question of the offset that having to charge them creates. Why only one aspect of the equation is being cited here is likely because the offset doesn't actually produce any savings. Worse, when these vehicles reach the end of their lifespan, which is a function of the number of charges per battery set, the equation will get far worse as the recyclability of these battery packs is in serious question, not to mention the amount of offset consumption of oil required to produce the materials that go into the batteries themselves.
Coal is the main fuel used to produce electrical power in India, and most of it is mined in India. Oil is imported and too expensive to burn for electrical generation.
Ironically most of the electricity in these countries is probably being produced by coal. Which might be more economical, otherwise these people in lower income countries wouldn't be doing this. But it would be resulting in greater greenhouse gas emissions. Also, the Indian government is currently subsidizing 15% of the price of electric scooters. And for a time before June 2023 it was 40%. So these electric scooters might not really be quite so inexpensive, if the government is assisting people to buy them. But electric scooters would certainly have an advantage in India's overcrowded streets and cities in helping to reduce local air pollution and smog. It can be pointed out that the batteries account for a large percentage of the cost of an electric vehicle, and the necessary battery size largely correlates to the weight and size of the vehicle (as well as driving range). So very small vehicles like bikes and scooters are probably going to be much more economical than large vehicles, if batteries are being used for power. Many of the cities in India are quite overcrowded and compact, so in most situations families do not need a vehicle with long range. And due to the traditional poverty, families in India are accustomed to fitting multiple family members together on one tiny scooter. In the early 90s it was not uncommon in India to see 3 or 4 family members riding on a scooter that was meant to carry one person. This has become less common today, but there are still many families poor enough that they have to do this.
Here's a picture of 5 family members riding on the same scooter, something that would not be atypical to see on the streets in India: Image
No it can't, because they're too poor. Solar panels are kind of a luxury of the rich. Because solar panels don't really produce that much energy, so it takes a lot of big panels to get enough energy to provide the power for a car, and that is very expensive. But on the other hand, poorer regions like Africa and India have greater solar radiation, so the panels produce more power. If you want to talk about producing liquid hydrocarbon fuel through solar energy, that is certainly possible, but such a process has lower total energy efficiency and is prohibitively expensive. There are other more practical technologies though, such as compressed natural gas that is broken down onboard the vehicle by a heated catalyst into hydrogen which then is used in an electric fuel cell.
these are electric scooters, not cars but regardless, the energy to supply them can come from many sources - energy diversity is a good place to be in an oil shortage
when I run my tv in my house, I have no idea what the electric company gets that power from, it's just electricity to me - they could get it from solar, wind, nuclear, water, whatever really
India has a program to produce electricity from thorium. It has one of the largest reserves of thorium. Nuclear energy is needed to address base loads, especially for industry. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India's_three-stage_nuclear_power_programme https://www.powermag.com/india-begi...ically-designed-700-mwe-phwr-nuclear-reactor/
Which then fundamentally ignores the benefit conversation. All y'all are doing here is shifting where the use of coal/ng/oil happens.
it's call energy diversity, if there is an energy shortage, can switch to another source - if have all your eggs in the oil basket... your out of luck as a side benefit, you can easily switch to greener energy in the future and still have oil and coal as a backup
At least be honest. It isn't about diversity, it's about artificially legislating one option, in this case battery powered things that must be charged and energized by state run forms of power, ie the electric grid which is almost entirely reliant on coal, in the case of India. This is also a conversation about being able to control the poeple and allow only what government is willing to allow them to do, and not what they would like to do. There is nothing about choice in your option here. There never was.
it's 100% about energy diversity, that scare you? it's energy security, make other countries less able to impact us with oil shortages
A small point of contention. Being nearer to the equator does not normally result in increased power generation from Solar cells. The efficiency of solar cells is highly affected by ambient temperatures, not the intensity/elevation of the sun. A solar cell in the middle of the Sahara would not produce a commensurate increase in the amount of power it generates. It will likely produce LESS energy and will certainly be less efficient. For optimum energy production what you want is a situation like you might have during the summer months at the more extreme latitudes. For example, the Dakotas or Canada during the summer months where the daylight durations are longer, yet the cells are cooler.
India is a lot like China in terms of development. Yes, both are increasing their usage of coal, which isn't great. However, it could be a lot worse. China leads the world in installed renewable capacity for several years running. India ranks 4th in recent renewable capacity. https://www.investindia.gov.in/sector/renewable-energy India stands 4th globally in Renewable Energy Installed Capacity (including Large Hydro), 4th in Wind Power capacity & 4th in Solar Power capacity. Continued economic and infrastructure development is inevitable in these countries. Let's just hope they continue to do so sustainably.
If a country deserves criticism, regarding renewable energy, it would be Russia. They have some hydroelectric, but only 0.3% of their electric power comes from wind and solar, compared to 9.4% in the rest of the world.
