Watching the proliferation of electric vehicles and high-speed trains, particularly in China, it’s easy to get swept up in the narrative of a green revolution. These technologies are marketed as the clean future of transport, a decisive step away from the fossil fuels that have powered our world for over a century. Yet, a critical question often gets overlooked: what powers the electricity?
The answer, especially in China's case, is predominantly coal. This creates a staggering paradox. We celebrate the silent, emission-free EV gliding through a city, but we ignore the plume of smoke rising from a power plant hundreds of miles away that charges its battery. This isn't a true solution; it's a relocation of the pollution problem, shifting it from the urban tailpipe to the industrial smokestack.
This fundamental contradiction is something I've been exploring for a long time. It’s a striking example of a complex system where a seemingly simple solution has deeply entangled consequences. The core idea I want to convey is this — I have been pointing to this challenge for years. A quick look at my own archives reveals the depth of my engagement with these interconnected topics. As I cataloged back in 2019 in a blog titled Search Blogs by Topic Keywords, I had already written over 120 blogs on 'Electric Vehicles' and another 120 on 'China,' not to mention a hundred on 'Pollution.'
I even titled a blog, How Green Is Your Car?, posing the very question that is now becoming mainstream. Seeing how things have unfolded, it's striking how relevant that earlier insight still is. It's a validation, but also a renewed call to look beyond surface-level fixes.
The challenge isn't unique to China; it's a global one. The enthusiastic push for electrification across the world must be paired with an equally aggressive transition to renewable energy for our power grids. Without a clean grid, an electric car is only as clean as its dirtiest power source.
We must demand a more holistic approach from our leaders and innovators. The goal cannot simply be to sell more EVs. The true objective must be to build a genuinely sustainable energy and transportation ecosystem, from the solar panel to the steering wheel.
Regards,
Hemen Parekh
Of course, if you wish, you can debate this topic with my Virtual Avatar at : hemenparekh.ai
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