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Had a quick look at the study...actually just the fact sheet since I can't seem to find a link to the whole thing (not much time at work either). I'd like to see where the original calculations are done for the efficiency losses after the powerplants.
What they appear to be comparing is the total energy available in the fuel being used at the power plant, then taking out around 30% of the for "generation efficiency", a little more for power transmission loss, and another 20% for in-car losses (which seems high to me), and apparently more for something else, because they end up at 24% total efficiency for an electric car. I.e. an electric car only uses 24% of the energy available from the total energy in the primary fuel source (couldn't find any calculation to back that up though). Note that this is only for the UK and goes off of their supply balance. They then calculate the carbon emissions based on the total emitted at the plants versus the actual consumed amount at the drivetrain...something between 690 and 1200 grams of CO2 per KWh depending on the actual powerplant mix.
Diesel on the other hand they calculate at about 620 gCO2/KWh...equal or less than the CO2 equivalent emissions from electric depending on the type of powerplant mix being figured in. (figuring an apparently arbitrary 40% efficiency for diesel engines after reductions for drilling, refining and transport).
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What's the URL(s) for David Heron's podcasts?
I searched for:
1. David Heron
2. vias for voltage
3. 7 generations techno sanity podcast
but couldn't find it