How is your source of electricity created?

[Phantom]

I often read blanket statements on forums that electric motorcycle riders are doing the equivalent of burning coal instead of gasoline or petrol that you would normally use in ICE bikes. The argument is that to generate the electricity we use to ride, we need to be getting that electricity from a source that burns coal (at least in the USA).

My electricity supplier has provided me the sources of how my electricity is generated. Here is the breakdown of how my electricity is created:

43.10%   Natural Gas
14.50%   Nuclear
12.80%   Hydro-Electric
12.80%   Low Impact Hydro-Electric
5.70%   Wind
4.30%   Oil
3.80%   Coal
2.70%   Other
0.30%   Recycling Municipal Trash
Total 100.00%
   
Burning coal is pretty low on my list. The price for Natural Gas has been falling, so I would expect my electricity rate to come down soon.
Eventually, I would like to generate my own electricity using renewable sources like using solar panels or burning a bio-fuel like algae.
Do you know where your electricity comes from?

[Brammofan]

Mine is mostly from coal.
I think we've hit on this subject here before, but it's always a good one.  Don't necessarily buy that argument that electricity is just as dirty as gas. If you're going to count our bikes as "coal burning,"  than you need to trace the gas bikes' orgins of power, too.  (Well to wheels).  When you do that, it turns out that even the guys like me who have the coal-powered power plants - we "emit" about 10% of the hydrocarbons and other noxious gases as the gassers.  Plus, we have the ability to get our energy from 100% "clean" sources.

Also, I think the bio-fuel algae burning may technically not be burning fossil fuels, but you're still emitting noxious gases (I think).  Go wind or solar or John Galt's electrostatic motor.   

[EmpulseRider]

I think the efficiency of burning coal for electricity still has a carbon advantage to burning grossly over subsidized gasoline. Using electricity also saves taxpayers money, nobody ever takes that into account. Anyway, to answer your question, my solar PV system produces an average of 22kWh a day, that's average. This time of year the panels produce only 13kWh a day, during the summer months that number is around 30+kWh. That said, I produce more juice than I use, but I sized my system to account for future consumption considering I will have my Empulse (hopefully) soon, and possibly another EV within the next 5 years or so.

The beauty of an EV is that you can run it on anything that can be harnessed or burned to create electricity.

[protomech]

The EPA provides a tool which will look up a utility's energy mix by zipcode.
http://www.epa.gov/cleanenergy/energy-and-you/how-clean.html

Northern Alabama is serviced by the Tennessee Valley Authority, which is a privately-run public utility established shortly after the Great Depression.

Our energy breakdowns:
66.1% Coal
20.8% Nuclear
7.2% Natural Gas
3.7% Hydro
1.2% Oil
0.9% Non-hydro renewable

National average:
48.5% Coal
21.7% Natural Gas
19.4% Nuclear
5.8% Hydro
1.6% Oil
2.5% Non-hydro renewable

Edit:
I'm also not entirely sure how old EPA's data is. TVA unfortunately does not readily present its generation mix, but you can dig it up from this 2011 budget proposal (PDF).

In 2009 TVA claims to have sold 164 GWh of power, and generated 80 TWh from fossil fuels (almost all coal), 53 TWh from nuclear, 11 TWh from hydro. Assuming generation = sales, then coal (and oil) is 49%, nuclear is 32%, hydro is 7%. The remainder (12% if the assumption holds) is natural gas and non-hydro renewables.

[EmpulseRider]

The EPA provides a tool which will look up a utility's energy mix by zipcode.
http://www.epa.gov/cleanenergy/energy-and-you/how-clean.html

Northern Alabama is serviced by the Tennessee Valley Authority, which is a privately-run public utility established shortly after the Great Depression.

Our energy breakdowns:
66.1% Coal
20.8% Nuclear
7.2% Natural Gas
3.7% Hydro
1.2% Oil
0.9% Non-hydro renewable

National average:
48.5% Coal
21.7% Natural Gas
19.4% Nuclear
5.8% Hydro
1.6% Oil
2.5% Non-hydro renewable

Looks like thats another EV argument debunked... coal accounts for less than half of electricity generated in the US. Im sure private solar systems are not even taken into account to reach that number.

Wow, my zipcode shows that XCel energy uses 71.3% coal here in Denver... those dirty bastards.

[protomech]

Off-grid solar probably is not accounted for, but I believe TVA does count grid-tie systems (Generation Partners) as part of its non-hydro renewable generation.

[Gavin]

PNM here in New Mexico

40%-----Coal

36.2%---Nat Gas

14.8%---Nuclear

5.9%----Hydro

2.8%----Other (probably solar)


Of course all my electricity comes from the sun due to the solar on my roof...I feed the extra to PNM...makes me about 400 a year and no electricity bills...yeah.

Gavin

[Richard230]

Here is what the government says for my electrical provider PG&E (Pacific, Graft and Extortion):

Non-hydro (that would be wind, solar and geothermal) = 9.6%

Hydro = 12.1% (maybe not so much this year)

Nuclear = 16.2%

Oil = 1%

Natural Gas = 52.5%

Coal = 7.6%

[860]

I use Xcel Energy's WindSource program, so I'm 100% wind powered.  

My Empulse will be powered by the wind (no bean jokes, please...).