Credit: Nils Sandman, CC BY 4.0
Two psychologists and an economist from the University of Turku, Finland, found that because the average electric vehicle (EV) owner is wealthier than the average person, their carbon footprint is nonetheless higher than average.
For their article published in the open access journal Climate PLOSNils Sandman, Elisa Sahari and Aki Koponen analyzed questionnaires sent to thousands of random adults in Finland about their lifestyle choices, car use, environmental views and what they thought of electric vehicles.
As global warming, exacerbated by human-caused greenhouse gas emissions, continues, manufacturers of certain goods have begun to modify their products in ways that reduce emissions. One of these products is the automobile.
The vast majority of cars and trucks on the road today still run on gasoline, the main source of greenhouse gas emissions. In response, automakers have developed and sold electric vehicles, which produce no greenhouse gas emissions while driving.
In this new study, the research team examined whether consumers who purchase and drive such vehicles have a lower carbon footprint than other consumers who continue to drive gasoline-powered vehicles.
To find out more, the researchers obtained data from the CLIMATE NUDGE survey, a questionnaire sent by other researchers to thousands of people across Finland in 2022, asking them about their lifestyle choices. The team analyzed 3,857 of those that had been returned.
Researchers have found that people who buy electric vehicles tend to be wealthier than average. They are also more educated and travel more kilometers per year on average. The researchers also found that despite purchasing and driving an electric vehicle, the average electric vehicle buyer still had a higher carbon footprint than people who did not purchase such vehicles.
According to the researchers, this is due to the fact that wealthier people generally have a larger carbon footprint: they consume more electricity, which is most often produced in a coal-fired power plant, they consume more goods, including production tends to release greenhouse gases, and they drive more and travel more.
Ultimately, the researchers found that using an electric vehicle did not reduce the overall larger carbon footprint.
More information:
Nils Sandman et al, But can it drive to Lapland? A comparison of electric vehicle owners with the general population to identify attitudes, concerns and barriers related to electric vehicle adoption in Finland, Climate PLOS (2024). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pclm.0000346
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Quote: Study shows electric vehicle owners have a larger carbon footprint than average because they are wealthier (2024, October 6) retrieved October 7, 2024 from
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