NEW YORK ¨C Could China, the world¡¯s largest automobile market, help address the threat of global warming if it went completely electric? The answer isn¡¯t as obvious as it seems.
China has been making great strides toward electrification. Electric vehicle sales are booming: Consumers bought more than 300,000 last year, and more than 5 million are expected to be on the road by 2020. The government just announced bold plans for a wave of big new battery factories.
Encouraging as that may be, though, the move away from conventional cars and trucks won¡¯t immediately reduce the country¡¯s carbon emissions. On the contrary, the production and exploitation of electric vehicles in China produces more greenhouse gases and consumes more overall energy. In the short run, China¡¯s moves could make greenhouse emissions go up, not down.
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