Electric vehicles!! We are not done with you yet!! In the recent year, Singapore has jumped on the electric vehicle bandwagon in a bid to GO-GREEN, towards a cleaner transport system. But how much of this is actually cleaner? Let’s find out!

https://threezeros.unc.edu/news/2018/01/08/nissan-leafs-wrapped-three-zeros/

The electric vehicle (EVs) has boasted to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions and many have even tried selling it as “zero-emission”, a very bold statement to make. Singapore Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat said that the vision was to phase out internal combustion engine vehicles and have all vehicles run on cleaner energy by 2040, placing a significant bet on EVs.

Here comes the main consideration in implementing EVs, which are the power generation sources. In Singapore, 95% of its electricity is generated by natural gas, which releases 40-45% less carbon dioxide than coal, and 25-30% less than oil. Singapore is also looking to increase solar energy power production to 4% of Singapore’s total electricity demand. Thus, the EVs in Singapore is justifiable in reducing overall carbon emissions in the future, tying in with the goals in introducing greener energy sources into Singapore’s power grid. In comparison, countries/regions that rely heavily on coal for power generation, would be better-off adopting efficient internal combustion engine vehicles, such as hybrid vehicles would fair better than EVs, if the EV would have to rely on energy from coal energy sources.

In other interest news, the worlds best-selling EV, the Tesla, was unwelcome by Singapore government, with Singapore’s environmental minister Masagos Zulkifli stating that the country is more keen on environmental solutions rather than a lifestyle. Besides, think about the carbon footprint from importing a fully assembled Tesla from America or Shanghai (one of it’s manufacturing plants) to Singapore.

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Thanks to Mengli for giving us the direction for this post (:

References

https://threezeros.unc.edu/news/2018/01/08/nissan-leafs-wrapped-three-zeros/

https://www.eco-business.com/news/wheels-in-motion-singapore-joins-global-movement-to-phase-out-fossil-fuel-vehicles/ 

https://youmatter.world/en/are-electric-cars-eco-friendly-and-zero-emission-vehicles-26440/

It is common to see electric vehicles encouraged as a way to reduce carbon emissions produced by the normal vehicles. In fact, under the Land Transport Authority (LTA) Masterplan 2040, electric vehicles are encouraged for a more “environmentally sustainable land transport sector” (LTA, 2020). Sure, traffic is one of the leading sources why urban areas have such poor air quality, and by reducing the direct tailpipe emissions, it will greatly improve the air quality of the cities (Pant & Harrison, 2013).

 

What most people fail to consider, however, is that the use of electric vehicles often only reduces the direct tailpipe emissions. According to Timmers and Achten (2016), electric vehicles actually produce the same amount of PM10 as modern diesel and gasoline vehicles and that electric vehicles do not pollute significantly less than internal combustion engine vehicles, in terms of PM. Electric vehicles may contribute to pollution throughout their lifecycle through raw material extractions, processing, manufacturing, final assembly, waste disposal and electricity supply chain. 

 

For instance, due to the lack of charging infrastructures and facilities in China, people driving hybrid electric vehicles may tend to rely more on fuel than battery itself, which in turn, produces carbon emissions and pollutes the environment as well (Wan, Sperling & Wang, 2015). Furthermore, the efficiency of electric vehicles in reducing pollution and carbon emissions also depends on the country’s energy mix. For countries that rely heavily on fossil fuel to produce their electricity, such as China, the act of switching over to electric vehicles does not necessarily mean that there will be no pollution or emissions produced by the electric vehicles. 

 

Besides that, battery production of electric vehicles may produce 15% more emissions than the manufacturing of normal vehicles since the larger batteries require more raw material extraction and energy to produce (Nealer, Reichmuth & Anair, 2015). Thus, the promotion of electric vehicles seems like a sort of greenwashing as they intentionally exclude the hidden trade offs I have mentioned earlier. It gives consumers the wrong idea that electric vehicles can just replace their current internal combustion engine cars and can reduce their emissions and pollution, without having to change their consumption patterns. 

 

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References

Hawkins, T. R., Gausen, O. M., & Strømman, A. H. (2012). Environmental impacts of hybrid and 

electric vehicles—a review. The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, 17(8), pp. 997-1014.

 

Land Transport Authority. (2020, 18 February). Supporting Cleaner and Greener Vehicles for A 

Sustainable Land Transport Sector. Retrieved from https://www.lta.gov.sg/content/ltagov/en/newsroom/2020/february/news-releases/Supporting_cleaner_and_greener_vehicles.html

 

Nealer, R., Reichmuth, D., and Anair, D. (2015) Cleaner Cars from Cradle to Grave: How Electric Cars Beat Gasoline Cars on Lifetime Global Warming Emissions, Union of Concerned Scientists . https://www.ucsusa.org/sites/default/files/attach/2015/11/Cleaner-Cars-from-Cradle-to-Grave-full-report.pdf

 

Pant, P. & Harrison, R. M. (2013). Estimation of the contribution of road traffic emissions to 

particulate matter concentrations from field measurements: A review. Atmospheric Environment, 77(1), pp. 78—97. 

 

Wan, Z., Sperling, D., & Wang, Y. (2015) China’s Electric Car Frustrations. Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment, 34 (2015), pp.116—121.

“Protect our planet – fly with Vietjet”, doesn’t this statement sound a little contradicting? It is personally a challenge for me to understand how choosing a certain airline could help protect the environment, if i truly wanted to “protect our planet”, i should consider not flying at all, as carbon emissions from flights continue to damage the atmosphere. Before we get overly critical, let’s explore what Vietjet has to offer in their marketing and sales promotion that takes advantage of environmental issues.

Having officially announced their expansion of 5 new direct routes from Vietnam to India, Vietjet has offered “50% discount special promotion” appealing to environmentally conscious travellers through its “Protect our planet – Fly with Vietjet” program. According to Vietjet’s official website, the Fly with Vietjet program “involves a series of meaningful activities, such as “let’s clean up the ocean”, “Take action against plastic waste”, as well as charity activities in India, and much more”. Although the efforts taken seem to target ocean plastics (yes, we are thankful for that), there does not seem to be initiatives targeted towards carbon emissions. It is also worth noting that the planes used by Vietjet are the Airbus Sharklet A320 and A321, which are known to be relatively more environmentally-friendly as compared to other jetliners due to its efficiency in carrying capacity.

Multiple Vietjet promotional image seen above promotes flights through an environmental cause, however, alongside provides no information with regards to how consumers can feel less guilty travelling with them. What gets me most is how these terms like “Fly Green” and “Protect our Planet” are used on such a groundless basis without much justification or information, solely intended to market their flights. Although we do not discredit the efforts that Vietjet are making towards a greener environment, its promotional efforts may be quite misleading and disingenuous.

The environmental impacts caused through flying are detrimental to the environment, thus, Vietjet’s promotion of protecting our planets does only only seem disingenuous but may actually promote further negative implications to the environment. The promotions provide a false sense of security, making travellers feel as if they are “benefiting” the environment. As cliche as it sounds, everyone has a part to play in affecting the environment, corporations may attempt to greenwash, thus, as consumers we need to equip ourselves with the knowledge as to make the informed decision. Let’s all be environmentally woke consumers!

 

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References

VietJetAir. (2018). Vietjet officially announces five direct routes to India, linking Vietnam with the world’s third largest market of 1.3 billion people. Retrieved from https://www.vietjetair.com/Sites/Web/en-us/NewsDetail/news/%204201/vietjet-officially-announces-five-direct-routes-to-india-linking-vietnam-with-the-worlds-third-largest-market-of-13-billion-people

VietJetAir. (2020). Immense Vietnam Fly Green With Vietjet. Retrieved from https://www.vietjetair.com/Sites/Web/en-US/NewsDetail/hot-deals/%204359/immense-vietnam-fly-green-with-vietjet

VietJetAir. (2020). Protect Our Planet, Fly With Vietjet. Retrieved from https://www.vietjetair.com/Sites/Web/en-US/NewsDetail/hot-deals/4241/protect-our-planet-fly-with-vietjet

Hicks, R. (2020, February 26). Vietnam airline called out for greenwash promotion: ‘Protect our plant – fly with Vietjet’. Eco-business. Retrieved from https://www.eco-business.com/news/vietnam-airline-called-out-for-greenwash-promotion-protect-our-planet-fly-with-vietjet/?sw-signup=true

According to the Air Transport Action Group (2020), the airline industry is responsible for 2% of the anthropogenic carbon emissions globally. But you probably already know how environmentally-unfriendly the airline industry can be.

So how about those ‘green’ airlines that have planted trees to offset their carbon emissions? Are they more environmentally-friendly than those typical airlines? At first glance, it seems more ‘environmentally-friendly’ since trees are technically carbon sinks, meaning that planting trees will increase the carbon sinks, absorbing the carbon emissions produced by the airplanes. With greater carbon dioxide absorbed by the trees, it will reduce air pollution levels and also mitigate the impacts of global warming (Kinver, 2016).

However, the carbon offsets purchased by airline companies do not necessarily reduce the carbon emissions they have produced while flying. Why is that so then?

Typically, after the airline purchases the carbon offsets, the trees will not be planted immediately, and the planting of trees will be instead delayed for years (Powley, Hook & Hollinger, 2019). This also means that the carbon sequestration will not take effect immediately after the production of the carbon emissions. 

Besides that, some afforestation projects would still take place even if there are no offsets purchased. Since these projects would still take place, there will be no additional carbon emissions reduced in the first place (Dodsworth, 2020). Thus, in order for airlines to ensure that they really do reduce the carbon emissions, they will have to fund projects that will not materialise without their funding. 

Moreover, carbon offsets can actually result in consumers and businesses having a false sense of reality, making them think that they can produce emissions just because they have already offsetted it. For instance, Frontier Airlines initiated a campaign to ‘raise awareness of its sustainability efforts’ by offering free flights to celebrate Green Week as they have already carbon offsetted enough for that promotion (Sampson, 2019). With consumers and businesses thinking that they can continue to pollute just because they have attained net zero emissions, it may ultimately lead to a net increase in carbon emissions produced.

So are the ‘greener’ airlines really green? Please share your thoughts with us down below at the comment section and remember to stay tuned for our next post later this week as we continue to explore and uncover more about these ‘green’ airlines! Seeya! 😉

 

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References

Air Transport Action Group (2020). Facts and Figures. Retrieved from https://www.atag.org/facts-figures.html#:~:text=The%20global%20aviation%20industry%20produces,carbon%20dioxide%20(CO2)%20emissions.&text=Aviation%20is%20responsible%20for%2012,to%2074%25%20from%20road%20transport.

Dodsworth, L. (2020, January 9). The Traveller’s Guide to Carbon Offsetting Your Flights. On The Luce Travel Blog. Retrieved from https://www.ontheluce.com/carbon-offsetting-flights/#:~:text=One%20of%20the%20ways%20it’s,emissions%20that%20their%20flights%20produce.

Kinver, M. (2016, 31 October). Growth of city trees can cut air pollution. BBC News.  Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-37813709

Powley, T., Hook, L. & Hollinger, P. (2019, November 24). Airlines face long-haul to carbon-free flying. Financial Times. Retrieved from https://www.ft.com/content/1081c524-0c73-11ea-bb52-34c8d9dc6d84

Sampson, H. (2019, August 16). ‘Green’ travel stunts by airlines can’t erase the environmental impact of flying. The Washington Post. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2019/08/16/green-travel-stunts-by-airlines-cant-erase-environmental-impact-flying/