Abstract
Keywords: Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV), electric grid impacts, emissions, gasoline displacement.
The U.S. electric power infrastructure is a strategic national asset that is underutilized most of the time. With the proper changes in the operational paradigm, it could generate and deliver the necessary energy to fuel the majority of the U.S. light-duty vehicle (LDV) fleet. In doing so, it would reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve the economics of the electricity industry, and reduce the U.S. dependency on foreign oil. This paper estimates the regional percentages of the energy requirements for the U.S. LDV stock that could potentially be supported by the existing infrastructure, based on the 12 modified North American Electric Reliability Council regions, as of 2002. For the United States as a whole, about 73% of LDV fleet in the U.S. could be supported by the existing infrastructure with some degree of load management. This has an estimated gasoline displacement potential of 6.5 million barrels of oil equivalent per day, or approximately 52% of the nation's oil imports. The paper also discusses the impact on overall emissions of criteria gases and greenhouse gases as a result of shifting emissions from millions of individual vehicles to a few hundred power plants. Overall, PHEVs could reduce greenhouse gas emissions with regional variations dependent on the local generation mix. Total NOX emissions may or may not increase, dependent on the use of coal generation in the region. Any additional SO2 emissions associated with the expected increase in generation from coal power plants would need to be cleaned up to meet the existing SO2 emissions constraints. Particulate emissions would increase in 8 of the 12 regions. The emissions in urban areas are found to improve across all pollutants and regions as the emission sources shift from millions of tailpipes to a smaller number of large power plants in less-populated areas. This paper concludes with a discussion about possible grid impacts as a result of the PHEV load.