The United Nations Climate Change conference in Durban, South Africa this year will shuttle its delegates to and from the conference in electric vehicles.
“We’re here to demonstrate that zero-emission vehicles are a real and affordable solution for reducing CO2 emissions,” Mia Nelson, of the Renault-Nissan Alliance, says in this video. “These cars are also extremely easy to use and extremely easy to recharge. In fact, with an EV you will never need to go to a gasoline station ever again. You can simply recharge from the comfort of your own home.”
By bringing a significant fleet of electric vehicles (EVs) to Africa, conference organizers hope to demonstrate what the conference is all about: real and immediate action around the globe is necessary to prevent some of the most human-harming affects of impending climate change. See some of the IEA numbers on carbon emissions: Renewable Energy To The Rescue, Says IEA.
The 100% electric plug-in Nissan Leaf as well as Renault’s Fluence, featured in this video, will be making their debut in Africa with the conference. The Nissan Leaf is scheduled to arrive in the African market by 2013.
South Africa, which has long relied on emissions-heavy coal-fired generation, is beginning to rethink its national energy strategy. Conference organizers explain in this video that EVs have tremendous potential to harness renewable energy by storing wind and solar power when they are operating.
“Even if we look at electric vehicles in a coal-fired grid, there is a carbon saving simply because the energy is being developed right where the vehicle is actually operating, and it also means you can charge your electric vehicle at off-peak times which means you can balance your load,” says Peter Lukey of South Africa’s Department of Environmental Affairs, in this video. “We’ve found that there is a massive decrease in carbon emissions just by looking at electric vehicles.”