Nissan Announces Coal and Gas Powered Car for UK

OK, that's not exactly what the coverage said. In fact the claim was that the Nissan Leaf was to be the first zero carbon car. Because it runs on lithium-ion batteries, rather than petrol or diesel. While Nissan’s decision to build the Leaf in Sunderland is welcome for car plant workers, the “zero carbon” claim doesn’t stand up. The Leaf’s batteries are charged by mains electricity. In the UK, about 30% of that electricity is produced by burning coal, and about 40% by burning gas. Driving a Leaf in Ireland means you’ll be around 60% oil powered (so, nearly a diesel). Driving one in Poland means being around 60% coal-powered. If you fancy a nuclear-powered car, you’d better charge it up in France, where about 40% of the juice comes from nukes. To my knowledge, the only place in Europe where you could genuinely drive a Leaf and be zero carbon is Norway, where electricity generation is almost entirely from hydro power plants – the rest is from thermal power, wind generation and sea-bed tidal power. So, if you want a zero emissions Nissan Leaf, the only phrase you’ll need is the Norwegian for zero carbon. Which I understand is “null karbon.”