Where does Electricity come from
The U.S Department for Energy has declared that in the whole process from “oil well to the service station,” the average efficiency of car fuels is only 83 percent. This process includes transporting the crude oil to the refinery for refining, and transporting the refined oil to the gas station.
By dividing the average fuel emissions by 0.83, or multiplying the figure with 1.205, you can estimate the “well to wheel” emissions of cars that use gasoline, petrol or diesel.
Average Petrol/Gasoline and Diesel CO2 Emissions (per liter) from the oil well to wheel:
Fuel CO2 emissions per liter
Petrol/Gasoline 2,789 g (6 pounds, 3'/ 2 ounces)
ULS Diesel 3,168 g (7 pounds, 1 ounce)
Where our electricity comes from
Electricity is drawn from various sources, each of which has a different carbon footprint.
It is typically not easy to manage these electrical sources so that their electrical supply equals the demand. When the demand surpasses the supply, a blackout or brownout occurs. The latter is a circumstance in which lights flicker or dim and electronic equipment is often reset due to voltage loss, whereas a blackout causes power outage completely.
Electricity from the power stations to our homes and offices comes to us via power grids, which are all over the country. Often, trans-border connections exist for power exports and imports to assist with different peak and trough demands, so that significant voltage loss does not occur.
There are 24-hour operated power stations, while others only operate on demand. For example, nuclear power stations operate at a consistent throughput to form the “base load.” Power stations using gas, coal and oil are able to give more or less power as per demand level. Therefore, some plants may not generate any power on certain days of low or no demand.
Thus, you may not always know the source of your electricity. You may in fact be residing near a power station, but your electricity could be coming from a wind turbine on the other side of the country during off peak periods. It may very well be that your power is not even from your nation. For example, Canada supplies electricity to the U.S. and Europe, which are also interconnected with other countries for power supplies. We are nearing a day when renewable power will allow super grids to span across continents, so that a Scot may be able to enjoy solar electricity sourced from the Sahara.