Mr. Peter O'Shea:

A question was asked about the electricity used to power an EV's battery. I put together some numbers last year that I shared with several people, and I would be happy to share them with the committee as well. With the current electricity mix of 27% renewable power and the remainder gas and coal, how efficient is it in terms of carbon produced per kilometre to drive an EV compared with a vehicle that has an internal combustion engine? The numbers show that it is almost twice as efficient. As the 27% figure grows to 40% by 2020, the ratio gets even better. As we move to a fully decarbonised electricity system, the ratio falls away because the battery's power has become fully decarbonised.

The same numbers apply to electric heating. If someone installs a heat pump, it will be just short of twice as efficient carbon-wise with the current electricity mix. There are a range of reasons behind that, but it is important to reflect on the fact that the power going into the batteries or heat pumps makes them a more efficient carbon answer than the existing fossil fuel alternative.