ChatterBank0 min ago
Charging mobile phone in car
My eco-friendly girlfriend charges her phone in her car whilst driving as she says by doing it that way she doesn't create any extra carbon by charging her phone as the car is creating carbon anyway.
I think this is untrue, i.e. she creates more carbon when har phone is charging in the car than when her phone is not charging. I have no scientific explanation for this apart from a vague "you can't get something for nothing" feeling.
Can anyone with any light please shed it?
Thanks.
I think this is untrue, i.e. she creates more carbon when har phone is charging in the car than when her phone is not charging. I have no scientific explanation for this apart from a vague "you can't get something for nothing" feeling.
Can anyone with any light please shed it?
Thanks.
Answers
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No best answer has yet been selected by ll_billym. Once a best answer has been selected, it will be shown here.
For more on marking an answer as the "Best Answer", please visit our FAQ.Perhaps wasted wasn't the right word to use. The electricity is only generated as it is able to be used or stored. Whether the power is drawn from it or not, the alternator still uses the same amount of energy to turn. A car with a running motor needs to have the alternator going all the time as it draws power for the ignition etc. The modern battery is only to start an engine.
Of course the same argument can be made about the power station. The energy used to power her recharger is insignificantly small compared to the losses in generation and transmission. The generators still run regardless of whether or not she, individually plugs in her phone.
I think the point is because we have meters and are charged for the absolute electrical power we use in our homes we are more aware of it - If she had a meter in her car and had to pay for pugging in her charger she'd probably feel different.
In a sense, in her car, she owns the power station
I think the point is because we have meters and are charged for the absolute electrical power we use in our homes we are more aware of it - If she had a meter in her car and had to pay for pugging in her charger she'd probably feel different.
In a sense, in her car, she owns the power station
You're all missing the point of the question. The alternator is turning anyway, whether power is drawn or not. The little bit of power the charger uses would not make the alternator work any harder because until a heavier load such as AC or lights are on it runs on a minimum. Yes, it does take energy to turn the alternator, but it uses no more energy when the phone is being charged
I never said you're getting something for nothing. You're utilising the energy that is being produced anyway. The same as if you're using a bicycle in the 60s with an axle dynamo - it is continually turning and takes a tiny amount more muscle power whenever the bike is used, whether you have the light on or not.
For you smartypants, if the minimum electricity produced by an alternator is not drawn it is dissipated as heat, so no, the energy doesn't disappear.
I never said you're getting something for nothing. You're utilising the energy that is being produced anyway. The same as if you're using a bicycle in the 60s with an axle dynamo - it is continually turning and takes a tiny amount more muscle power whenever the bike is used, whether you have the light on or not.
For you smartypants, if the minimum electricity produced by an alternator is not drawn it is dissipated as heat, so no, the energy doesn't disappear.
Thanks for the clarification wildwood. I wasn't trying to be smart but your first explanation wasn't very scientific. I don't have a particular axe to grind, I'm sure my relationship will survive , I just want the factually correct answer.
So what you are saying is that the work by the engine needed to turn the alternator is always the same regardless of how much of the energy the alternator generates is actually used as electricity? (The unused energy being converted into heat)
Can anyone dispute this?
To various others I know this isn't going to save any polar bears but it's rather the science behind it I am interested in.
So what you are saying is that the work by the engine needed to turn the alternator is always the same regardless of how much of the energy the alternator generates is actually used as electricity? (The unused energy being converted into heat)
Can anyone dispute this?
To various others I know this isn't going to save any polar bears but it's rather the science behind it I am interested in.