Both vary a lot, but in general power plants are considerably more efficient than vehicle engines.cubes wrote:Are FF powerplants more or less efficient than ICEs?Little John wrote:Electric cars are, indirectly, for the vast majority of their fuel needs, FF cars and this will continue to be the case. Electricity does not come from the electricity fairy. What electrical power that is currently generated via renewables is only sufficient to meet a fraction of domestic residential usage.
CCGT plant is up to 50% efficient under typical working conditions and has reached 55% under ideal conditions. Such plant makes up the great majority of UK FF generation so this figure is the most important one.
Smaller contributions are made by coal at about 35% efficiency, and by OCGT and diesel at about 30% efficiency.
Petrol engines used in cars are often about 20% efficient under ideal conditions, but less than half that in practical use.
Diesel engines as used in vehicles are often about 25% efficient under ideal conditions, but again half or less of that in normal use.
The efficiency of a vehicle engine when idling at traffic lights or in a jam is in effect zero.
As a very approximate guide, power plants are about 3 times as efficient as ICEs in vehicles.
Most power plants burn natural gas, a fuel not ideal for road vehicles.
A small and falling percentage of electricity is from coal, completely unsuitable for modern vehicles.
An even smaller percentage is from oil, which could be burnt in vehicles.
