[SustainableTompkins] prius plug in hybrids

[ejgeorge at riseup.net]

As several have pointed out, this article fails to address renewable  
energy alternatives (grid or on-site). Even in the case of coal  
powered plants, most plug-ins will most likely be plugged in at night,  
when excess electricity is already generated anyhow -- i.e. the coal  
is being burned regardless (because it's too costly and inefficient to  
power down a plant temporarily on a daily basis). Right now, a  
considerable amount of that energy powers NOTHING, so by using it to  
recharge batteries, at least you're getting something useful for all  
the CO2 you're emitting.
I've run across a number of discussions of this on-line - here's a  
TreeHugger take:

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/04/plug-in-hybrid-cars-co2-emissions-electricity-energy.php

ej