By David Southwell For Daily Mail Australia
Published: 22:09 EST, 6 January 2024 | Updated: 03:53 EST, 7 January 2024 100kw Disel Generator
A motorist has been left outraged after spotting an electric vehicle being charged at a station powered by a 'diesel' generator in remote Australia.
The woman noticed the Tesla parked at a charging station at Caiguna, around 1,000km east of Perth, in Western Australia.
Footage shared to social media platform X on Friday showed the station appeared to be connected to a generator prompting a furious response from the woman.
'So, we've pulled up in Caiguna and we've got an electric car getting fuelled up by a diesel motor run with diesel, how very green,' she said.
Eagle-eyed social media users were quick to point out the generator was displaying a sign that read: 'Powered by waste cooking oil'.
The crowd-funded 50kW DC charger does not run on diesel but 'biofuel' - an alternative energy source that has divided some experts on its cleanliness.
Social media users argued the use of biofuels negated the benefits of driving an electric vehicle - with some labelling it a form of 'greenwashing'.
This picture of a Tesla being recharged by what appears to be a diesel generator led to much scorn online
The Caiguna charging station was the brainchild of engineer Jon Edwards, who convinced the service station's operators to put in the charger, which has been operating since early 2022
Greenwashing is a term used to describe a company that has misled consumers on the environmental soundness of its products.
'Powered by used cooking oil?' one social media user wrote.
'You can’t run a typical diesel engine on used cooking oil, it needs to be refined and have additives?
'I wonder where that happens and if the transport of said cooking oil is efficient compared to the diesel that’s already there?'
Another added: 'Where do you think the power is generated when you charge in city locations- coal but as you say “how very green” get off your high electric horse and understand just because you drive electric car it’s not green at all.'
Others argued it was necessary for the charging stations to be operated by these sorts of fuel for the time being.
'I'd dare to say that we are going through the transition phase,' one wrote.
'Unfortunately it doesn't make much sense, it looks somewhat silly, but it is part of the process and, in the long run, these generators will be replaced with big batteries consequently closing the technology loop.'
The Caiguna charging station was the brainchild of engineer Jon Edwards, who convinced the service station's operators to put in the charger, which has been operating since early 2022.
'This bio-fuel unit would be one of the most remote fast-charging stations in Australia even the world,' Mr Edwards told news agency Reuters.
The oil to fuel generator comes from the Roadhouse fryers and would be thrown away otherwise.
The Caiguna Roadhouse generator runs on cooking oil that would otherwise be thrown away
The Caiguna stop is at the eastern end of a 146.6km straight stretch of the Eyre Highway and the generator takes about an hour and a half to fully charge an electric vehicle to make that stretch, depending on the size of the car battery.
EV owners using AC chargers that run off roadhouse diesel generators can take six to 10 hours to fully charge a battery.
Even though the Caiguna generator is being run on oil that otherwise would be thrown away it still might not be greener than using fossil fuels.
Some scientists contend that biofuels, meaning energy derived from animals or plants, emit as much or even more CO2 than fossil fuel.
A report found biofuels made from food crops leads to more emissions than those produced by fossil fuels.
The 2010 report by Britain's Royal Academy of Engineering looked at 250 studies on the impact of biofuels and warned clean biofuels are still far off.
The most frequently used types of biodisesel such as palm oil, soybean, rapeseed and sunflowers were all more polluting than diesel.
Biofuels are generally accepted for having fewer or less negative effects on the environment when compared to fossil-fuels.
Social media users were left furious after the footage of the charging station was shared to social media.
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