Are Electric Cars Better For The Environment?
Electric cars are becoming increasingly popular due to their environmental benefits, but is manufacturing and mining of the raw materials needed to make them having a negative impact on our environment? Electric cars rely on lithium-ion batteries, which are made with lithium and cobalt. Cobalt, neodymium and lithium rare earth metals these materials can cause soil erosion, destruction of natural habitats and water pollution.
The production of electric cars and their batteries are energy-intensive cobalt and lithium mining together are estimated to produces about 2.8+ million tones of carbon dioxide per year. For every ton of mined lithium releasing 15 tones of co2. its important that we take into account these impacts when considering the environmental benefits of electric cars.
The exploitation of workers mining raw earth minerals such as cobalt is a major human rights issue. Congo is a major source of cobalt, accounting for 70% of the world's production.
The conditions in the mines are appalling, with miners working long hours in dangerous conditions for little pay less then £8 a day, no safety equipment. Miners are exposed to hazardous chemicals such as Carbon dioxide and nitrogen dioxide witch emitted when mining cobalt these chemicals can cause serious health problems Spasms, burns, rapid swelling and pulmonary edema to name a few.
This exploitation has been going on for decades and it needs to be addressed due to the rise in the need for cobalt for the electric vehicle industry. So how can we combat these issues? The ICCT report recommends a number of policies, including:
- Regulating cobalt mining to ensure that it is done in a way that protects workers' rights and the environment.
- Developing recycling programs for electric car batteries to reduce their environmental impact.
- Enforcing environmental regulations at electric car manufacturing facilities.
- Increasing the use of renewable energy to power electric cars.
These recommendations provide a starting point. But it bring up the question are electric cars really good for the environment or would other alternatives be better such as hydrogen powered vehicles?
Hydrogen powered cars is something company’s like Toyota are investing heavily in both in technology and marketing. The technology is in its early stages compared to electric cars. However Hyundai, Toyota and Honda all sell hydrogen powered cars you can buy today.
Hydrogen powered cars use a fuel cell instead of a engine. This means you do not need all the toxic earth minerals. hydrogen fuel can be made using renewable energy this is known as clean hydrogen. You might be thinking about about the emissions from hydrogen well there are none some hydrogen lovers that drive them daily even joke about water coming out the exhaust. So before you buy that expensive electric car why not look into hydrogen.
So are electric cars better for the environment or would it be a better option to go with a hydrogen powered car?
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Are Electric Cars Better For The Environment? | Lux Chemicals 2023