ARE ELECTRIC VEHICLES TRULY SUSTAINABLE?

Introduction

Be it Phosphate free shampoo to 3D printed vegan steak, the law of unintended consequences is ever
ready to raise its ugly head. There are numerous examples of solutions touted as sustainable that failed
to capture the true essence of sustainability. One such solution to carbon emissions is the electric car
which has been green washed to the public by presenting only a portion of the entire story of its
environmental impact. Electric vehicles are generally presented as ‘non-polluting’ or ‘zero-emission
vehicles’. They are considered the messiah of the eco friendly vehicles department. Contrary to these
beliefs, recent studies have corroborated the fact that EVs are considerably worse for the climate than
diesel cars. As per a study conducted by Christoph Buchal of the University of Cologne, electric vehicles
have "significantly higher CO2 emissions than diesel cars.” In order to understand this, we need to take a
step back. The issue is closely tied to the process involved in the production of electric car batteries and
while charging these batteries.

Batteries and mining

Half the hype and cost of an electric vehicle lies
behind its batteries. An electric vehicle uses
rechargeable batteries that are made of
indispensible raw materials like lithium, cobalt
and manganese. Lithium-ion batteries are a
crucial component of efforts to clean up the
planet. The battery of a Tesla Model S has about
12 kilograms of lithium in it, while grid storage
solutions that will help balance renewable
energy would need much more. You must be
thinking that something that is being used to
decrease the fossil fuel consumption must be in
the same page as Greta Thunberg, right?
Unfortunately, as the world scrambles to
replace fossil fuels with clean energy, the
environmental impact of finding all the lithium
required to enable that transformation could
become a serious issue in its own right.
In May 2016, hundreds of protestors threw
dead fish onto the streets of Tagong in tibet.
They had plucked them from the waters of the
Liqi river, where a toxic chemical leak from the
Ganzizhou Rongda Lithium mine had wreaked
havoc with the local ecosystem. They also
witnessed yak and cow carcasses floating
downstream, dead from drinking contaminated
water. It was the third such incident in the
space of seven years in an area which has seen
a sharp rise in mining activity, including
operations run by BYD, the world’ biggest
supplier of lithium-ion batteries for electric cars.
But this isn’t the only issue. In South America,
the biggest problem is water. The continent
holds more than half the world’s supply of the
metal beneath its otherworldly salt flats. It’s
also one of the driest places on earth.  Mining in
these regions is a relatively cheap and effective
process, but it uses a lot of water –
approximately 500,000 gallons per ton of
lithium. In Chile’s Salar de Atacama, mining
activities consumed 65 per cent of the region’s
water. That is having a big impact on local
farmers – who grow quinoa and herd llamas – in
an area where some communities already have
to get water driven in from elsewhere.
Like any mining process, lithium mining is
invasive, it scars the landscape, it destroys the
water table and it pollutes the earth and the
local wells. This isn’t a green solution – it’s not a vehicle. It takes more than twice the amount of
solution at all. energy to manufacture an electric car than a
conventional one and the main reason for that
Energy Consumption
is the battery.
Even though electric cars do not emit much
Battery manufacturing with contemporary
harmful and climate-damaging greenhouse
technology requires 350 to 650 Mega joule of
gases and nitrogen oxide, they might run on
energy per kWh, as per a study led by the IVL
electricity produced by burning dirty fossil fuels,
Swedish Environmental Research Institute. Also,
which actually takes away its climate benefits.
a typical battery pack of an EV can release 73 to
This means that an electric car produces nearly
98 grams of CO2 into the air per kilometer.
as much CO2 per kilometer as a petrol or diesel

However, EV’s are not that disastrous if green energy is used to power them. In Belgium, for instance,
the electricity is mainly generated using zero emission energy sources. This means that an e-car in
Belgium produces 3 to 4 times less CO2 per kilometer than a classical car. And what’s more, according to
a study conducted by the VUB, an electric vehicle produces even 15 times less CO2 when it runs
exclusively on green power.

So now we come to the million dollar question: Are electric cars as polluting as fossil fuel cars? There
is some ambiguity regarding this issue as even experts fail to agree. Even then, he electric vehicle is an
interesting path to follow, provided that other aspects of our production systems are adapted, whether
with regard to energy, industrial processes or technology.

On the other hand, is it necessary to take the car?

References:

 Sustainable Design: The science of sustainability and green engineering by Daniel Vallero and
Chris Brasier

 https://www.energuide.be/en/questions-answers/are-electric-vehicles-really-
environmentally-friendly/197/

 http://www.forbesindia.com/blog/technology/are-electric-vehicles-truly-sustainable/