The term green cars refers to those vehicles that create a smaller carbon footprint than traditional gas or diesel vehicles. They are generally seen as environmentally friendly.
But in fact, they are not as environmentally friendly as we’ve been led to believe, and here is why
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For the most part, they are powered by non-fossil fuels, such as lithium-ion or other batteries in plug-in or hybrid models.
They can also be powered by compressed air, hydrogen fuel cells, natural gas, ethanol, or even biofuels made from corn oil.
Even though using electricity or hydrogen to power your car doesn’t release any harmful GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions, the eco-friendliness of this vehicle depends on HOW the fuel is produced and HOW the car and batteries are made.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration about 60% of electricity in the United States is generated by fossil fuel power plants, which emit large amounts of carbon dioxide gas.
The amount of GHGs emitted when the fuel is produced depends on the source of the fuel.
For example, generating electricity from coal or fossil fuels creates far more emissions than electricity generated from renewable sources, like wind.
What Do the Studies Say?
Wikipedia lists several articles that try to compare the environmental impact of electric and petrol vehicles over a complete life cycle – production, operation, and dismantling.
The type of energy that is used to make electricity varies depending on the region. That is why the results also differed depending on the region.
As stated in Comparative Environmental Life Cycle Assessment of Conventional and Electric Vehicles, when we only look at CO2 emissions, production of electric cars produces about twice as much emissions as production of internal combustion cars.
Again, for electric cars, the type of energy that is used to produce electricity will affect how much emission is caused during operation, and that is why it varies a lot geographically.
As for internal combustion engine cars, emissions of CO2 during vehicle operation are on average much larger than during production.
In her study Tesla’s Electric Cars Aren’t as Green as You Might Think, Lizzie Wade states that in a comparative study, it is common that only one area of the environmental impact will be looked at.
While some studies focus only on emission of gas pollutants over life cycle or only on greenhouse gas emissions such as CO2, comparison should also account for other environmental impacts such as pollutants released otherwise during production and operation or ingredients that can not be effectively recycled.
When referring to sustainability, people are usually only concerned with the environmental effects, and it is a serious oversight.
Concerns for social equity and economic development are frequently embedded in definitions of sustainability.
In the business world, being sustainable means that you take into account everything: from manufacturing to logistics to customer service.
Is there such a thing as an environmentally-friendly car? is a study that looked at factors other than energy consumption and carbon emissions, and has suggested that at the moment there is no such thing as an environmentally friendly car.
All this leads us to the next question:
How Green Are the Batteries?
The lithium-ion battery is preferable and the most advanced as it has been around for many years.
They have a good capacity retention rate and low self-discharge, making them ideal for storing high-capacity power.
These are the reasons for its popularity in the market and why it is found in many applications.
While lithium itself isn’t of great concern from a pollution angle, these batteries do contain metals like cobalt, nickel, and manganese.
While these metals aren’t as problematic as lead, they are considered toxic heavy metals.
It is a fact that Lithium Ion Battery has many advantages in our western society, I will list a few drawbacks:
➨It is sensitive to high temperatures
➨If the battery is completely discharged, it can no longer be recharged again
➨It is relatively expensive
➨If the “separator” gets damaged, it can burst into flames
Like any mining process, (mining of lithium) 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 solution at all.
Guillermo Gonzalez, a lithium battery expert from the University of Chile
The battery of a Tesla Model S, for example, has about 12 kilograms of lithium in it.
The Institute for Energy Research (IER) in their article The Environmental Impact of Lithium Batteries list many cases around the world where mining and processing of lithium caused severe harm to the environment.
They also claim that lithium extraction harms the soil and causes air contamination.
Battery recycling is rare since lithium cathodes deteriorate with time and cannot be used in new batteries. Lithium batteries contain hazardous materials, and have a tendency to explode if disassembled incorrectly.
Currently less than 5% of lithium-ion batteries are recycled.
Some companies have started working on this problem. Volkswagen, for example, has recently opened its first recycling plant in Germany.
They plan to recycle up to 3.600 battery systems per year during the pilot phase.
Manufacturers are secretive about what goes into their batteries, making it more difficult to recycle them properly.
IER estimates that between 2021 and 2030, about 12.85 million tons of electric vehicle’s lithium ion batteries will go offline worldwide.
Also, over 10 million tons of lithium, cobalt, nickel and manganese will be mined for new batteries, which raises concerns of its own.
Birmingham University’s Gavin Harper says that many of the elements used in those batteries are hard to come by in Europe and the UK:
From a manufacturer’s point of view, recycling old batteries is the safest way to ensure a ready supply of new ones.
dr. Gavin Harper
How Does Cobalt Extraction Fit Into the Picture?
Lithium cobalt oxide (LiCoO2) is widely used in lithium-ion battery cathodes.
Cobalt is found in huge quantities in the Democratic Republic of Congo where it is extracted from the ground.
Like lithium, the price of cobalt has quadrupled in the last two years, because of the increased demand.
The Democratic Republic of Congo is the source of over two-thirds of global cobalt production.
Forbes estimates that 15% to 30% of cobalt from the DRC comes from artisanal or small-scale mines.
An artisanal miner (ASM) is a subsistence miner who works independently, mining minerals using their own equipment, generally by hand.
They are not officially employed by a mining company.
Child and slave labor have been repeatedly reported in cobalt mining, primarily in the artisanal mines of DR Congo.
The estimates of children working in these mines vary widely, but the DOL report cites one estimate that as many as 35,000 of the DRC’s 255,000 artisanal cobalt miners are children.
Some, mostly European companies (BMW, Volkswagen, BASF, Trafigura), have begun to collaborate to address these important issues, and have joined the Cobalt Action Partnership.
The initiative is a way to develop human rights standards for the whole industry, as well as a mechanism for putting those standards into practice.
However, Ford, General Motors, Chrysler, and Tesla are still missing from this list.
What About Tesla?
Tesla is the only American made, all electric car.
When it comes to their automobiles, the Wall Street Journal and University of Toronto conducted a research comparing a Tesla Model 3 with a Toyota RAV4 from start to finish, including both models’ production and 200,000-mile mark.
The conclusion was: ”Electric vehicles produce fewer emissions overall than their gas-powered counterparts, but there are caveats.”
One of those caveats is that the two cars’ CO2 emission levels level out at around 20,600 miles.
Building the Tesla Model 3 generates more emissions because of the metals needed for its lithium-ion battery.
At 20,600 miles the greenhouse gas emissions from building and driving the two cars are roughly the same. After that the Tesla is better and gets ahead.
Standing at 12.2 tons of CO2 the Tesla has generated 65% more emissions during production than the RAV4 with 7.4 tons.
By the time the 2 cars get to 200,000 miles which is, according to the research, the lifespan of a typical car, the emissions comparison isn’t even close: “Building and operating the RAV4 has generated 78 tons of greenhouse gases. The Model 3 has generated less than half: 36 tons.”
However, the study does not state how the electricity to power the Tesla was produced, because, as we learned earlier, that can potentially greatly contribute to the CO2 emission.
Tesla as a Sustainable Business
Sustainable businesses are defined by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (pg. 41) as those that are profitable over the long term, safeguard the environment and natural resources, and contribute to social equality and equity.
Even though it might sound like a dream come true – an eco-friendly vehicle that’s manufactured right in America, Tesla as a company is not very green.
Forbes states that Tesla is among the 15% of the world’s largest companies that do not disclose their overall greenhouse-gas emissions.
Tesla shows its carbon emissions in graphs, which means they do not disclose the exact numbers. What’s more, the company’s data is not up to date: the figures in its 2019 report are for 2017.
On September 23, 2020 Elon Musk said in his speech at the Battery Day that his firm is working on a new cobalt-free battery technology development.
However, many experts believe that it will take at least a decade for any of the alternatives to be produced in large quantities.
Also, Tesla recently signed a long-term cobalt supply agreement with Glencore, which directly contradicts his statements at the event.
In December 2019, International Rights Advocates filed a landmark lawsuit against Apple, Tesla, Dell, Microsoft, Google and Alphabet for “knowingly benefiting from and aiding and abetting the cruel and brutal use of young children” in mining cobalt.
Reuters states that 6 of the 14 children in the case were killed in tunnel collapses. The others suffered life-altering injuries, including paralysis.
All of the above mentioned companies denied their involvement in child labour.
In our article about modern slavery we discuss this issue in detail.
What Can We Take From All of the Above?
Currently green cars are not all that green, but have a big potential to become very environmentally friendly with future technology advances.
However, the timeframe is unknown because there are currently limitations on what can be done due to many factors that are listed in the article.
It’s important to remember that sustainability in the automotive industry goes beyond just calculating air pollution.
Still, there are some methods to reduce your carbon footprint without trading in your automobile.
When feasible, take the bus or carpool, or simply drive a little slower around town! For more daring people, bicycles and walking are great options too!