Is EV a ZERO emission Vehicle?
- The fundamental difference between conventional, thermal cars and electric cars has to do with the process of transforming the potential (stored) energy into kinetic (movement) energy. In thermal cars, this energy is stored in a chemical form and is released through a chemical reaction inside the engine.
- In an attempt to minimize these consequences, scientists have been looking into what may be the main causes of climate change. They found out that greenhouse gases (GHG) like carbon dioxide, methane or nitrous oxide, and aerosols are changing the atmosphere and leaving the planet more exposed.
- As cars make up 72% of the Co2 emissions in this sector (followed by planes, with 10%), the market of electric cars has been growing and seems to be a good solution to fight climate change. But is it true that EVs have zero emissions?
You do not ELIMINATE emissions — You Export the emission somewhere else.
Plans to increase the manufacturing of batteries will lead to an increase in the production of minerals from 400% to 4000%.
As per the “ https://www.manhattan-institute.org/mines-minerals-and-green-energy-reality-check”
- For Example, if a lithium EV battery weighs about 1,000 pounds. it will contain (Approximately): –
- 25 pounds of lithium,
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- 30 pounds of cobalt
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- 60 pounds of nickel
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- 110 pounds of graphite
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- 90 pounds of copper
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- 400 pounds of Steel, Aluminium, and various Plastic components.
Ore Mining Estimate for Battery Manufacturing
- Estimation is based on Ore grades; the quantity of rock that must be extracted from the earth and processed to yield the pure minerals needed to fabricate that single battery.
- Mining precious metals for electric vehicle (EV) batteries can be hazardous to the environment and human health, depending on the specific mining practices used and the location of the mines.
- Ore requirement for an EV battery weighs about 1,000 pounds-
- 77100 pounds of Ore mining are required to extract the key Metal elements to manufacture a Battery of 1000 pounds. (Rough estimate)
- If you consider all the battery components, the Ore mining quantity will be much higher.
Following is the graphical representation of Ore mining required (in Pounds) to get the metals ( Cobalt, Lithium, Copper, Nikle, Graphite) for EV Battery manufacturing:-
- Overall environmental footprint can be measured by considering mining machinery energy use for materials dug up to get to the ore and processing.
- Depending on ore type and location, overburden ranges from about 3 to 20 tons of earth removed to access each ton of ore.
- About 90,000 pounds of ore require digging and moving of between 200,000 ~ and 1,500,000 pounds of earth.
- A rough average of more than 500,000 pounds of earth digging & movement is required per battery.
- The precise number will vary for different battery chemistry formulations, and because different regions have widely variable ore grades.
- The above calculations do not include the total material footprint and include only large quantities of materials and chemicals used to process and refine all the various ores.
- Other impacts may be replacing steel with Aluminium to offset the weight penalty of the battery,
- There may be an impact due to increased overall copper (300% approx.) usage compared to a conventional automobile.
- There may be an impact on the supply chain because of the handling of electric motors (having Earth-Rare elements e.g., neodymium, dysprosium, etc.)
EV battery energy equivalent to Oil Barrels
The energy equivalent of 100 ~ 300 barrels of oil is used in the processes to fabricate a single battery that can store the equivalent of one barrel of oil.
Battery Manufacturing – Carbon debt rate
As per “ https://climate.mit.edu/ask-mit/how-much-co2-emitted-manufacturing-batteries”
- The vast majority of lithium-ion batteries—about 77% of the world’s supply—are manufactured in China, where coal is the primary energy source. (Coal emits roughly twice the amount of greenhouse gases as natural gas, another fossil fuel that can be used in high-heat manufacturing.
- Tesla Model 3 holds an 80 kWh lithium-ion battery. CO2 emissions for manufacturing that battery would range between 2400 ~ and 16000 kg. As much as a typical gas-powered car emits in about 2,500 miles of driving.
- There is not enough mining in the world to make enough batteries for that many people for their cars.
Impact of Solar & Wind Energy on Electric Vehicles
Using batteries to store solar and wind power when it’s plentiful can help solve one big problem of renewable energy—balancing oversupply and shortage when the weather isn’t ideal—making it much easier to switch from CO2-emitting fossil fuels.
- If we have more batteries, we would be able to increase load levels and then use renewable energy when we have more demand.
Battery recycling.
- As the electric vehicle industry grows, battery recycling also will become more feasible.
- Materials production is responsible for approximately half of the greenhouse gas emissions from battery production, and recycled materials have a lower carbon footprint than the same materials from virgin sources.
- For example, The production of recycled Aluminium creates approximately 95% less greenhouse gas emissions compared to producing Aluminium from natural resources.
You can also read: Sustainable development goals