27/01/2024
Do we live The Code of Ethics?
Making an electric car causes more harm to the environment than a gas car, but I long for a less harmful solution in the future. Don’t you desire a better life?
Check this out: Electric Cars Aren’t Green! Myth Or Truth? Take A Look!
> Electric cars require more materials and energy to produce than gasoline cars, resulting in higher CO2 emissions and rare metal depletion at the factory level.
> Electric cars use scarce and harmful metals such as lithium and cobalt in their battery packs, which poses a challenge for sustainability and environmental protection.
How Are Rare Metals Mined?
The mining process involves dissolving clay with ammonium sulfate, extracting the rare metals with acid baths and kilns, and dumping the toxic waste back into the holes.
Only 0.2% of the mined material is rare metals; the rest is waste
The alternative method of mining involves crushing rocks and burning them in coal-powered furnaces, which produces more CO2 emissions.
THE REALITY:
At a mine in Jiangxi, China, workers use ammonium sulfate poured into big holes to dissolve the clay.
What’s left is hauled out of the ever-expanding hole, before being run through multiple acid baths to dissolve other unwanted compounds.
The resulting compounds are baked in a kiln, finally revealing the rare metals required in electric car batteries.
Just 0.2% of the result is the rare metals; the other 99.8% is waste.
This 99.8% waste earth (and other compounds) – which is now contaminated with toxic material – is dumped back into the originally-created holes.
Many of these rare earth mining processes also unleashes plumes of sulphur dioxide into the atmosphere, and can harm aquatic life in nearby rivers and streams too. Finally, 50-60% of cobalt comes from the Congo, which unfortunately has a poor human rights record with 40,000 children working in cobalt mines for $1-2 per day.
In conclusion: building an electric car is worse for the environment than building a gasoline car, and I hope for a better solution in the future!
Don’t you aspire for a better life?
