There has been a surge in the popularity of electric cars in recent years as improvements in technology has made them more affordable and reliable. We have also seen many governments vow to make steps toward banning the sale of petrol and diesel cars in the future. For example France and the United Kingdom have planned to ban the sale of petrol and diesel powered cars by the year 2040 in an effort to reduce carbon emissions.
The benefits of moving towards electric cars are obvious. Electric vehicles have no exhaust system and thus produce no CO2 emissions. Electric vehicles are also silent and do not contribute to noise pollution in the same way that petrol and diesel cars do.
However, electric vehicles also have drawbacks regarding sustainability that are often overlooked. The environmental impact of electric vehicles largely depends on the way in which the electricity used to power them is produced. While the cars themselves do not produce emissions, they may have an unexpectedly large carbon footprint if they are powered by electricity from for example a coal-fired power plant.
The batteries used to power electric vehicles use large amounts of elements like cobalt,
aluminium, manganese, nickel and lithium. As electric vehicles increase in popularity, more of these will be mined contributing to environmental degradation and resource depletion. Also, many of the places where these elements are mined are involved in conflicts. For example, a large share of global cobalt reserves are located in the Democratic Republic of Congo where cobalt mining is connected to armed conflict and child labour.
Overall, electric vehicles are destined to change the transport industry in the future. It should however be noted, that electric vehicles do not come without their own set of problems, whichshould be taken into consideration when discussing sustainability
Yannick Plattner, Daniele Ravenna, Juhana Salokivi
Turun normaalikoulu, Finland
Plastics and Prejudice? - Sense and Sustainability! 