Feeling eco-virtuous in that Leaf or Tesla? Slow down!
This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science.
“Green energy—its drawn from sunlight, air and pixie dust!” Not.
Powering e-car batteries? Still mostly fossil-fueled power plants. A typical EV battery? Mostly lithium, cobalt and nickel. Such metals come to, oh, our “diamond lanes” via one of humanity’s oldest and dirtiest endeavors—mining. Explosions rock the earth, diesel-powered machines tear into rubble, waterways are polluted, imperiling the health of nearby populations. Often developing world, indigenous people.
And electric or not, there are still rolling tires: in the US and UK combined, each year, an estimated 300,000 tons of rubber spew into the air!
So reports Vince Beiser’s Power Metal, our book of the month, with also solutions! Enjoy it in a hammock. Electric-powered—no!!!
Reference: Beiser, V. (2024). Power Metal: The race for the resources that will shape the future. Riverhead Books.