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First up, let’s talk about a subject that I’m sure is at the forefront of everyone’s minds: electric vehicles (EVs). This is such a vast and rapidly expanding topic that I could spend multiple days talking about it, but I will try to share only the most important points.
I don’t know about you, but I have always had the impression that EVs are the best type of vehicle for the environment. However, a few years ago I read a book called “Cobalt Red: How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives” by Siddharth Kara which opened my eyes to the drawbacks associated with EVs.
This book shared the shocking human rights abuses that come from creating batteries, most of which are used in EVs. Miners in the Democratic Republic of the Congo are subjected to cruel working conditions and little pay while mining for cobalt, which is one of the main “ingredients” in rechargeable batteries.
This is not to say that EVs are terrible and that you should stick to gas powered cars, though. In fact, according to a study conducted at MIT in 2019 (which you should totally read), gas-powered cars emit “more than 350 grams of CO2 per mile driven over their lifetimes,” while EVs emit only 200 grams.
Looking at this statistic, it seems easy to assume that EVs have a smaller carbon footprint than gas-powered cars. However, this overlooks two main aspects: manufacturing and power plant emissions.
Manufacturing an EV, particularly its battery, produces significantly more CO2 than manufacturing a gas car, which you can see in this graph. However, these emissions are canceled out over the lifetime of an EV, since driving an EV produces far lower emissions than a gas car. In addition, there are many promising new advancements in sustainable rechargeable batteries, which you can read more about here.
As far as power plant emissions, think about it this way: when you plug your Tesla in every night, that energy isn’t magically appearing; it comes from a power plant. Depending on where you live, these power plants are often run on fossil fuels—not good.
As a result, driving an EV isn’t entirely emissions free since some had to be produced to create the “electric” part of the name. However, the scope of this can vary dramatically depending on how you get your power. Places like the Pacific Northwest that rely on wind and hydropower create much cleaner energy for EVs to use while areas that depend on coal power like West Virginia result in much greater carbon emissions.
Despite all this, in most cases EVs still produce far less emissions overall than gas-powered cars. It is important to realize, however, that these emissions are not zero.
In my opinion, we should not view EVs as the best possible solution for transportation but rather as means to an end. EVs are not good for the Earth, let’s make that clear. However, they are better than gas powered cars. Until we can find better, more greener ways to power cars, it may be the best solution we have.
Ultimately, it is your decision if you choose to use EVs, which are arguably better yet contain serious ethical concerns. Truly, the greenest form of transportation is biking or public transportation, which sparks a whole other discussion regarding government implementation of shared transit systems and bike paths (which can be severely lacking in the United States). If you must drive somewhere, try to carpool to limit your carbon footprint.
Phew. That was a lot of information in a very short space. The main takeaway here is to make sure that you are critically analyzing everything you are told and making conscious, informed decisions before splurging on the latest car model.
That’s all for today, see you tomorrow!
Elena