Against the grain II

What will happen with all the batteries from electric vehicles

We know for a fact that fossil fuels are not the long term answer for energy to power both homes and vehicles.  The devastating effects of the emissions wreak havoc on both our protective atmosphere and causes a rise in greenhouse gases that contributes to global warming. That global warming has accelerated the rate of ice melting on our polar caps, causing one of the fastest water level rises in the history of the Earth.

The alternative that appears to be the replacement is electric vehicles for transportation and solar power for homes and other sources that require power. Both will greatly reduce the fossil fuel emissions that have depleted our ozone layer and could be a major contributor to the slowing of the melting ice that threatens global livable terrain.

But, how will we get all of these batteries and where will we dispose of them?

Lithium, cobalt and nickel are essential elements to making batteries and solar panels to collect natural energy from the sun. Unfortunately, the lithium America uses is dominantly imported. The major reason for the use of imported lithium is the devastating residual environmental destruction required to mine it.

The New York Times reported on a dormant volcano in Nevada that was once federal land, but has been partitioned to allow miners to extract lithium. The process will sacrifice billions of gallons of water, leave a mountain of contaminated waste and leave water contaminated.

One major hurdle is the U.S. Congress and U.S. Senate setting mandates on electric vehicles. Demands on automakers to convert from fossil-fueled vehicle production has been steady by lawmakers, but consideration of compiling the resources to accommodate the mandate was not considered.  

Mining lithium, cobalt and nickel is messy and decimates the immediate environment around the site. Water toxicity in the immediate vicinity is stated to remain unusable for 300 years because of the toxins…three full centuries.  Still, the race is on and investments is renewable resources are in the billions. America is determined to position itself as a major contributor to the global market in order to position its financial resources for the next run of profitability.

Finally, we get to the real answer. It’s the same thing over and over again. It all comes down to the almighty dollar. American investors could care less about the long-term environmental destruction of areas of our country if it means worldwide wealth. That seems to be how we got here in the first place.

Solar energy is at an all-time high. The energy cells to intake energy from the sun and the batteries used to store energy for continuous use have all three of the toxic elements in them. While there are aggressive efforts to recycle batteries used in electric vehicles and solar energy storage, we are far from a viable solution.

 Consider the hazardous material protocols in disposing of a single 12V car battery. Now consider the disposal of an electric car battery. An average car battery weighs about 55 lbs. Now consider disposing of a 1,000-1,200 lb battery in an electric vehicle. While there is a concerted effort to recycle these batteries and reuse them, there undoubtedly will be hazardous material excreted from these units. Where will all of these new waste materials go?

 Electric cars and solar energy have been sold to us as green options, but the result of using these resources is anything but green.