electric vehicles

How eco-friendly are electric vehicles? It all depends on the battery

28 April, 2022

Source: abc7 News

Author: Juan Carlos Guerrero

While zero-emission vehicles are being touted as one solution to our climate crisis, their batteries could also represent an environmental hazard. There’s concern about mining for minerals like cobalt, copper, manganese and nickel that are used in car batteries on the ocean floor. These minerals are found in abundance along a zone that spans from Hawaii to Mexico. The Monterey Bay Aquarium is co-sponsoring legislation to prohibit leases for mining within three miles of the California coast. It’s hoping that inspires bans further into the deep ocean.

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California EV battery recycling program aims to recycle and reuse rather than extract

17 February, 2022

Source: Forbes

Author: Alan Ohnsman

Redwood Materials, a battery recycler created by Tesla cofounder JB Straubel, plans to collect used electric and hybrid vehicle packs from Ford and Volvo Cars in California, making rechargeable cars and trucks more sustainable by reusing valuable mined materials they use.

Continue reading California EV battery recycling program aims to recycle and reuse rather than extract

Electric vehicles spur race to mine deep sea riches

14 November, 2018

Source: Financial Times
Author: Henry Sanderson

Miners want to tap subsea cobalt deposits for green technologies, but environmentalists worry.

Gerard Barron brandishes a small black rock — the size of the palm of his hand — and heralds it as the future: “It’s all right here, all the metals we need.”

The Australian entrepreneur believes these rocks, formed over millions of years at the bottom of the ocean, can help satisfy the growing demand for the metals used in batteries and clean energy technologies, and are therefore critical to the transition away from fossil fuels. Less than 20cm wide, the so-called nodules can contain nickel, manganese, copper and cobalt— all set to see a surge in demand over the next decade.

Continue reading Electric vehicles spur race to mine deep sea riches