Electric cars are being developed around the world as a means of energy-saving transportation. But environmentalists are warning that the batteries in such vehicles pose new hazards, with their manufacture adding enormous pressure to the mining of rare metals and the obsolete batteries becoming a new source of pollution, posing a serious threat to the environment.
A new study by the East Asia chapter of the environmental group Greenpeace was released Friday (Oct. 30). The report urges China, which has the world’s largest market for electric vehicles, to speed up the recycling and reuse of old batteries in order to ease pressure on battery supplies and control pollution and carbon emissions.
Reuters quotes Ada Kong, the organization’s senior program manager, as saying, “We’re going to see a tidal wave of old EV batteries hitting China.” “The government’s response will have a huge impact on Xi Jinping’s 2060 commitment to carbon neutrality,”
Ida Kong said, “(China’s) national policy shows that EVs are central to reducing emissions. Beijing needs to consider the high emissions of the electric vehicle manufacturing industry. How we address this wave of old batteries is actually a problem worth $1 billion and a billion tons of CO2.”
While the deployment of electric vehicles is an important environmental initiative, the manufacturing of batteries consumes large amounts of energy and carbon, putting severe pressure on the supply of key raw materials such as lithium and cobalt, the report says.
The report by Greenpeace East Asia estimates that from 2021 to 2030, the total weight of phased-out batteries worldwide will be around 12.85 million tons, equivalent to the weight of 1,285 Eiffel Towers. In the same period, 10.35 million tons of lithium, cobalt, nickel and manganese will need to be mined to meet the demand for batteries. This would result in a nearly 30-fold expansion in the amount of lithium used for global battery production from 2018 levels. In addition, battery production would consume 30 percent of the world’s proven cobalt reserves during that time.
The study found that both lithium and cobalt supplies are at great risk and could have serious implications for the manufacture of essential batteries, as well as for the economies of China, Japan and South Korea, the report said. These three countries account for 85 percent of the world’s EV battery production. They rely heavily on imports of raw materials.
According to the report, there is a need for countries to work together to reuse old EV lithium-ion batteries to meet the growing demand for battery storage in other industries.
It is estimated that reused batteries could be used as back-up power systems for China’s 5G stations or reused in shared electric bikes, which would reduce carbon emissions from new battery manufacturing by 63 million tons.
As the world’s largest user of EVs and manufacturer of EV batteries, China has launched its own battery recycling program in response to the expected surge in usage and is implementing a tracking system to track batteries throughout their lifespan, from manufacture to disposal.
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