Ah, the holidays! A time of good food, gatherings with family and difficult questions about, for example, climate change… Or is that last one just something that happens to me?
I’m a climate reporter, so at parties I’m often asked questions about my work and, in general, about climate change and climate technology. Sometimes these questions can spark a heated conversation, and I have to admit that I often change the subject or sneak out for a cookie. But all these conversations showed me that many people have heard confusing things about climate change on TV news, on the Internet, or from book club friends and want to know more.
As the holiday season approaches, you may find yourself in a similar situation. So grab some French toast and let’s dive into some climate tech questions that may arise.
Sensitive Climate Topic #1: I’ve heard that electric vehicles are worse for the environment than regular cars — after all, the power has to come from somewhere.
Currently, in almost all cases, battery-powered vehicles produce fewer emissions than those with internal combustion engines. Exactly how big these differences are depends on where you are in the world, what’s powering the electrical grid, and the type of vehicle you’re driving.
Regional differences can be significant, as noted in a 2021 study by the International Council on Clean Transportation. In the US and Europe, an electric car will reduce emissions by 60% to 70% compared to a gasoline-powered car. In places like China and India, where the grid is powered by a larger fraction of fossil fuels like coal, the savings are smaller — 20% to 35% in India and 35% to 45% in China.
The size of the vehicle is also important here. If you really look at the situation, it’s true that some vehicles with batteries could end up being worse for the planet than some vehicles with combustion engines. Take, for example, the Hummer EV, a monstrosity that is responsible for 341 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometer driven. That’s more than a gasoline-powered Toyota Corolla (269 grams), according to a 2022 analysis by Quartz research.
A crucial point to remember is that there is a clear path for electric vehicles to continue to improve further in the future. Batteries are getting more efficient. Recycling efforts are underway (more on this later). And grids around the world are seeing more energy coming from low-carbon sources such as wind, solar, hydroelectric and nuclear. All of this results in electric vehicles that will continue to get cleaner over time.
Sensitive Climate Topic #2: What About All the Mining of Materials for Clean Tech Manufacturing? Won’t this destroy the planet?
This is a difficult topic, and there is a lot of complexity when it comes to all the materials (yes, that’s the technical term) we need to deal with climate change. There are very real environmental and human rights issues related to mining of all types.
We will need to mine a lot to build all the technology needed to address climate change: about 43 million metric tons of minerals by 2040 to be on track to reach net-zero targets, according to the International Energy Agency.
The mining volume is even greater if we take into account that some minerals are present in very low concentrations. Take copper, for example, a common material used in everything from transmission lines to electric vehicle batteries. To obtain one ton of copper, it may be necessary to move more than 500 tons of rock, as currently mined sites tend to have copper concentrations below 1%.
However, even taking all this waste rock into account, the energy transition will likely involve less mining than the fossil fuel economy currently does. The details will depend on the amount of recycling we can do, as well as the evolution of technologies. If you want more details, I highly recommend this excellent analysis by Hannah Ritchie for comparison.
Any mining can be harmful to the environment and people living near the mines. So it’s still worth paying attention to how these projects are progressing and how we can ease the burden of new technologies. But climate technology won’t create an entirely new level of mining.
Sensitive Climate Topic #3: I hear they’re piling wind turbine blades, solar panels, and electric vehicle batteries in landfills. Won’t the waste from all this “clean” technology be a big problem?
Manufacturers are racing to build and field more clean energy technologies, which means that in a few decades many of them will reach the end of their useful life and we will need to figure out what to do with them.
Take solar panels, for example. By 2050, we could see up to 160 million metric tons of accumulated solar panel waste. It sounds like a lot – and it is – but there is a bigger problem. By then, we will have generated a total of about 1.8 billion metric tons of electronic waste, and plastic waste will reach 12 billion metric tons. (For other comparisons, check out this article from Inside Climate News and the original article from which these numbers were taken in Nature Physics).
Overall, climate technology waste is likely to be one facet of a much more substantial problem. Even so, there are still plenty of good reasons not to throw old technology into a landfill. Many of the materials needed to craft these items are expensive and could be reused to alleviate the need for further mining.
The good news is that widespread efforts are underway to recycle solar panels, lithium-ion batteries, and even wind turbine blades. So yes, there is a waste problem looming, but there are many opportunities to address it now and in the future.
( source: MIT Technology Review )
