Eid al Adha Mubarak

Wishing everyone a happy Eid al Adha. May this blessed day bring peace, happiness and prosperity to all!

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Are EVs really Eco Friendly?

Are Electric Vehicles really Eco Friendly?

Every year temperatures are soaring all around the world. We talk about global warming, pollution and sustainability. But what can be our individual contributions? How can every individual lower their carbon footprint? Some ways captured in below slide:

While we speak about this, driving hybrids or Electric vehicles surely comes up as an important point of discussion. In India, Tamil Nadu is the hub of car manufacturing, and this has been extended to EVs during the conclave in November 2021, where about 59 MoUs were signed by the TN government with companies specializing in EV manufacturing and technologies, which is expected to bring in revenue around 52k crores and over 92k job opportunities.

While EVs certainly lead to reduced emissions, there are several factors that need to be understood in terms of

• making of the batteries, sustainability of mining for ores, 
• if renewable energy sources are being used to recharge the batteries
• recycling or reusing batteries

Making of the batteries and sustainability of mining for ores:

These car batteries for electric vehicles require rare earth elements including lithium and cobalt. These have a lot of environmental impacts like leaching into surroundings and health impacts for the miners including children who might work in such mines around the world. The purification process of the ores to obtain cobalt is called 'smelting' which in turn causes increased levels of Sulphur oxide in the environment.

Recharging the batteries:

While the logistics of having enough recharge stations at every point is a concern, a bigger concern is using what power are we recharging the batteries? Is renewable energy like wind, solar and water only being used? If we are still using fossil fuels to supply power to the grid and recharging EVs with power from same grid, the whole point of making EVs are completely lost.

Recycling/reusing batteries:

These heavy-duty batteries cannot just be thrown away after use but need to be recycled responsibly. Many manufacturers are forced to plan recycling plants right from the start of setting up manufacturing units. There is also research underway on how batteries with some life left can be repurposed and used for storage in grids.

So, end of the day it is not just about manufacturing or buying EVs, but a whole ecosystem to support this mindset change. Unless governments make public transport more accessible and readily usable by people from all walks of life, unless international policies come together to protect environmental issues, unless every individual make a lifestyle change and decides to do his/her bit for the environment, EVs are not going to be the magic pill!

Please watch my YouTube video in Tamil on this topic. Like, subscribe and share if the contents interest you!

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