We put batteries in everything from scooters to SUVs and call them green. But batteries have their own environmental problems.
Why It's So Hard to Recycle Electric Car Batteries | World Wide Waste
Fossil fuels are the worst. It wouldn’t be far-fetched to blame them and the industries that enabled them for almost the entire spiraling climate crisis. From this perspective, almost anything is better. We need to get off coal and oil as quickly as possible, no matter what it takes. At the same time, we need to take a hard look at the problems with batteries: battery fires, the use of child labor to mine rare earth minerals, etc., so they don’t become another disaster.
“Lithium-ion batteries, especially those that power most e-bikes and scooters, need drastic improvements. In addition to long charge times, the most pressing concern is catching fire. Lithium-ion batteries have already caused 22 fires this year, causing 36 injuries and two deaths in New York City,” Charlie Welch, CEO and co-founder of ZapBatt, told Lifewire via email.
Batteries are driving the growth of electric vehicles, from giant SUVs to modest electric bikes. We focus on the good aspects: that they can be charged, that there are no local emissions, that electric motors are silent, etc. But we also ignore the problems. First, producing batteries has a significant impact on the environment and people.
