GregM
Well-Known Member
Sure like to know where all these EV’s will end up once they outlive their usefulness.
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In your neck of the woods
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Sure like to know where all these EV’s will end up once they outlive their usefulness.
[/QUOTE
In your neck of the woods
Lithium is used for all types of batteries correct? So if we are going to rail against EV's then we should be equally concerned that tech companies want us to buy new devices every year?Ironically you've touched on something I'm very familiar with and I have no illusions to the effects of mining. I travel to mines all over the world as part of my job as a mineral processing engineer and have worked in mines on five different continents. From the middle of the Congo, to Oz, Canada and Brazil, mining is HORRIBLE for the environment no matter the mineral being processed. Have you looked at oil sands? Forestry? Fisheries? Look at a picture of the Amazon forest today compared to 40 years ago. Devastating.
Using your example the lithium mine is larger in scale to the process used for extraction. Lithium is usually found in lake beds, sea beds, salt flats etc and typically isn't mined deeper than 50 meters and then put through leaching processes, therefore larger areas are required compared to pit mining like iron, copper, gold etc. that also use leaching processes among others.
Nevertheless, the manufacturing of goods requires raw materials. Practices have improved drastically over the past couple of decades but always room for improvement.
Cheers.
Correct, Great points... can you imagine what the guys who sold horses said to Henry Ford? I can only imagine he wasn't that popular with them...Lithium is used for all types of batteries correct? So if we are going to rail against EV's then we should be equally concerned that tech companies want us to buy new devices every year?
If the naysayers really cared about the environment then I would agree. This is really about rallying against a technology they see as a threat to their ability to continue to drive ICE vehicles and continue to buy vehicles that, lets face it, we don't really need.
But my point was that lithium mines aren't larger in scale. The largest lithium mines in the world are only a fraction the size of the iron mines around here just in Northern Minnesota, let alone larger ones around the world.Ironically you've touched on something I'm very familiar with and I have no illusions to the effects of mining. I travel to mines all over the world as part of my job as a mineral processing engineer and have worked in mines on five different continents. From the middle of the Congo, to Oz, Canada and Brazil, mining is HORRIBLE for the environment no matter the mineral being processed. Have you looked at oil sands? Forestry? Fisheries? Look at a picture of the Amazon forest today compared to 40 years ago. Devastating.
Using your example the lithium mine is larger in scale to the process used for extraction. Lithium is usually found in lake beds, sea beds, salt flats etc and typically isn't mined deeper than 50 meters and then put through leaching processes, therefore larger areas are required compared to pit mining like iron, copper, gold etc. that also use leaching processes among others.
Nevertheless, the manufacturing of goods requires raw materials. Practices have improved drastically over the past couple of decades but always room for improvement.
Cheers.
Naww that's where the govt plans on dumping all our EV batteries next. It's part of their "Green new deal" package. ?We're going to have to expand our space efforts and begin mining moons, planets and asteroids...
I think the point was that whenever someone brings up EV's a certain crowd always screams that it's not better than an ICE vehicle and always cites the mining for Lithium argument. However, those same folks never seem to have a complaint about other types of mining or oil drilling (as long as it doesn't obstruct the view from their back yard).Iron from Iron mines is used to make more that just automobiles. Buildings, ships, trains, etc, use iron ore. So of course the mines are going to be bigger, wider, larger, etc. more materials needed to produce all that iron stuff. EV cars will not eliminate iron mining unless you can figure out how to build cars, buildings and ships out of spaghetti noodles. To suggest that because Lithium mines are less impactful to our environment because they are generally smaller does not equate, and does not make any sense. I’d like to know what kind of impact this will all have when we eventually transition to an all-EV society where everybody is driving a battery powered car or truck, and the ICE and fossil fuels become extinct? We will still be mining iron to build cars and such, but now we will add increasing lithium mining to the equation. Have we really thought this all out logically? Before the car, we had horses. But we had a cleaner environment and air, water, etc. And how do we produce more electricity to supply all these EV’s? Power plants are being decommissioned, nuclear, coal, and others? Where will this power come from to power some 287,000,000 cars just in the US? We can’t even keep the lights on now on our failing electrical grid system and we’re gonna eventually add upwards of 300 million electric cars to our grid?
Just some rambling thoughts. I hope to be driving a PHEV in a couple of years. ?
The technology is actually almost there. Kia's new EV6 will have a range of 300 miles, but will be able to charge from 10% to 80% in 18 minutes, which is crazy to think about. Plus, you can get it with 577 horsepowerUntil the EV's can go nearly 500 miles on a charge/tank, fill up in 15 minutes and continue ICEs will be relevant.
That's another area where things keep changing for the better, though. Solar keeps getting cheaper and more efficient. Some people are charging their cars at home without pulling from the grid at all.I guess the massive increased demand for electricity will be supplied by rainbows and unicorn farts.