In addition to the recent huge manufacturing investments in electric vehicle (EV) technology and talk of a greener, decarbonized future, there are some not-so-green issues as well.
Latest New energy finance reportBloomberg News predicts there will be approximately 730 million EVs on the road by 2040. The year before, Bloomberg predicted. Half of US car sales It will be battery electric by 2030.
It’s also a hot topic in Canada. economic stimulus The transition to EVs will add 250,000 jobs and $48 billion annually to the nation’s economy through the creation of a domestic supply chain.
The government has already invested tens of billions of dollars into two EV battery manufacturing plants in southwestern Ontario. But what to do with millions of EV batteries when they reach the end of their lifespan poses an environmental dilemma.
Dead battery dilemma
“There are no rules,” says Mark Winfield, a professor at Toronto’s York University and co-chair of the school’s Sustainable Energy Initiative. “We’ve been talking to agencies on both sides of the border, at the federal level, local level, state level, and nothing.
“In Ontario’s case, the answer was actually that we weren’t going to do anything about it.”
Ontario’s Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks did not respond to a request for comment from CBC News.
Mr Winfield said the fact that there is no public policy on the disposal of EV batteries is concerning, as many chemicals and components are used in the manufacture of EV batteries, including cadmium, arsenic and nickel. listed as toxic Under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA), it cannot be disposed of in a landfill.
afternoon drive8:11Dead EV batteries cause environmental problems
A new factory in southwestern Ontario will produce millions of electric vehicle battery packs in the region. But what happens when batteries die and waste is created? Professor Mark Winfield from the University of York is alarmed by the fact that there is currently no clear plan. He will perform further with host Colin Butler.
“Given the nature of these products and the scale of the potential immediate problem, we predict that, as we know, EV sales will reach tens of millions of units, all of which will eventually lead to end-of-life production. You would think “-life battery. One might expect regulators to be a little further ahead. ”
Important minerals are expensive
The environmental costs of a greener future in transportation extend beyond dead batteries. If the country follows through with its plan to create a homegrown supply chain for critical minerals needed to make electric vehicle batteries, it could mean vast tracts of unspoiled nature will be exploited in northern Ontario.
Canada needs to develop the Ring of Fire to obtain the critical minerals needed to make EV batteries. The Ring of Fire is a mineral deposit discovered in 2007 in the far north of Ontario, which happens to be in the middle of an environmentally sensitive area called Hudson Bay. Lowlands.
“We’re talking about a huge wetland,” says Dana Scott, a professor at York University’s Osgoode School of Law and the school’s research chair in environmental law and justice in the green economy.
“It is the largest remaining intact boreal forest in the world and a huge carbon storehouse.”
Many people interested in purchasing electric cars do not want to become involved in the ongoing process of indigenous dispossession.– Dana Scott
In the Hudson Bay lowlands, Estimated 35 billion tons of carbonfunctions as Important stopover site for billions of migratory birds and home is Wolverine, caribou and lake sturgeon – All are considered endangered or at-risk species by the federal government.
Scott has spent many years studying the social, environmental, and legal impacts of bringing development to the Hudson Bay Lowlands and the rights and interests of the remote indigenous communities there.
“They have inherent jurisdiction to be the decision makers on those lands, and they have the right to free, prior and informed consent under international law. In other words, [governments] We need buy-in from all communities affected by this irreversible major change to our way of life. ”
Indigenous communities are subject to the James Bay Treaty, or Treaty 9, and some are in favor of development while others are against it.
Both proponents and opponents of development use climate and the environment to curry favor and justify their causes, Scott said.
afternoon drive8:42Switching to electric cars is not without environmental consequences
Tens of billions of dollars are being invested in electric vehicle factories in Windsor and St. Thomas, but little attention has been paid to the environmental costs of decarbonizing the transportation sector. Dana Scott is a law professor who studies overlapping jurisdictions and climate justice claims in the Treaty 9 area of the Pacific Ring of Fire and the Hudson Bay Lowlands. Scott joins host Colin Butler to discuss.
He argues that those who want to mine the region’s vital minerals will reduce emissions and save the planet, while those who want to leave the region untouched will want to avoid development. He said destroying one of the world’s largest carbon sinks will only reverse it. All of these emission reductions come from the EV’s battery.
Mr Scott said it was impossible to determine who was in the right, but the government needed buy-in from all First Nations in the Treaty 9 area or any development would be at risk of litigation. . At press conferences and funding announcements regarding the upcoming switch to Canadian-made batteries, there was little mention of EV batteries.
“Many people who are interested in buying electric cars don’t want to be drawn into the ongoing process of dispossession of Indigenous peoples,” Scott said. “If we had to face the question of what price people were going to pay to get these minerals, would we want to do it over the objections of indigenous peoples?
“I think it’s probably going to give a lot of people in southern Ontario pause.”
