The International Energy Agency predicts that by 2030, 125 million electric vehicles will be owned around the world and the UK government aims for almost every car and van on the road to be zero emission by 2050.

But just how green are they?

Electric cars are undoubtedly cleaner than fossil fuel run cars. Although more energy is required to make electric vehicles than petrol, you still save more energy in the long run. The deficit is paid off quickly and even, when with no alternative, the electricity used to charge the vehicles is driven by fossil fuels, they are still greener.

Challenges

For every car on our roads to be zero emission by 2050, just under double the current total annual world cobalt production, 75% of the world’s lithium production and at least 50% of the world’s copper production would be required.

Currently, electric cars rely on lithium and cobalt batteries to run, which, whilst undoubtedly better for the environment than carbon, aren’t entirely clean.

Cobalt mining

Cobalt is a key ingredient in the lithium-ion batteries that power electric cars, because it enables the energy density required in batteries intended to last for hundreds of miles per charge.

However, the mining of cobalt is fraught with political issues. 60% of cobalt comes from the Dominican Republic of Congo where children as young as 7 years old are mining it. The mining process also causes terrible pollution in local rivers.

Lithium-ion batteries used in electric cars and other consumer electronics account for about half of all cobalt demand, and the demand for these batteries is projected to more than quadruple over the next decade.

Lithium mining

Lithium is currently produced far from the UK — In 2019, Australia was responsible for more than half of global lithium supply, with the bulk of the rest supplied by Chile, China and Argentina. Lithium deposits are also located near some of the most sensitive ecosystems in the world – The Amur River, on the border of Russia and China, the Andes Mountains (Chile) and the Salt Flats in Bolivia. Deforestation, water shortages and toxic leaks are unfortunately a devastating consequence of lithium mining. Lithium extraction in salt flats in Bolivia uses millions of litres of water. The Sales de Jujuy plant produced 14,000 tonnes of lithium in 2018, using up to 420 million litres of water – the equivalent of 168 olympic sized pools.

Prof. Richard Herrington, Head of Earth Sciences Department, Natural History Museum said: “Society needs to understand that there is a raw material cost of going green and that both new research and investment is urgently needed for us to evaluate new ways to source these. This may include potentially considering sources much closer to where the metals are to be used.”

Recycling

Research in Australia found that only 2% of the country’s 3,300 tonnes of lithium-ion waste was recycled. Because lithium cathodes degrade over time, they can’t simply be placed into new batteries. “That’s the problem with recycling any form of battery that has electrochemistry – you don’t know what point it is at in its life,” says Stephen Voller, CEO and founder of ZapGo. “That’s why recycling most mobile phones is not cost effective. You get this sort of soup.”

At present, there are low volumes of electric-vehicle batteries that require recycling. As these volumes increase dramatically, there are questions concerning the economies (and diseconomies) of scale in relation to recycling operations.

Charging inefficiency

One of the biggest challenges, not just for the UK, but around the world is the installation of charging points. We need more, faster, more reliable charge points for people to be persuaded to take the plunge and purchase electric. Cars also need to be charged at smart times of day to avoid unnecessary costs for energy networks (and ultimately the consumers who pay for them).

Electric alternatives

It’s the electric vehicles that have taken off in the world of green automotives. However, there is another player in the field – hydrogen. Hydrogen cars are powered by a chemical reaction. Hydrogen enters the fuel cell from a tank and mixes with oxygen to create H2O, which generates electricity that is used to power the motors that drive the wheels.

Hydrogen tanks are refuelled in a process that’s pretty much the same as with a petrol or diesel car. You could fill your car up just like fossil fuel, but instead of greenhouse gases being emitted, the exhaust would just be pure water vapour. Compared to waiting around for an EV’s battery to recharge, hydrogen appeared to be the much more convenient option.

The challenge is that hydrogen is very energy intensive to create as converting the electricity to hydrogen via electrolysis is only 75% efficient. Then the gas has to be compressed, chilled and transported, which loses another 10%. The fuel cell process of converting hydrogen back to electricity is only 60% efficient, after which you have the same 5% loss from driving the vehicle motor as for a BEV. The grand total is a 62% loss in energy – more than three times as much as an electric car.

Nevertheless, hydrogen still has niches where its main strengths – lightness and quick refuelling – give it a clear advantage. While you can fit your personal driving lifestyle around strategic battery charging stops, this is not ideal for commercial vehicles such as trains that need to run for very long periods and distances with only short waits to refuel. The weight of batteries for eight hours of continual usage would also be prohibitive for these vehicles. Therefore, hydrogen could be a viable option, despite the inefficiency.