Lithium Car Battery's Footprint Assessed

The first in-depth environmental analysis of electric cars that use lithium-ion batteries has been published, and the researchers have found that electric vehicles win out over their gasoline-fueled counterparts (Environ. Sci. Technol., DOI: 10.1021/es903729a). Some experts have been concerned that the environmental costs of manufacturing and disposing of electric-vehicle batteries might negate any benefits from reduced hydrocarbon fuel emissions. Dominic A. Notter of the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science & Technology and colleagues performed a life-cycle analysis of lithium-ion batteries to address those concerns. They determined that 15% of an electric car’s total environmental burden comes from mining, manufacturing, and disposing of the battery’s metal parts, mainly the copper and aluminum components. The largest burden—45% of the costs—stems from generating electricity to recharge the batteries. Overall, the team calculated that a gas-powered car would need a fuel economy of 60 to 80 mpg to shrink its environmental footprint to that of an electric vehicle.