Quote:
Originally Posted by Im1
Is the planet affected any less by the intense mining required to make all these batteries ?
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If handled correctly I say we are better off mining for batteries. You are also only looking at one piece of the electric car and not the system as a whole.
Drill for oil (pumping chemicals into the ground and hoping to never see or taste them in our water), transport the oil to the refineries (many times by truck to rail), turn the oil into gas, transport it to the tank yards somewhat close to where you use it, truck it to the gas station (all of this transportation burning the same fuel), burn it in your car and produce exhaust which includes a lot of unwanted things in the air, one of which is CO2.
Compare the above to a natural gas powered power plant where the overall system is simpler and cleaner.