Electric hype, hidden costs

INDIA MUST EMBRACE A BROADER, MORE INCLUSIVE VISION OF CLEAN MOBILITY

- M MUNEER

The electric vehicle (EV) revolution has been lauded as a game-changer in the fight against climate change, promising to reduce carbon emissions and promote sustainable transportation. Governments worldwide are investing heavily in this transition through subsidies, policies, and infrastructure development.

While EVs undoubtedly play a role in reducing emissions, the narrative surrounding their unblemished benefits deserves a closer look. An analysis reveals that the EV revolution is not the panacea it is portrayed to be. Resource constraints, environmental implications, and socio-economic challenges raise questions about the long-term sustainability of this shift.

At first glance, EVs seem like an environmental savior, producing zero tailpipe emissions. But this ignores the significant resource demands and environmental costs tied to their production, especially the manufacturing of lithium-ion batteries, their main engine.

Lithium and cobalt, critical components of EV batteries, are extracted at a staggering environmental and social cost. Around 70% of the world's lithium reserves are concentrated in the "lithium triangle" of Argentina, Chile, and Bolivia, where mining operations are water-intensive, depleting resources in already arid regions. Cobalt, predominantly sourced from Congo, presents an equally troubling scenario. Reports of hazardous working conditions, child labor, corruption, and geopolitical tensions prevail in the dark underbelly of cobalt mining. The skyrocketing demand for these minerals risks triggering resource scarcity and "resource wars" as nations vie for economic power driven by fuel—whoever controls the fuel gains power.