The drive to electrify transport in Malta has recently picked up some pace. But it should be made clear to consumers that electrification is not a zero emissions enterprise. Internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles burn fossil fuels and emit toxic greenhouse gasses, exacerbating global warming. Electric vehicles (EVs) still have a carbon footprint in spite of not producing tailpipe emissions.
Firstly, EVs are responsible for the emissions of the power stations that produce the electricity they run on.
When purchasing a new EV, consumers should opt for a lower carbon footprint over unnecessary extras and flash designs. In the past, consumers would have measured energy efficiency by considering ‘miles per gallon’. The equivalent for EVs today would be ‘kilometres per kilowatt’.
The manufacture of EVs would have a lower carbon footprint than that of the equivalent ICE vehicles were it not for the lithium ion batteries that store the electricity. Producing lithium ion battery packs is not energy efficient, nor is recycling them. It is far less expensive to mine lithium than to recycle it from old batteries.
Spent EV batteries are sometimes repurposed to be used as storage in solar PV systems. A standard EV would consume two battery packs during its life. Industrial vehicles would consume double that or more. The batteries contain metals such as nickel, cobalt and lithium. Mining, processing and manufacturing these minerals and batteries involve substantial emissions of carbon.
Lithium mining is environmentally and ethically unsustainable and is mostly carried out in countries with minimal or no environmental or labour protection laws. For example, leakages from such factories in Tibet, China has resulted in mass fish exterminations. The process also consumes huge amounts of freshwater. Even in North America, where mining regulations are strict, highly toxic chemicals are used to extract lithium. Lithium mining operations are energy intensive, sometimes running on diesel generators and relying on carbon-emitting heavy machinery.
Lithium demand is expected to at least triple by 2025, pushing more environmentally damaging extraction globally. Mining raw materials needed for battery production will likely be the last to get decarbonised, if ever.
Although the carbon footprint of mining, manufacturing and shipping of EVs is higher than that of ICE vehicles, these higher environmental costs are offset in the early years of an EV’s life by the zero emissions when in use. It is hoped that the carbon footprint of EVs will decrease further in time as the electric grid becomes cleaner and batteries will pack more power and less metals.
The lowering or removal of tailpipe emissions is a huge health benefit as these toxic emissions mostly occur in close proximity to people, as is the case in Malta. As most emissions are invisible, odourless and tasteless, peoples’ senses are not alerted to the pollution danger.
Experts agree that a transition from ICE vehicles to EVs needs to go hand-in-hand with societal change that promotes greater use of buses, trains, ferries, scooters, bicycles and walking. The mass production of EVs and mass disposal of ICE vehicles will, in the short to medium term, substantially increase greenhouse gas emissions at a time when we need to reduce them dramatically.
The way forward for Malta would be to substantially reduce the number of vehicles on the road while, in parallel, allowing existing ICE vehicles to exhaust their useful life, following which replacing them with EVs. Vehicle numbers are a direct consequence of overpopulation and excessive economic activity. It is also the result of a nation bound to its cars and reluctant to cycle or walk. We all need to do our part to change the way we commute. The status quo is unsustainable.