Impacts of Electric Cars on the Environment

Electric cars are perceived as eco-friendly because of their ability to reduce the ecological footprint on fuel. They have lower noise and air pollution compared to vehicles that run on fuel. They produce little noise and reduced emissions of carbon dioxide and other harmful gasses. They are commonly used in developed countries such as; France, China, UK, Denmark, Germany and Japan, among many others. Even though electric vehicles have positive environmental impacts, there exists an adverse effect which is caused by their batteries during the recycling process. Recycling of the batteries ensures that 30% of the energy is recovered, the process is, however, quite dangerous (Racz, Muntean, & Stan, 2015). Toxic substances are released in solid-state, e.g. slag, in water, e.g. mercury and air, e.g. copper to the environment during the recycling process. The release of these toxic substances makes the environment harmful to workers carrying out the recycling process. This danger is because the released elements can be absorbed through the skin, ingested or inhaled by the workers causing health problems that could be fatal (Racz, Muntean, & Stan, 2015)..

Conclusion

Due to ecological sustainability, the world is looking for ways to reduce harmful emissions of greenhouse gasses and reduce the demand for natural products through sustainable use. Many countries have implemented policies that aid to achieve these goals. The idea of electric vehicles is geared towards this sustainability. However, proper strategies need to be applied in the recycling of their batteries that will help do away with the toxic emissions released from the process.

References

Racz, A., Muntean, I., & Stan, S. (2015). A Look into Electric/Hybrid Cars from an Ecological Perspective. Procedia Technology, 19, 438-443. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1016/j.protcy.2015.02.062