A Facebook post dated November 30, 2023, compares the alleged CO2 emissions associated with the production of electric vehicle (EV) batteries to those generated by combustion engine cars.
The post claims, “Production of ONLY an electric car battery generates the same amount of CO2 as a combustion engine for 8 years!!”
This post has been shared over 3000 times in six weeks.
Our Assessment: False
While the production of EV batteries does generate CO2 emissions, there is no established number of years after which emissions from a combustion engine would equal those produced during battery production. It depends on various factors such as battery production processes, the size of the EV battery, and the mileage of the combustion engine car.
Let’s assume we have average driving patterns and emissions from the exhaust pipe of a combustion engine car. Data from recent studies show that in Australia (where this statement originated) or in the USA, it would not even take 8 years of driving a combustion engine car to equal the CO2 emissions from an EV battery.
What is the carbon footprint of producing EV batteries?
Numerous studies have estimated the emissions associated with EV battery production. Often, these emissions are reported per kilowatt-hour (kWh) – a measure of battery size. For example:
All of these estimates together give a range of 90 to 220 pounds of CO2 equivalents per kWh. If we apply these values to EV batteries ranging from 60-90 kWh (commonly sold in the USA in 2022), we get a range of approximately 2.5 to 9 tons of CO2 equivalents per battery.
The CO2 emissions per mile during the operation of a combustion engine car also vary depending on the vehicle’s fuel efficiency, but the average in the USA is 400 grams per mile, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency. Based on this estimate, the emissions from the exhaust pipe of a combustion engine car would be equal to the emissions from battery production after driving approximately 6,250 to 22,500 miles.
The time it would take to drive those miles would depend on the driver’s habits. However, the average American driver covers 13,476 miles per year, according to the US Department of Transportation.
Based on this estimate, emissions from a combustion engine car would equal the emissions from an EV battery after approximately 6-20 months, much less than eight years.
In Australia (the residence of the person who made the statement on Facebook), the average vehicle covers about 7,519 miles per year, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Assuming all other estimates are the same, the emissions from a combustion engine car would equal the emissions from a battery within approximately 10-36 months.
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Some previous studies have reported much higher estimated greenhouse gas emissions associated with EV battery production. For example, the highest estimate reviewed by USA TODAY ranged from 427 to 1089 pounds of CO2 equivalents per kWh, which was reported in a 2016 scientific paper.
Using the same estimates from the previous calculations, it would take a little over eight years of driving in the USA to equal the production emissions of 1089 CO2 equivalents per kWh for a 90 kWh battery. However, this is currently not a realistic scenario, as Hanjiro Ambrose, the lead author of the 2016 paper, said in an interview with USA TODAY.
He stated that significant changes in scale, efficiency, and battery production technologies have occurred since the publication of the 2016 paper, and much lower emissions – around 220 pounds per kWh – are more realistic. This estimate falls within the range of values that USA TODAY used to compare emissions from EV battery production with emissions from combustion engine exhaust pipes.
Georg Bieker, a senior researcher at the International Council on Clean Transportation, told USA TODAY that modern emission studies are based on real-world data that was not available for research conducted a few years ago. In the past, energy consumption patterns in large battery manufacturing facilities could only be approximated.
However, in “global battery manufacturing facilities at the gigawatt-hour scale of battery capacity per year – gigafactories – the energy consumption per individual battery is much lower than in laboratories or pilot plants that earlier estimates were based on,” he said in an email. “The estimate in my 2021 paper – 132 pounds per kWh for batteries sold in the USA – was based on real-world data. The data from this work was included in the USA TODAY comparison of battery and combustion engine production emissions.”
CO2 emissions over the lifetime of electric vehicles are usually lower than combustion engine cars
The Facebook post presents a misleading statement regarding EV batteries and, by only focusing on two sources of emissions, does not provide a comprehensive comparison of both technologies. For example, the production of combustion engine cars also generates CO2 emissions.
“It’s important to look at the whole vehicle and fuel life cycle – not just how much energy or emissions are associated with a single part,” said Matteo Muratori, a researcher of vehicle energy transitions at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, in an email to USA TODAY.
Therefore, when researchers compare emissions from both technologies, they analyze the “lifecycle emissions” – all emissions associated with each phase of a vehicle’s life. These include greenhouse gas emissions from:
Extraction
Transportation of raw materials
Vehicle production, including battery production
Gasoline production and distribution
Combustion of gasoline in the engine
Electricity generation for charging electric vehicles
When considering emissions associated with the entire lifecycle, most EVs emit significantly less CO2 than comparable combustion engine cars, as Jessika Trancik, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who specializes in electric vehicle emissions, said in an interview with USA TODAY.
“The lifecycle emissions of an electric vehicle are typically more than 30% lower than the emissions of a comparable combustion engine car – across all vehicle models and locations (in the USA),” she said in an email. “This difference will increase as the energy mix decarbonizes.”
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FAQ:
1. What statistic is being compared in the Facebook post regarding CO2 emissions?
– The post compares the CO2 emissions associated with the production of EV batteries to the emissions generated by combustion engine cars.
2. Is the statement in the post true?
– No, the statement in the post is false. While the production of EV batteries does generate CO2 emissions, there is no established number of years after which emissions from a combustion engine would equal those produced during battery production. It depends on various factors such as battery production processes, the size of the EV battery, and the mileage of the combustion engine car.
3. What is the carbon footprint of producing EV batteries?
– Numerous studies have estimated the emissions associated with EV battery production. These emissions are often reported per kilowatt-hour (kWh) – a measure of battery size. The estimates indicate that CO2 emissions per EV battery ranging from 60-90 kWh can vary between approximately 2.5 to 9 tons of CO2 equivalents per battery.
The source of the article is from the blog maltemoney.com.br