A car battery is the device that converts chemical energy into electrical energy to run the vehicle. These batteries are rechargeable and are made of different materials. While every battery has its own set of boons and banes, the environmental impact depends on its constituting elements, usage and disposal.
The insights into the processes, the effective measures to minimise the damage and understanding possible contributions from the user’s end can help make informed decisions. It can assist in ensuring minimal harm to the planet without compromising the desired performance and efficiency. So, read on to enlighten yourself.
Environmental Impact of Car Batteries
The car batteries are predominantly either lithium-ion or lead-acid. The lead acid batteries exhibit high efficiency, durability and recyclability at the cost of their heavy weight. The lithium-ion batteries allow the deployment of a huge amount of energy. However, their downsides include high costs.
These car batteries have both positive and negative impacts. The positive impact is limited and applicable only if used in electric vehicles.
Positive Impact: It involves the improvement in urban air quality due to powering the vehicle without burning petrol or diesel. It occurs through lower total lifecycle emissions in comparison to gasoline cars.
Negative Impact: It includes
- The extraction of essential elements for battery manufacturing, such as lithium, requires a high quantity of freshwater. This exploitation impacts the availability of drinking water, contributing to an increase in global dehydration rates.
- The mining activities, open pit mining for lithium-ion batteries and horizontal surface mining for nickel, lead to exposure of toxic elements on the surface. The result is pollution of the local ecosystem (such as soil and water) and leads to the loss of biodiversity.
- The release of lead into the environment has health impacts as well, such as memory loss and damage to the cardiovascular system. It also results in premature deliveries and miscarriages in pregnant women.
- Cobalt is a component of certain car batteries. Contamination of soil with this element contributes to health issues such as skin, lungs and eyes.
Solution
There have been effective measures to reduce the negative impact. These involve: r
- Recycling the old battery materials ensures sustainability in the industry.
- The development of the battery with a focus on easy disassembly further encourages recycle and reuse. It lowers the municipal solid waste generation.
- Replacement of the smelting process with leaching is another one of the adopted measures. It allows access to more raw materials while lowering the need for mining and decreasing pollution.
- ‘Green lithium mining’ is also being adopted. It involves the use of naturally occurring and renewable geothermal energy for lithium extraction.
How to Ensure Sustainability With a Car Battery
While there exist negative environmental impacts despite the usage of car batteries to run electric vehicles (an environment friendly substitute), making sustainable decisions might seem challenging. Yet, there are certain ways to reduce users’ contribution to environmental damage. It includes:
● Maximum Usage
Since the extraction of the elements used in batteries adds to the harmful influence on the environment, working at the root cause can help. The users can work on effective maintenance and responsible use of the car batteries to ensure their usage for a long time. It involves discouraging the habit of frequent changes of car batteries.
● Choosing Fresh Batteries
The batteries that have just been manufactured exhibit high performance. These batteries will have a longer lifespan than the batteries that have been stored for a long time or the replacement battery. Informed decision-making here can allow for leveraging the maximum potential of the car battery and using it for a long period.
● Proper Disposal/Recycling
An effective way to ensure proper recycling of the car batteries is by understanding the right disposal method. It means not to throw them in regular trash bins but to dispose of them at a local electronics recycler. Donating them to the charity organisations dealing with the reuse of electronic equipment is also a recommended way.
● Choosing Rechargeable Batteries
The choice of rechargeable batteries is encouraged over regular batteries. They come with a long lifespan through repeated usage. Further, recharging them with clean power such as the energy obtained from solar, wind turbines and/or hydroelectric powered sources helps prevent damage to the environment.
● Maintaining the Battery
Following proper maintenance guidelines from the manufacturer contributes to sustainable use of the battery. It helps extend its lifespan and allows it to deliver performance with high efficiency. General maintenance requirements include thorough inspection and cleaning of the battery terminals. It prevents corrosion, which can hinder current flow and lead to reduced battery power. Following a proper schedule for maintenance also helps.
● Proper Handling of the Battery
Moreover, being familiar with the common harms possible with improper handling and use of a battery is also highly important. It helps avoid the actions that can compromise battery life. These include:
- Exposing the battery to extreme temperatures: Store the batteries in cool and shaded areas, protect from direct sunlight, avoid charging when batteries are hot and use insulated cases when charging in cold weather
- Overcharging the battery: Monitor the charging process and avoid leaving the charger connected for extended periods
- Deep discharge of the battery beyond the manufacturer’s recommended threshold: Avoid using the battery near or below the threshold, and plan the charging schedule and cycle of the battery.
- Choosing undersized batteries: Select the car battery that fits the specifications recommended by the manufacturer. Check the car manual, existing car battery or the website for correct insights.
● Choose Energy Efficient Vehicles
One of the effective ways to utilise the maximum potential of car batteries is through the choice of energy-efficient vehicles. These will assist in reducing negative environmental impact by optimising energy consumption and promoting battery longevity. They will exhibit a high conversion rate of chemical energy to electrical energy and significantly reduce energy wastage.
Conclusion
The car batteries, when used to power electric vehicles, can significantly reduce the carbon footprint and contribution to air pollution. But it’s not all as glorified as it seems. There are certain downsides associated with commonly used lithium-ion batteries and lead acid batteries. The negative impacts involve soil pollution, excess water consumption and harmful impact on both biodiversity and human health.
While companies do take effective measures, the contribution from the user’s side can also have a major impact in protecting the environment. To minimise the impact, the priority is to educate yourself and accordingly make informed decisions. Hence, take the responsibility, follow the mentioned points and plan to execute them.
