I've always wondered this about hybrid cars...

[crow_noir]

I'll try and find the info later(I was supposed to be in bed an hour ago,) but i read something like lots of forest is destroyed for some ingredient for the Hybrid batteries.

[Lady's Human]

They are probably talking about mining for nickel, which in Canada at least is an open-pit process.

The nickel is going to be mined for other industrial uses anyway, so it really isn't a valid argument. Similar arguments are used with tantalum and its use in cell phones, but it's just not logical. There are a myriad of other uses for the metal, it is going to be mined regardless.

The difference in nickel use in battery production is that the process (foaming nickel metal for use in battery cells) is fairly nasty environmentally, while other uses for nickel (steel alloys, for instance) aren't as environmentally questionable.

[crow_noir]

That sounds about like what i was thinking of. I could have sworn i had links on it, but i can't find them anywhere. Thanks for at least posting a small blurb on it. The issue mostly was with the soil being contaminated and the plants and animals dyeing off.

They are probably talking about mining for nickel, which in Canada at least is an open-pit process.

The nickel is going to be mined for other industrial uses anyway, so it really isn't a valid argument. Similar arguments are used with tantalum and its use in cell phones, but it's just not logical. There are a myriad of other uses for the metal, it is going to be mined regardless.

The difference in nickel use in battery production is that the process (foaming nickel metal for use in battery cells) is fairly nasty environmentally, while other uses for nickel (steel alloys, for instance) aren't as environmentally questionable.

[smokey the elder]

I think that the liquid fuel powered Internal Combustion engine, that can be adapted to run on many fuels (gas, diesel, alcohol blends, biodiesel, etc.) at a high efficiency is an important step.

Any product is going to cost more energy to make than you get out of it. It's called the three laws of thermodynamics.

The good thing is that people are starting to think holistically about the total carbon footprint of a product or process, at the grass-roots level. There are loads of small things that are starting to be done that add up.

[crow_noir]

*nods in agreement*

smokey the elder: "I think that the liquid fuel powered Internal Combustion engine, that can be adapted to run on many fuels (gas, diesel, alcohol blends, biodiesel, etc.) at a high efficiency is an important step.

Any product is going to cost more energy to make than you get out of it. It's called the three laws of thermodynamics.

The good thing is that people are starting to think holistically about the total carbon footprint of a product or process, at the grass-roots level. There are loads of small things that are starting to be done that add up."