Battery electric vehicles (“EVs”) have been touted as one of the best ways to reduce emissions from the transportation sector and help put a stop to the effects of climate change. But while the EVs themselves produce zero emissions at the tailpipe, manufacturing EVs is anything but clean.
For starters, mining the metals used to make EV batteries has a massive toll on the environment, burning plenty of fossil fuels, destroying the environment and producing billions of tons of waste. Now a company operating on the coast of San Diego may have found the answer battery and EV makers have been seeking — a way to develop EV batteries without harming the environment.
Lying at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean is a special type of rock that could revolutionize electric vehicle batteries and accelerate the adoption of EVs by significantly reducing production costs. CEO and chairman of the Metals Company Gerard Barron says there could be trillions of these polymetallic nodules, which look like lumpy black rocks, on the ocean floor around 1,100 miles from the San Diego coast. According to estimates from the Vancouver-based company, there are enough nodules for a billion electric cars. Barron and researchers are currently on the Maersk Launcher, docked in the San Diego Bay, and they are looking for the safest ways to bring these rocks to the surface.
The Metals Company has been given exclusive access to the area where the nodules have been found, dubbed the Clarion Clipperton Zone. These rocks contain three metals, and coincidentally, these are some of the metals used to make EV batteries: cobalt, copper and nickel. Mining these metals usually involves some “pretty nasty practices,” Barron says, but harvesting the polymetallic nodules will not need any digging or blasting as they are just lying on top of the ocean floor. However, the company is still concerned about the possible negative effects of harvesting the rocks.
As such, the Maersk Launcher crew is planning its fifth excursion into the Clarion Clipperton Zone to research the best way to harvest the rocks and how this might impact the ocean environment. Andrew Sweetman, a deep-sea ecologist on the crew, says the goal is to find a collection method that has the lightest impact on the ecosystem. The Metals Company plans on using a process that would produce 90% less carbon dioxide and zero waste compared to traditional mining processes, Barron says.
If this research can yield positive outcomes, then people who buy EVs manufactured by sector players such as NIO Inc. (NYSE: NIO) will have a lot more to get from their electric vehicles, especially during power outages.
About Green Car Stocks
Green Car Stocks (GCS) is a specialized communications platform with a focus on electric vehicles (EV), as well as other emerging market opportunities in the green sector. The company provides (1) access to a network of wire services via NetworkWire to reach all target markets, industries and demographics in the most effective manner possible, (2) article and editorial syndication to 5,000+ news outlets (3), enhanced press release services to ensure maximum impact, (4) social media distribution via the Investor Brand Network (IBN) to nearly 2 million followers, and (5) a full array of corporate communications solutions. As a multifaceted organization with an extensive team of contributing journalists and writers, GCS is uniquely positioned to best serve private and public companies that desire to reach a wide audience of investors, consumers, journalists and the general public. By cutting through the overload of information in today’s market, GCS brings its clients unparalleled visibility, recognition and brand awareness. GCS is where news, content and information converge.
To receive SMS text alerts from Green Car Stocks, text “Green” to 21000 (U.S. Mobile Phones Only)
For more information, please visit https://www.greencarstocks.com
Please see full terms of use and disclaimers on the Green Car Stocks website applicable to all content provided by GCS, wherever published or re-published: https://www.greencarstocks.com/Disclaimer
Green Car Stocks
Los Angeles, CA
www.greencarstocks.com
415.949.5050 Office
Editor@GreenCarStocks.com
Green Car Stocks is part of the InvestorBrandNetwork.
Electric vehicle sales in the European Union climbed 24.3% in January to more than 154,000 vehicles, pushing…
Electric vehicles could be making motion sickness worse for millions of travelers, and the very qualities that…
Chinese electric vehicle sightings are surging across European roads despite trade barriers meant to block them, exploiting…
Mercedes-Benz is pulling nearly 20,000 electric vehicles off Chinese roads over battery defects that could start fires.…
BMW and E.ON have launched what they claim is Germany's first vehicle-to-grid product to actually reach the market, giving drivers a…
Six years after producing its first battery-electric vehicle, Volkswagen Group has now manufactured its five millionth…