A little objective research reveals the farce that most of the enviro nazi theatre consists of. For example the much maligned Hummer sport utility vehicle that is the focus of much of green propaganda is more environmentally benign than the hybrid Toyota Prius
Building a Toyota Prius causes more environmental damage than a Hummer that is on the road for three times longer than a Prius. As already noted, the Prius is partly driven by a battery which contains nickel. The nickel is mined and smelted at a plant in Sudbury, Ontario. This plant has caused so much environmental damage to the surrounding environment that NASA has used the ‘dead zone’ around the plant to test moon rovers. The area around the plant is devoid of any life for miles.
The plant is the source of all the nickel found in a Prius’ battery and Toyota purchases 1,000 tons annually. Dubbed the Superstack, the plague-factory has spread sulfur dioxide across northern Ontario, becoming every environmentalist’s nightmare.
“The acid rain around Sudbury was so bad it destroyed all the plants and the soil slid down off the hillside,” said Canadian Greenpeace energy-coordinator David Martin during an interview with Mail, a British-based newspaper.
All of this would be bad enough in and of itself; however, the journey to make a hybrid doesn’t end there. The nickel produced by this disastrous plant is shipped via massive container ship to the largest nickel refinery in Europe. From there, the nickel hops over to China to produce ‘nickel foam.’ From there, it goes to Japan. Finally, the completed batteries are shipped to the United States, finalizing the around-the-world trip required to produce a single Prius battery. Are these not sounding less and less like environmentally sound cars and more like a farce?
Wait, I haven’t even got to the best part yet.
When you pool together all the combined energy it takes to drive and build a Toyota Prius, the flagship car of energy fanatics, it takes almost 50 percent more energy than a Hummer - the Prius’s arch nemesis.
Through a study by CNW Marketing called “Dust to Dust,” the total combined energy is taken from all the electrical, fuel, transportation, materials (metal, plastic, etc) and hundreds of other factors over the expected lifetime of a vehicle. The Prius costs an average of $3.25 per mile driven over a lifetime of 100,000 miles - the expected lifespan of the Hybrid.
The Hummer, on the other hand, costs a more fiscal $1.95 per mile to put on the road over an expected lifetime of 300,000 miles. That means the Hummer will last three times longer than a Prius and use less combined energy doing it.
May we expect Toyota dealerships to soon come under vandalism attack by activists from the Earth Liberation Front?
hat tip: Rikalonius
2 comments:
Alrighty, the conservative Republican needs to chime in.
If the Prius lasts > 100k miles, which, get this, Toyotas occasionally do, the cost per mile changes. In fact, if the Prius lasts 300k miles it's cost drops to slightly less than half of that of the Hummer over the same distance.
Often times, when begging questions, it makes sense to address them for completeness and credibility. I think it is reasonable to assume that the nickel plant in question won't evaporate if we start making batteries out of say, lithium, so I think it is reasonable to state that the problem is the plant, not the end product it yields. To restate, why not fix the polluting plant instead of discouraging fuel efficient vehicles when the plant will continue to pollute regardless.
Anyway, I could say more but that's enough for now.
Frank
The data linked in the post already assumes a life of 100,000 mi for the Prius. "Assume" is, granted, a dangerous word and there is not sufficient data as yet to base definitive projections on; however, all batteries have a finite life and replacement for those of the Prius is a substantial factor. The historic life span of other Toyota models cannot be applied to it. Additionally, "fixing" the pollution characteristics of the nickel plant is likely to impact the cost of its product by increasing the costs.
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