We fact-checked the original Facebook post point by point.
“The question is: how long must a windmill generate energy before it creates more energy than it took to build it? At a good wind site, the energy payback day could be in three years or less; in a poor location, energy payback may be never,” wrote earth scientist David Hughes in his 2009 book, Carbon Shift: How Peak Oil and the Climate Crisis Will Change Canada .
Data in the meme appears to be quoted from the Tesla. As Krieger notes, it’s difficult to generalize the weight and amount of materials in any given EV as “each manufacturer uses a different chemistry and the chemistries are constantly changing.”suggested that many EV batteries contain eight kilograms of lithium, 35 kilograms of nickel, 20 kilograms of manganese, and 14 kilograms of cobalt – but many companies are moving away from cobalt or advancing various technologies and the usage of certain materials.Claim: California developed the “largest battery in the world.”replaced an old gas plant. Currently, it measures 400 megawatts, and operators are considering doubling it. Exactly what that expansion looks like remains to be determined. “While some of the power charging this facility might come from solar and wind, there’s no guarantee it will do so. It just charges and discharges from the grid. It might charge more with solar, since we’re starting to see a surplus in the middle of the day, and it might help integrate wind power, and it might do other things like help limit the need for gas plants to ramp up quickly to meet the evening peak,” explained Krieger.In short, the post claiming that EVs are no better for the environment than other energy sources is a form ofin which social media users copy and paste content without verifying the claims made within it. A look through social media confirmed that the uncited “facts” had been reposted numerous times. While there are elements of truth to the post, it largely overgeneralizes the science behind batteries and EVs and does not list sources to verify the claims. As such, we have rated this claim as a “Mixture.”“Are Electric Vehicles Really Better for the Climate? Yes. Here’s Why.” The Equation, 11 Feb. 2020, https://blog.ucsusa.org/dave-reichmuth/are-electric-vehicles-really-better-for-the-climate-yes-heres-why/. “Are Solar Panels Toxic or Bad For the Environment? | EnergySage.” Solar News, 1 Feb. 2018, https://news.energysage.com/solar-panels-toxic-environment/. “Are Windmill Turbine Blades Buried in Wyoming Landfill?” Snopes.Com, https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/wind-turbine-blades-landfills/. Accessed 28 Mar. 2022. “Author: Elena Krieger, PhD.” PSE | Physicians, Scientists, and Engineers for Healthy Energy, https://www.psehealthyenergy.org/about/staff/elena-krieger/. Accessed 28 Mar. 2022. Calma, Justine. “Tesla to Make EV Battery Cathodes without Cobalt.” The Verge, 22 Sept. 2020, https://www.theverge.com/2020/9/22/21451670/tesla-cobalt-free-cathodes-mining-battery-nickel-ev-cost. Castelvecchi, Davide. “Electric Cars and Batteries: How Will the World Produce Enough?” Nature, vol. 596, no. 7872, Aug. 2021, pp. 336–39. www.nature.com, https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-021-02222-1. Cobalt Use in Batteries – Google Search. https://www.google.com/search?q=cobalt+use+in+batteries&rlz=1C5CHFA_enUS910US910&oq=cobalt+use+in+batteries&aqs=chrome.0.0i512j0i22i30l5.2996j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8. Accessed 28 Mar. 2022.“Could ‘Anti-Solar Panels’ Use Deep Space to Generate Power at Night?” Snopes.Com, https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/anti-solar-panels-night-power/. Accessed 28 Mar. 2022. Cutting the Carbon From California’s Self-Generation Incentive Program | GTM Squared. https://www.greentechmedia.com/squared/dispatches-from-the-grid-edge/cutting-the-carbon-from-californias-self-generation-incentive-program. 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Electricity Data Browser. https://www.eia.gov/electricity/data/browser/#/topic/0?agg=2,0,1&fuel=vtvv&geo=g&sec=g&linechart=ELEC.GEN.ALL-US-99.A~ELEC.GEN.COW-US-99.A~ELEC.GEN.NG-US-99.A~ELEC.GEN.NUC-US-99.A~ELEC.GEN.HYC-US-99.A~ELEC.GEN.WND-US-99.A~ELEC.GEN.TSN-US-99.A&columnchart=ELEC.GEN.ALL-US-99.A~ELEC.GEN.COW-US-99.A~ELEC.GEN.NG-US-99.A~ELEC.GEN.NUC-US-99.A~ELEC.GEN.HYC-US-99.A~ELEC.GEN.WND-US-99.A&map=ELEC.GEN.ALL-US-99.A&freq=A&ctype=linechart<ype=pin&rtype=s&maptype=0&rse=0&pin=. Accessed 28 Mar. 2022. “Expansion Plan to Take World’s Biggest Battery Storage Project to 3GWh Capacity.” Energy Storage News, 25 Jan. 2022, https://www.energy-storage.news/expansion-plan-to-take-worlds-biggest-battery-storage-project-to-3gwh-capacity/. Fact Check: Electric Vehicles DO Pollute — But Engineers Are Reducing Impacts | Lead Stories. https://leadstories.com/hoax-alert/2022/03/fact-check-electric-vehicles-do-pollute-but-engineers-are-reducing-impacts.html. Accessed 28 Mar. 2022. Gaines, Linda. “The Future of Automotive Lithium-Ion Battery Recycling: Charting a Sustainable Course.” Sustainable Materials and Technologies, vol. 1–2, Dec. 2014, pp. 2–7. ScienceDirect, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.susmat.2014.10.001. “Governor Proposes $454 Million to Clean up Exide Battery Recycling Plant.” Daily News, 18 May 2021, https://www.dailynews.com/2021/05/17/governor-proposes-454-million-to-clean-up-exide-battery-recycling-plant. Gulley, Andrew L., et al. “China’s Domestic and Foreign Influence in the Global Cobalt Supply Chain.” Resources Policy, vol. 62, Aug. 2019, pp. 317–23. DOI.org , https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resourpol.2019.03.015. How Energy Storage Works | Union of Concerned Scientists. https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/how-energy-storage-works. Accessed 28 Mar. 2022. Katz, Cheryl. The Batteries That Could Make Fossil Fuels Obsolete. https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20201217-renewable-power-the-worlds-largest-battery. Accessed 28 Mar. 2022. “New Data Show Electric Vehicles Continue to Get Cleaner.” The Equation, 8 Mar. 2018, https://blog.ucsusa.org/dave-reichmuth/new-data-show-electric-vehicles-continue-to-get-cleaner/.Self-Generation Incentive Program. https://www.cpuc.ca.gov/industries-and-topics/electrical-energy/demand-side-management/self-generation-incentive-program. Accessed 28 Mar. 2022. The DRC Mining Industry: Child Labor and Formalization of Small-Scale Mining | Wilson Center. https://www.wilsoncenter.org/blog-post/drc-mining-industry-child-labor-and-formalization-small-scale-mining. Accessed 28 Mar. 2022. https://www.wilsoncenter.org/blog-post/drc-mining-industry-child-labor-and-formalization-small-scale-mining. Accessed 28 Mar. 2022. The Greenhouse Effect | Center for Science Education. https://scied.ucar.edu/learning-zone/how-climate-works/greenhouse-effect. Accessed 28 Mar. 2022.Vries, Eize de. Haliade-X Uncovered: GE Aims for 14MW. https://www.windpowermonthly.com/article/1577816?utm_source=website&utm_medium=social. Accessed 28 Mar. 2022. Haliade-X Uncovered: GE Aims for 14MW. https://www.windpowermonthly.com/article/1577816?utm_source=website&utm_medium=social. Accessed 28 Mar. 2022. “Were Frozen Wind Turbines in Texas a Major Factor in Power Outages?” Snopes.Com, https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/wind-turbines-texas-power-outages/. Accessed 28 Mar. 2022. “Why Cobalt Mining in the DRC Needs Urgent Attention.” Council on Foreign Relations, https://www.cfr.org/blog/why-cobalt-mining-drc-needs-urgent-attention. Accessed 28 Mar. 2022. “Wind Turbine Blades Don’t Have To End Up In Landfills.” The Equation, 30 Oct. 2020, https://blog.ucsusa.org/james-gignac/wind-turbine-blades-recycling/.
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