The alarm: Electrification a ticking climate bomb
Published 070 AM

The booming battery industry is a ticking climate bomb that is razing rainforests and fouling rivers, and if we keep at it, batteries will just be a new, innovative way to create the same old emissions. Northvolt's founder and CEO Peter Carlsson thinks so.

In the so-called green transition, where everything must be electrified to save humanity from the alleged climate crisis and the approaching doom, batteries are central, but according to Peter Carlsson, a large part of the battery industry is as climate-destroying as the old industry.

In a guest column in The Economist, which Carup draws attention to, he singles out Chinese companies such as CATL, BYD and Eve in particular.

"The carbon footprint of Chinese batteries is alarmingly large: somewhere between 100 and 130 kilos of carbon dioxide per kilowatt hour. This means that the global battery industry is on track to create an annual carbon footprint roughly half that of Germany. If we continue with that, batteries will just be a new, innovative way to create the same old emissions.”

READ ALSO: Got an electric car - warns others not to make the same mistake

Carlsson refers to rainforests being razed and rivers polluted during the construction of nickel supply chains in Indonesia under the auspices of Chinese companies.

“To take one example, Chinese companies are currently making large investments in Indonesia and creating the world's fastest growing nickel supply chain. Rainforest has been cut down to build large open pits, using diesel generators as a source of energy and to dispose of waste products, such as acids and highly polluted water, into rivers and oceans. Of course, it provides low-cost nickel and cheap batteries, but at what total cost?", writes Peter Carlsson.

Sweden the role model
Furthermore, he believes that environmentally friendly and climate-smart battery investments are possible and that Northvolt is part of this solution.

According to Carlsson, battery factories should be built where there is climate-neutral energy, as in Sweden, while the industry must start building circular flows where all damaged and used-up batteries can be recycled into material for new batteries.

Thirdly, he wants to see more work with battery technology, as faster charging is high on car manufacturers' wish lists.