Hybrid Car
Hybrid cars:
Are Hybrid Cars Becoming Safer or More Harmful to the Environment?
I. Introduction
Hybrid cars have a very special technology because they boast two power sources: a regular gasoline engine and an electric motor powered by a huge battery unlike conventional cars which have only regular gasoline engine. These components generally work in tandem, though the exact mechanism varies depending on the car. When the car is at stop, the engine shuts off. While you push the accelerator, the electric motor turns on to drive the car forward. When you need the power such as for climbing a hill, the gas engine gets a boost from the electric motor. The electric motor normally recharges itself by censoring the heat energy generated as you brake (Brown, 2008). Hybrid cars also help to reduce the amount of smog emission because of less working of gasoline engine. This does not mean that hybrid cars help the environment because they still have the issue of their batteries about being extremely harmful to the environment.
Nowadays, there are more than 5 million hybrid cars around the world but this means that there will be also 5 million batteries from these hybrid cars. What would happen in the next few years if these batteries end up in landfills? According to environmental researchers, 90% of 1 million metric tons of lead which is produced every year is used for vehicle batteries (“Hybrid Battery Toxicity”, 2006). These batteries still have issues even though they are more environmentally friendly than the standard batteries. Nickel may cause cancer in human body because it is considered as a human carcinogen (Olberding, 2010). Therefore, many people are concerned about nickel mining as one kind of misuse of natural resources. According to the Environmental Defense, there are three main battery types such as lead, nickel, and lithium. The worst thing that harmful to the environment is lead battery, followed by nickel, and lithium (Banas, 2010). By the
Are Hybrid Cars Becoming Safer or More Harmful to the Environment?
I. Introduction
Hybrid cars have a very special technology because they boast two power sources: a regular gasoline engine and an electric motor powered by a huge battery unlike conventional cars which have only regular gasoline engine. These components generally work in tandem, though the exact mechanism varies depending on the car. When the car is at stop, the engine shuts off. While you push the accelerator, the electric motor turns on to drive the car forward. When you need the power such as for climbing a hill, the gas engine gets a boost from the electric motor. The electric motor normally recharges itself by censoring the heat energy generated as you brake (Brown, 2008). Hybrid cars also help to reduce the amount of smog emission because of less working of gasoline engine. This does not mean that hybrid cars help the environment because they still have the issue of their batteries about being extremely harmful to the environment.
Nowadays, there are more than 5 million hybrid cars around the world but this means that there will be also 5 million batteries from these hybrid cars. What would happen in the next few years if these batteries end up in landfills? According to environmental researchers, 90% of 1 million metric tons of lead which is produced every year is used for vehicle batteries (“Hybrid Battery Toxicity”, 2006). These batteries still have issues even though they are more environmentally friendly than the standard batteries. Nickel may cause cancer in human body because it is considered as a human carcinogen (Olberding, 2010). Therefore, many people are concerned about nickel mining as one kind of misuse of natural resources. According to the Environmental Defense, there are three main battery types such as lead, nickel, and lithium. The worst thing that harmful to the environment is lead battery, followed by nickel, and lithium (Banas, 2010). By the