Zoomi Life

OK, maybe not “like a frat boy,” exactly, but he did prove a point.  Wang Chuan-Fu is the CEO of BYD and he made a point about the new generation of batteries–specifically liithium-ion ones: they’re non-toxic.  He did this by drinking some of the electrolyte fluids from one of BYD’s cells.

The point was well made. Many li-ion batteries made today are made with non-toxic electrolytes and the trend is moving away from the toxic chemicals that used to make them up. If you’ll remember from a couple of years ago when a study showed that the Prius was actually more environmentally harmful to build than the Hummer?  That was due to both the mining requirements for the battery cells as well as the toxic chemicals in them.

Wang Chuan-Fu’s stunt proves the point: the technology is getting better and better and more and more environmentally friendly. Other technologies on a similar vein, such as hydrogen fuel-cell membranes and catalysts, are the same.

While the environmental focus seems to always be on tailpipe emissions (or lack thereof) and so-called greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, the real danger in many of the chemicals and processes is in their pollution during production and use. Cleaning those up is an issue of near non-debate, as anyone can see the benefits of low-impact materials and operations.

Source: AutoblogGreen