The 'dark side'of decarbonizing the transport section
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2024-07-11
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nl
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The Paris Agreement, implemented in 2016, sparked a global push towards decarbonizing the transport sector. In response, the Global North has established policies targeted at the adoption of lithium-ion battery-powered electric vehicles (EVs). Leading to the expansion of lithium mining operations, in order to meet the unprecedented demand for lithium-ion batteries. This quasi-experimental study pioneers the exploration and quantification of the effects of lithium mining on the release of CO2 and PM2.5 emissions, in the lithium mining regions of Argentina, Australia, Chile, and China. The results obtained, robust to a series of placebo tests, indicate that in anticipation of the implementation of the Paris Agreement, CO2 emissions in Western Australia and Antofagasta (Chile) increased by a total of 284.7 and 12,924 metric tonnes, respectively, relative to a synthetic control unit, while PM2.5 emissions remained relatively unchanged. Furthermore, the results indicate that hard-rock lithium mining, despite its more visually impactful nature, is less carbon-intensive per unit of lithium produced, compared to lithium brine mining. In general, the results obtained highlight that policy targeted at decarbonizing the transport sector may understate the carbon intensity of mining the materials required to do so, and therefore overstate the “clean” nature of this transition.
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Faculteit der Managementwetenschappen