http://tinyurl.com/w65wd

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"Toyota factory turns landscape to arid wilderness By MARTIN DELGADO, Mail on Sunday Last updated at 22:36pm on 18th November 2006 Comments Reader comments (9) The 'green-living' Toyota Prius has become the ultimate statement for those seeking to stress their commitment to the environment. However, the environment-saving credentials of the cars are seriously undermined by the disclosure that one of the car's essential components is produced at a factory that has created devastation likened to the arid environment of the moon. So many plants and trees around the factory at Sudbury in Ontario, Canada, have died that astronauts from Nasa practised driving moon buggies on the outskirts of the city because it was considered the closest thing on earth to the rocky lunar landscape. Unlike normal cars, hybrids such as the Prius, whose proud owners include Gwyneth Paltrow, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts and ex-Tory leader Michael Howard, are powered by a battery that contains nickel - as well as a traditional petrol engine. Toyota gets the metal from a Canadian company whose smelting facility at Sudbury has spewed sulphur dioxide into the air for more than a century. The car giant buys about 1,000 tons a year from the plant, which is owned by Inco, one of the world's largest nickel-mining companies. Fumes emerging from the factory are so poisonous that they have destroyed vegetation in the surrounding countryside, turning the once-beautiful landscape into the bare, rocky terrain astronauts might expect to find in outer space. Although efforts have been made in recent years to reduce emissions from the plant's 1,250ft chimney - dubbed the Superstack - campaigners say the factory is still respon-sible for some of the worst pollution in North America. David Martin, energy co-ordinator of Greenpeace Canada, said: "The acid rain around Sudbury was so bad it destroyed all the plants and the soil slid down off the hillside. "The solution they came up with was the Superstack. The idea was to dilute the pollution, but all it did was spread the fallout right across northern Ontario. Things improved in the Nineties but the plant is still responsible for large-scale emissions of sulphur dioxide. "Sudbury remains a major environmental and health problem. The environmental cost of producing that car battery is pretty high." Once the nickel is smelted it is sent 10,000 miles on a container ship journey which in itself consumes vast quantities of fuel and energy. First it is shipped to Europe's biggest nickel refinery at Clydach near Swansea, South Wales. From there it is transported to the Chinese cities of Dalian and Shenyang to be turned into a lightweight substance called nickel foam. The final stage of the manufacturing process takes place in Japan where the Prius batteries are made. Toyota produced nearly 180,000 Prius cars last year, some 4,000 of which were sold in Britain. Last week 14 MPs from all parties claimed they had exchanged their petrol-guzzling vehicles for a Prius or similar hybrid. But some experts doubt whether the Prius even wins the argument over fuel consumption. Robert Fowler, of the Battery Vehicle Association, said: "It is questionable whether it does any more miles to the gallon than a good diesel. "The hybrid system has a very small battery so most of the time it's operating as a petrol car, particularly out of town and above 30mph." A Toyota spokesman said last night: "I cannot confirm the source of the nickel used in the Prius battery. It is true there is a slight increase in the energy required to produce the materials for the car.""

12/16/2006 10:00:25 PM

and people are upset when i tell them that i want to punch the shit out of hippies driving the speed limit smiling in their hybrids

12/16/2006 10:16:52 PM

Hahaha, that barren picture is GREAT.

12/17/2006 2:21:16 AM

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"has spewed sulphur dioxide into the air for more than a century. "

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"cen·tu·ry –noun, plural -ries. 1. a period of 100 years. "

Note: Not argueing that its justified to increase production, just pointing out they didnt start a craze.



You must realize the various tradeoffs of battery technologys as we stand today. The benefit of nickel batterys are the fact that they can be deep discharged , weigh less than sealed lead acid, and are inexpensive compared to lithium technologys. The charging and discharging characteristics are also much easier to maintain than lithium technologys.

The entire technology/engineering field has been waiting for a battery breakthrough ( an area that has been really slow to keep up).

12/17/2006 9:57:12 AM

1000 tons, out of their 108,000 ton yearly production, are bought by Toyota. Yeah, toyota and hybrid cars are to blame here.

http://www.inco.com/investorinfo/annualreports/2005/en/ops_highlights.asp

[Edited on December 17, 2006 at 10:45 AM. Reason : ]

12/17/2006 10:45:05 AM

that is true, but hybrid cars still suck

12/17/2006 11:00:06 AM

It is cool that their source of nickel was a meteorite crater. (Which helps to give that image the rough look)

12/17/2006 11:12:14 AM

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"So many plants and trees around the factory at Sudbury in Ontario, Canada, have died that astronauts from Nasa practised driving moon buggies on the outskirts of the city because it was considered the closest thing on earth to the rocky lunar landscape. "

they obviously have not seen the road behind my old house on chamberlain. raleigh DOT ftl

12/17/2006 11:34:15 AM

greatest good?

12/17/2006 12:48:32 PM

I am declaring a jihad on prius owners.

12/17/2006 2:36:48 PM

democrats always fuckin shit up

12/17/2006 10:04:52 PM

and batteries have to be dumped somewhere when they go bad. we'll be seeing piles of used batteries from hybrids in about 20+ years

[Edited on December 17, 2006 at 10:35 PM. Reason : .]

12/17/2006 10:35:39 PM

why can they not use huge ass capacitors or have a gas-compressor/turbine hybrid system like the one on ford tonka conept instead of electric.

12/17/2006 10:37:52 PM

we'll be seeing piles of used batteries from hybrids in about 20+ years

Hehe! I wonder if they will even last that long!

12/18/2006 12:43:50 PM

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"we'll be seeing piles of used batteries from hybrids in about 20+ years"

i dont think that is true, i was doing some research on the topic a few weeks back and toyota has a battery recycling program, as well as individual cells that can be replaced rather than the entire battery pack...

12/18/2006 12:52:36 PM

^

This thread is not for a logical analysis of the solution to the problem. Its for random comments with no basis citing problems with the solution.

l

12/18/2006 1:02:21 PM

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"why can they not use huge ass capacitors or have a gas-compressor/turbine hybrid system like the one on ford tonka conept instead of electric."

Theres far more complexity there than in an electric system. I think it would cost too much to mass produce. Maybe some day though. I like the idea of a gas system.

12/18/2006 1:10:24 PM

the problem is high farad rating capacitors are like 1V, and arnt near enough C to substitute in place of large AH rating battery. the prius battery bank runs at something like 270 volts.


basically the reason any good idea isnt implemented is simple : cost / technology.

[Edited on December 18, 2006 at 1:16 PM. Reason : .]

12/18/2006 1:15:25 PM

allright well im gonna patent a low-cost system that uses 100 dolla worth of rubber bands to collect the energy othervise wasted whikle braking and use it for acceleration. wrap them bitches wirhg around the rear exle. it be just like one of them toy cars that you pull back and they go flyin forward

12/18/2006 1:21:42 PM

A+ idea, would recommend.

12/18/2006 1:23:59 PM

it would be pretty spectacular when one of them bitches snapped

12/18/2006 1:28:10 PM

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"i dont think that is true, i was doing some research on the topic a few weeks back and toyota has a battery recycling program, as well as individual cells that can be replaced rather than the entire battery pack..."

That's actually reassuring. Toyota has awesome PR. I was going off a Brock Yates editorial I read a long time ago. I think this is it: http://www.caranddriver.com/columns/9844/brock-yates.html But if there's a solution, leave it up to the boys at Toyota.

12/18/2006 1:28:55 PM

here isanother one i have i think is worth a patent


+

+

=
100 mpg

12/18/2006 1:29:34 PM

PG of tequila? I mean it might work out unless they demand premium.

12/18/2006 1:34:19 PM

nah, Aristocrat teq is all they get

12/18/2006 1:38:06 PM

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"And speaking of the environmental component (the glamour issue centered on the brave new world of hybrids), a number of EMT and fire crews have announced that they will refuse to rescue victims trapped in such vehicles, openly fearing electrocution or fatal acid burns. "

12/18/2006 1:44:39 PM

as i said, rubberbands FTW

environmentally friendly, cheap, safe, quiet and make me a millionaire

12/18/2006 1:49:28 PM

'til some fireman gets cut in half by a rubber band

12/18/2006 2:15:26 PM

i drive a dump truck

12/18/2006 5:14:52 PM