Electronic waste is recycled in appalling conditions in India

NDSU Extension Offers Webinars for Managing Nutrition, Reproduction, and Pastures on the Ranch…

A couple of months ago I wrote about the roadside pollution from electric cars – the particles from tyres and brakes. In the UK, non-tailpipe emissions are around 8% of air pollution, so it’s not a huge contributor to the problem. But due to the weight of their batteries, electric vehicles may produce more tyre particles than fossil fuel vehicles, and so it may be a more significant source of pollution in future. If we want electric cars to live up to the ‘zero emissions’ labels that many of them already boast, we’re going to need better tyres. Particles from tyres also enter watercourses and are a significant contributor to ocean pollution, giving us a second reason to pay attention to this more or less invisible environmental problem. Enso is a start-up that is developing tyres specifically for electric cars – the first to do so that I’m aware of, and potentially ahead of a rush in that direction. That means they will be designing for efficiency, in order to maximise range. They’re also working on durability, and a cleaner, lower carbon tyre.