The standard AA battery measures less than 6cm long, and costs about $8 today in a pack of 4. It is hard to imagine the carbon cost of such a small thing.
But there are significant carbon cost to such a humble battery.
The metal in it, lithium, has to be mined using one of 2 methods.
The 1st involves mining, to separate the metal from the ores in a complicated processes emitting much carbon dioxide. The second involves draining water from salt-rich waters, evaporating the water to extract the lithium residue. These methods involve a lot of displacement of rock and dirt, and millions of water being wasted to extract the small amount of lithium. It has upset ecosystems and caused problems for people living near these operations. The bulk of it is done by South America, China and Australia.
These environmental issues is a big part of why we launched our Powercell Rechargeables.
Aside from the monetary savings we bring you, each battery you buy from us prevents 500 “normal” batteries going to the landfills. That 500 batteries would have caused 53.5kg of C02 to be released into the air.
In a pack of 4, that is potential reduction of 214kg of CO2 production.
The premise is simple: The more people use rechargeables, the less demand for these “normal” batteries, and therefore less lithium-extraction activities leaking C02.
And that also means a lot less batteries ending up in landfills.
You can play a part of it merely by switching to rechargeable alternatives.