Toyota factory turns landscape to arid wilderness
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Some more to chew on...
Things aren't always as glamorous as they seem.
http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/pages/...n_page_id=1770
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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.
![](http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2006/11/nickelmine181106_468x309.jpg)
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."
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.
![](http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2006/11/nickelmine181106_468x309.jpg)
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."
#3
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have u seen china?
boycott all chinese products...ooops that everything! =/
boycott all chinese products...ooops that everything! =/
#4
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inco_Superstack
After reading this, it looks like a vast majority of the environmental damage was done years ago, well before the Prius ever hit the streets. This factory is not an actual Toyota-owned factory, but rather a source of materials deep in it's supply chain. Could this be the media creating sensational headlines? Naaaah...
After reading this, it looks like a vast majority of the environmental damage was done years ago, well before the Prius ever hit the streets. This factory is not an actual Toyota-owned factory, but rather a source of materials deep in it's supply chain. Could this be the media creating sensational headlines? Naaaah...
#5
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That's not a Toyota factory (as mentioned in the title) and that damage was far from entirely if even primarily caused by the needs of the Prius.
I mean you know that components of crude oil are used in the production of plastic panels in PC and laptop casings, right? So would it be fair for me to show a picture of an oil spill in the ocean and write about animals sufferings and thousands of miles of coastal landscape being ruined all because of a "Dell ship" crashing, when in all actuality it's a crude oil ship that supplies the oil that eventually acts as a component to make thousands of products, INCLUDING a small part of Dell PCs?
That wouldn't be accurate or fair at all.
I mean you know that components of crude oil are used in the production of plastic panels in PC and laptop casings, right? So would it be fair for me to show a picture of an oil spill in the ocean and write about animals sufferings and thousands of miles of coastal landscape being ruined all because of a "Dell ship" crashing, when in all actuality it's a crude oil ship that supplies the oil that eventually acts as a component to make thousands of products, INCLUDING a small part of Dell PCs?
That wouldn't be accurate or fair at all.
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Ever been to Sudbury? They took that picture in the winter to make it look worse than it is. I am not saying it's good, it isn't - but the article exaggerates in a big way. For example - NASA used it as a training facility because the ground is saturated with nickel and iron, which likens it to the surface of the moon; not because the factory has turned it into the moon.
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I am however saying that the article was ridiculous and written very very poorly by somebody trying to make an impact in a given direction more than an accurate point or a balanced assessment.
Blinders, guys... blinders...
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[QUOTE=cal_alum98;2470700]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inco_Superstack
After reading this, it looks like a vast majority of the environmental damage was done years ago, well before the Prius ever hit the streets.QUOTE]
that wont stop the media...
After reading this, it looks like a vast majority of the environmental damage was done years ago, well before the Prius ever hit the streets.QUOTE]
that wont stop the media...
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The article was glamorized to get the author's point across, I agree. Still, it does help make the argument that there's more to the story of hybrids than just good gas mileage.
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live in 10,000 sq ft plus homes that only have 2-3 people in there. That have massive landscaping that require sprinklers all the time, that have huge swimming pools that require energy to run, not to mention they fly private jet which wastes a lot of fuel per person than a commercial airliner...
which makes driving a prius doesn't do all that much....
#12
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By lending their names to environmental consciousness, they are helping the environment. When people see their favourite celebrities driving around in H2s, they want to be like them. Likewise for when they see them in a hybrid.
As for the article, it's ridiculous. The title states it's a Toyota factory when it's not. Zero journalistic integrity. Typical of a world becoming increasingly polarized.
As for the article, it's ridiculous. The title states it's a Toyota factory when it's not. Zero journalistic integrity. Typical of a world becoming increasingly polarized.
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Some people like to pooh-pooh hybrid technology by pointing to the initial energy costs/environmental impact required to manufacture a hybrid while overlooking the overall impact/cost over the lifetime of the product.
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here's a goood one
http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/pages/...n_page_id=1773
this site is dumber than the national enquirer
http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/pages/...n_page_id=1773
this site is dumber than the national enquirer