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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

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."

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.

To start with, no one has been to the moon for 34 years and hybrid cars haven't been in production for that long.

Secondly, anywhere that plants ever grew can't be that like the moon. Surely the stony deserts would be a better choice?

- Do hybrid vehciles like the Prius save energy over a lifetime (dust to dust energy cost?) (no chance).

Biomass generators and generators/heaters that use waste matter are the only sensible alternative. You can get a lot of energy out of sewage and other biomass. Solar is a waste of effort. Any energy generation system which uses more energy to build than it produces within its useful lifetime should be considered a non starter. Question is are conventional power stations any different in this respect? I'd be interested to know...

The dust to dust report is an interesting read. They are supposed to be doing one on european cars. It's nice to see some independent organisation bothering to do something like this to counteract the greenies misinformation and prejudice.

Well built, well specced cars which will last 15 years have to be more environmentally friendly than disposable buzz boxes which last 5 or 6 and are uneconomical to repair.

It is a fact however, that america consistantly refuses to sign any international agreement to reduce pollution despite being one of the main contributors.

Most countries will fail to meet their targets and will be penalised, what ever that means

It probably means it's give the government an excuss to tax it's people more.

The Protocol’s compliance system, agreed as part of the Marrakesh Accords, gives “teeth” to its commitments. It consists of a Compliance Committee, composed of a plenary, a bureau, and two branches: a facilitative branch and an enforcement branch. As their names suggest, the facilitative branch aims to provide advice and assistance to Parties, including “early-warning” that a Party may be in danger of not complying, whereas the enforcement branch has the power to apply certain consequences on Parties not meeting their commitments.

One approach proposes the establishment of an international “compliance fund” to ensure that every country is able to meet its reduction levels by the end of the first commitment period. Given the uncertainty of economic forecasting and the potential unwillingness of countries to engage in last-minute credit sales, the compliance fund would act as a seller of last resort, guaranteeing the availability of accredited tonnes for purchase through 2012. Money raised by the sale of these tons would then be invested in carbon abatement projects worldwide.

More anti-american bullshit I think....

They did not sign because it is nonsense. Most countries will fail to meet their targets and will be penalised, what ever that means.

In the US they have..

CAFE (Corporate avarage fuel economy) laws....we do not
.

California emissions legislation is the tightest in the world

They are years ahead in the roll out of bio-fuel

The have more hybrid cars on the road than anyone else in the world.

They are ahead of Europe in the roll out of Hydrogen power.

They are 10 years ahead in the roll-out of LPG powered public service vehicles.

And all that without having to kiss ass on Kyoto. And by the way they are not the only country to think its Kyoto is cobblers.

I think the US is far and away the biggest per-capita producer of CO2 in the world.

I think the US is far and away the biggest per-capita producer of CO2 in the world. It's a great pity that they aren't devoting more of their massive resources to solving the problem.

More anti-american bullshit I think....

To those that don't believe that we have a global warming crisis, have a look at the C02 vs golbal temperature curve.