In the spring of 1937, George Orwell travelled through the industrial north of England, documenting the lives of coal miners and working-class communities in the region. His journey led to, The Road to Wigan Pier, a book that would become one of the most powerful pieces of social reportage in English literature. Among his many sharp observations, he wrote:
“You could quite easily drive a car right across the north of England and never once remember that hundreds of feet below the road you are on the miners are hacking at the coal. Yet in a sense, it is the miners who are driving your car forward. Their lamp-lit world down there is as necessary to the daylight world above as the root is to the flower.”
Orwell’s remark was literal: in his date, coal did indeed power many cars, and it still does today. Every time you slide into your car—whether it's an internal combustion engine or an electric vehicle—you're essentially sitting atop a small mountain of coal. Not literally, of course (though that would make for an interesting design), but in terms of what it took to bring that vehicle into existence. So today let’s talk about cars and their unlikely companion: coal.
The Colossal Coal Footprint of Our Car Addiction
When we think about the environmental impact of transportation, we often focus on what comes out of our exhaust pipes. But the story begins long before a car ever hits the road. Every year, 80 million new cars are built worldwide. To put this into perspective, the steel used in these vehicles is equivalent to more than 10,000 Eiffel Towers. In total, the automotive industry alone accounts for around 15% of global steel flows, and here's where coal enters the picture. Three-quarters of this steel is produced from coal-1 billion tonnes annually.
In China, the world's largest car manufacturer, life-cycle analyses indicate a sobering truth: each car manufactured consumes around 2.5 tonnes of coal throughout its production journey. The steel, aluminium, glass, and rubber that make up our vehicles all have coal lurking in their supply chains.
The Electric Revolution
As we strive towards a greener future, electric vehicles (EVs) are often hailed as a climate saviour. They promise zero-emission driving; however, the story is not as straightforward as it seems. When we think about EVs we also need to think about coal consumption. While EVs are seen as a 'green technology,' they are also a matter of energy sovereignty, particularly in China. Half of the world’s EVs are currently produced in China, where two-thirds of electricity is produced from coal.
This paradox means that the electric car, intended to reduce our carbon footprint, has inadvertently increased coal's share in global mobility compared to oil. The reason lies in the production of EV batteries. The production of EV batteries requires materials like lithium, cobalt, and nickel, with significant environmental costs, including toxic emissions, water-intensive processes, and ecological damage. Recycling EV batteries could reduce environmental harm, but only a dismal 5% of batteries are recycled globally due to inefficiencies and high costs. The remainder are either stockpiled or, worse, discarded in landfills. By 2035, it's estimated that approximately 150 million more EV batteries will reach end-of-life, presenting both an environmental challenge, as well as resource opportunity.
In many countries, coal remains a major source of electricity, further complicating the eco-friendliness of EVs. For example, in India, 61% of electricity comes from thermal sources, including coal. Charging EV batteries in such regions contributes to carbon emissions.
The Perpetual Cycle of Consumption
Each year, about 27 million vehicles are scrapped globally, most of them in the United States. Yet we continue to add more cars to our roads than we remove—creating a perpetual cycle of production, consumption, and eventual disposal that demands ever more resources.
The story of cars and coal does not end with the vehicles themselves. Cars require infrastructure—roads, bridges, and highways. This infrastructure consumes gigantic quantities of steel and cement, which indirectly fuels the demand for coal. Cement production, in particular, relies heavily on coal as fuel (70% of their fuel according to the IEA, 90% according to cement manufacturers). Every new highway, every expanded road, every parking structure—each represents another link in the coal-to-car chain.
The Way Forward
Perhaps instead of simply asking how to make more efficient cars, we should be asking deeper questions about mobility itself. Why do we need 80 million new cars each year? What alternatives might meet our mobility needs while treading more lightly on the planet and our health and quality of life? How might we design transportation systems that don't rely so heavily on private vehicle ownership?
The path forward isn't about demonising cars or those who drive them—it's about revealing the hidden costs of our current system and imagining better possibilities. For now, if you're considering buying a car, a quiet and fast EV perhaps, also consider where your electricity comes from. Sometimes the greenest vehicle isn't an electric one—it's the one never built in the first place.
After all, in the words of Henry David Thoreau, "What's the use of a fine house if you haven't got a tolerable planet to put it on?" The same might be said of cars—even the electric ones.
Sources
More and More and More: An All-Consuming History of Energy- Jean-Baptiste Fressoz
The Road to Wigan Pier, George Orwell
Xiaoyu Yam ‘Energy demand and greenhouse gas emissions during the production of a passenger car in China’, Energy conversion and management, 50, 12 2009, pp 2964-6
These companies are solving the EV battery recycling problem | World Economic Forum
https://www.cas.org/resources/cas-insights/lithium-ion-battery-recycling
Henry David Thoreau, Familiar Letters
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