Tesla Gigafactory Mexico to Have Lowest Water Consumption of Any Auto Factory In The World
Mexico’s Secretary of Foreign Relations, Marcelo Ebrard Casaubon, visited the site where Tesla Inc.’s Gigafactory will be built in the country and said that it will have the lowest water consumption of any automobile factory in the world.
According to a tweet by Casaubon, he shared a panoramic view of the Gigafactory site on Twitter and shared comments on water consumption on Tuesday. The tweet states, “Panoramic view of the property where Tesla will build the automotive plant with the lowest water consumption in the world.”
Casaubon shared a panoramic view of the Gigafactory site on Twitter, commenting on “The panoramic view of the property where Tesla will build the automotive plant with the lowest water consumption in the world.”
According to a report from Automotive World, “The global automotive industry is a major consumer of water for various production processes. According to some estimates, producing a car uses over 39,000 gallons of water, and whether tyre production is included varies by estimate.
Major water uses in the automotive manufacturing industry includes surface treatment and coating, paint spray booths, washing, rinsing, hosing, cooling, air-conditioning systems and boilers. The component manufacturing segment has its own list of water-intensive processes.
In addition to the use of water for these processes, there is the matter of wastewater, which then needs to be treated to high standards in order to meet environmental regulations.
According to the US EPA, the true cost of using water is often misunderstood in industry, resulting in poor management choices regarding how water is used.
The common perception is that water is cheap and this leads to liberal use of water, making conservation measures difficult to justify. In fact, the cost of using water within various processes could be more expensive than originally perceived.
Panorámica del predio en el que Tesla construirá la planta automotriz con menor consumo de agua del mundo. pic.twitter.com/7n7jTclBi2
— Marcelo Ebrard C. (@m_ebrard) March 28, 2023
Water use over the last decade has decreased significantly, which is good news for everyone. Leading auto manufacturers have set water efficiency goals as low as 1 m3 per unit.
Tesla’s Gigafactory will use recycled water according to Mexico President, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who was hesitant earlier in committing to the site in Nuevo León but gave his go-ahead after he was given a reassurance by Elon Musk that the factory will use recycled water.
Before the Tesla Gigafactory was announced in late February, Obrador and Elon Musk had held discussions over the telephone. The president had later addressed water supply constraints at the then-potential Nuevo León site.
According to ‘Our World In Data’, One-in-four people do not have access to safe drinking water, which translates to about 1.1 billion people worldwide who live without clean drinking water. Developed countries account for the majority of water usage.
In Mexico, roughly 43% of its population of 130 million people have access to safe drinking water, putting Tesla’s Gigafactory operation in direct conflict with the welfare of residents in Nuevo León and surrounding communities.
Recommended For You
Subscribe to Our Weekly Newsletter
Enter your email to get the best of Clean Earth Energy straight to your inbox.
