Activist are up in arms against the planned construction of Tesla Gigafactory in Berlin, Germany because the electric car maker will need to clear large numbers of trees and use a substantial amount of water for the planned activity.
The U.S. carmaker announced plans last November to build its first European car factory in Gruenheide, in the eastern state of Brandenburg.
Politicians, unions and industry groups have welcomed the move, saying it will bring jobs to the region, but environmental concerns drove hundreds of locals to the streets
The activists’ main concern: The water consumption of 372 cubic meters per hour by the plant could cause possible environmental pollution and shortages.
The recent protest escalated after a Brandenburg water association on Thursday warned against “extensive and serious problems with the drinking water supply and wastewater disposal” for the proposed factory.
Environmentalist protests in Germany have previously halted and delayed major companies’ plans such RWE’s lignite mining at the Hambach forest, near Cologne, which has become a symbol of the anti-coal protests.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk himself took to Twitter on Saturday to defend the factory.
“Tesla won’t use this much net water on a daily basis,” he tweeted. “It’s possibly a rare peak usage case, but not an everyday event.”
Tesla also responded to concerns over deforestation. Clearing trees would be offset by the planting three times as many new ones, Tesla promised in November.
“Also, this is not a natural forest — it was planted for use as cardboard & only a small part will be used for [Gigafactory 4],” Musk added on Twitter.
Reference- Reuters, Electreck, Futurism, Twitter