# About 500,000 trees cut down at site of Tesla gigafactory near Berlin Source: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/article/2024/aug/22/trees-cut-down-site-tesla-gigafactory-germany-deforestation Kiwi News: https://news.kiwistand.com/stories/About-500000-trees-cut-down-at-site-of-Tesla-gigafactory-near-Berlin?index=0x66c6d9692d05c8c132b786a9a6bf69296b4a44e377e5c24d70a7ab8c2a81dbe6130acfe5 Submitted by misha on 2024-08-22 UTC, 4 upvotes, 5 comments ## Summary Satellite analysis by the environmental intelligence company Kayrros estimates that about 500,000 trees were felled at the site of Tesla's gigafactory near Berlin. Satellite images show 329 hectares (813 acres) of forest were cut down there between March 2020 and May 2023, equivalent to roughly 13,000 tonnes of CO2 according to Kayrros chief analyst Antoine Halff, who said this is a fraction of the emissions saved by the electric cars Tesla produces each quarter. Karolina Drzewo of the campaign alliance Turn Off Tesla's Tap said the destruction was too much in one of Germany's driest regions. Tesla did not respond to a request for comment. ## Article The development of a Tesla gigafactory near Berlin has resulted in about 500,000 trees being felled, according to satellite analysis. The building of the German factory has been highly controversial and attracted significant protests, as well as prompting a debate about the trade-offs involved in developing a green economy. Elon Musk, Tesla’s owner, has criticised local police for letting off “leftwing protesters”. Satellite images show 329 hectares (813 acres) of forest were cut down at the site between March 2020 and May 2023, according to the environmental intelligence company Kayrros. That is equivalent to approximately 500,000 trees. Since May, climate activists have protested against the planned expansion of the gigafactory, occupying tree houses in a nearby camp and attempting to storm the site. One group set fire to an electricity pylon and stopped the factory’s production for a few days in March. Germany: police clash with hundreds of climate protesters trying to storm Tesla plant – video Karolina Drzewo, from the campaign alliance Turn Off Tesla’s Tap, said the analysis showed the company’s production of electric vehicles had caused local destruction of nature as well as global damage through mining for metals. “In one of the driest regions in Germany, too much of the environment has already been destroyed,” she said. “An expansion and thus even more destruction of forests and endangerment of the protected drinking water area must be prevented.” Tesla did not respond to a request for comment. Antoine Halff, the chief analyst at Kayrros, said: “The Tesla factory in Germany has led to quite a bit of cutting down of trees. Of course, it has to be put in perspective, against the benefit of replacing internal combustion engine cars with electric vehicles.” Halff said the lost trees were equivalent to about 13,000 tonnes of CO2, the annual amount emitted by 2,800 average internal combustion engine cars in the US. “So that’s a fraction of the number of the electric cars that Tesla produces and sells every quarter,” he said. “You always have trade-offs, so you need to be aware of what the terms of the trade-off are.” In July, a plan to expand the Tesla plant to double production to 1m cars a year was approved by Brandenburg state’s environment ministry. skip past newsletter promotion after newsletter promotion Dozens of environmental incidents have been reported at the site – where millions of battery cells are also produced – including leaks or spills of diesel fuel, paint and aluminium. Tesla did not respond at the time but later said there had been several incidents on the factory site during construction and since the start of the operations. It said none caused environmental damage and that if necessary, corrective measures were implemented. Kayrros measures deforestation using optical images from the satellite Sentinel-2, which have a resolution of 10 metres and are publicly available. This data is automatically processed but checked for quality by remote-sensing experts. Kayrros said its deforestation detection tool was being developed to help companies comply with EU deforestation regulations, which from the start of 2025 will ban the import of goods linked to forest destruction. The tool could also be used to independently monitor forests being used as carbon offsets in the voluntary carbon market, the company said. ## Comments **naomiii.eth**: Why is it that every time I read about any of these Cloud Capitalists (or wannabes as I'd qualify Tesla) it's something like cutting down trees or putting industrial waste where it does not belong. Also, I think he should just be honest and say, Brandenburg, not Berlin. ^^ **macbudkowski.eth**: Probably because most journalists are looking for a shocking headline :) **tim**: > Also, I think he should just be honest and say, Brandenburg, not Berlin. ^^ yeahhh idk Sometimes people‘s brain stops working when they think about climate change. I feel like people are unable to hold two conflicting thoughts in their brain like „cutting trees good for electric cars.“ For the Tesla+Berlin situation, I also feel like there‘s a lot of mood affiliation: Elon=bad. Also: There are also other factories close to Berlin like Volkswagen in Wolfsburg. Yet you never hear anyone protest them, although their cars and history are even worse! **naomiii.eth**: True that, two things can be true at the same time which is something the word climate change seems to make people forget. Speaking of VW, I once went to the local Volkswagen factory, where they manufacture the electric cars and it was like attending a brain wash event where you'd led to believe that VW will solve climate change lmao. **@scirock**: IMHO its tough in such a tiny highly populated country to preserve nature. It worked really well in the US b/c they made the move to lock down land when it was far more sparsely populated. But BTW if you talk to families living around the national parks many of them got disowned (or forced to sell at low prices). Just like the history of central park. We need manufacturing and farming so what land is left to disown. How about tourism and the entire sport of golf. Maybe disown the hotel industry on the coasts & mountains where you can't farm. But disowning is not nice so maybe just take the L and fund keeping nature in the US preserved.