"As we move towards more electric and battery powered systems to do the jobs that gasoline powered systems used to do, it is important to analyze the net environmental effects of this change. Specifically for this project, I am looking at the net environmental impact of an autonomous electric lawn mower (my senior design project for mechanical engineering) compared to a traditional gasoline lawn mower. During the usage phase of the life cycle of an electric lawn mower, the net environmental impact is likely to be less than that of a gasoline lawn mower, although the impact depends on how electricity is generated, which is something discussed in the report. However, during the production phase and the disposal phase, electric lawn mowers are likely to be more harmful to the environment mainly due to the production processes of batteries and the toxicity of them. As much as we would like to believe that battery powered machines can save our planet, the reality is that they pose a different set of environmental risks and can also contribute to green-house gas emissions as the electricity they draw is often not produced from renewable resources."