Energy transition: The dark side of the electric car battery cobalt rush • FRANCE 24 English

Electric cars promise a clean energy transition amid the ongoing climate crisis. They rely on cobalt, a highly strategic mineral necessary for electric car batteries. It is found in particular in DR Congo, which has the largest cobalt reserves in the world. It is mined there at a colossal environmental and human cost involving child labour, water and air pollution, as well as corruption. As the auto industry battles it out, we went to meet the victims of the cobalt rush. FRANCE 24's Quentin Noirfalisse and Arnaud Zajtman investigate.
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[@evelbsstudio]

Lithium battery disposal is also toxic to the environment

[@craigszwed]

Bless God that someone is talking about this issue in the context of the modern pollyanna outlook of the electric battery craze, wherein those who ignore all the real consequences think that their salvation lies in banning fossil fuel usage. Mineral use has always presented health issues for miners, smelters, and fabricators. Although, similar issues were seldom raised in the old days of mining, until local populations in worldwide mining areas were dying off from the respective toxicities killing miners and or their families. The sad part is that history is being ignored. We cannot save ourselves by making things or ourselves into false gods and then pretending there are no real consequences for our blasphemous attitudes and behaviors.

[@47nrubreddew]

👍👍

[@keithhoss4990]

We’ve known this for years. Lithium is also in short supply and destroys the environment when mined.

[@savannahm.laurentian1286]

Thank you. In America & somewhat globally nothing will change until dialog shifts to using LESS instead of using DIFFERENT.

[@JeffreySmith7777]

More is less. Less is more, but Americans and most humans have NFC

[@JeffreySmith7777]

Here's a clue about your great President Jokin Joey Biden.
All electric vehicles by 2035!!! Now do the immense parking lots the government is building all along every major highway in America. Acres of parking lots for big rigs and cars to charge for hours. Opps! My bad!! There are none.

[@Man.from.the.90sgeneration]

The car industry is not willing to decrease prices.

[@lv3609]

Not all uses of batteries need to by light and compact.
A pack of batteries for use in buildings (similar to Tesla Powerwall) do not need to be light.
So market should be stratified.
And then there are other batteries technologies in R&D that doesn’t use lithium, or doesn’t use cobalt.

[@a1chrisjc.]

Thank you France 24♥ Fortunate to have watched this superb expose, thanks to a Tweet from Economics Emeritus Professor, Richard Wolff - "Mass transit is the most rational choice of transportation, as it minimizes deaths, injuries, pollution, and resource waste. But capitalism prioritizes profit, thus batteries replace fossil fuel in vehicles. Society can do better than capitalism."

[@josdesouza]

Not all car batteries use cobalt or nickel.

[@Sir_Vantage]

What else is used?

[@mikeselectricstuff]

@@Sir_Vantage Iron and Phosphorus - LFP batteries are used in many Teslas and extensively for energy storage when energy density is less critical

[@fastbike9845]

@@mikeselectricstuff If you're okay with lower voltage and more temperamental charge requirements.

[@sakismpalatsias4106]

Because I have worked with quarry issues under international private law. The issue seems they are not applying EU standards or external corporate responsibility to the local area. The problem is that there is probably a conflict of laws rule here. They should apply arbitration standards through the UN peace palace. This is what we did with Kosovo courts BC they are not as reliable.

[@MrTooGay]

I thought going green was a good thing. When buying an electric car you can ease your mind by thinking that Africa is far away.

[@Man.from.the.90sgeneration]

Cars should be ecological

[@fastbike9845]

By their very definition, cars cannot be ecological.

[@waldensmith4796]

Thanks to France 24 for educating us on the Cobalt Lithium Batteries a rare commodity derived from the Mines in DRC. China need to compensate the DRC people living in poverty while benefiting from the COBALT to manufacture EV batteries . Great show Mark. Keep up the good work.

[@gzcwnk]

Chinese battery are predominantly LFP that uses no cobalt

[@waldensmith4796]

@@gzcwnk then why CHina invested in the DRC Cobalt Mines according to the report.

[@lis0028]

Cobolt you need that to make when you make petrol

[@tomthumb5445]

No one gives AF. Not their backyard so they can pretend how wonderful they are. Impression is all that counts.

[@user-lt4bm5te7x]

The cobalt the China produced is used in many western industries.

[@VERITASPUREBLOOD]

how many of these experts have cell phones? or laptop, or even electric cars? seems like the world is full of hypocrites. everyone wants change but does nothing about it. getting the poor better pay is the best solution, no one talks about that.

[@Sir_Vantage]

Terrible

[@47nrubreddew]

Hell on earth

[@cynthiaspeegle9694]

Anything with cobalt

[@yyccarportraits]

B.S. misinformation

[@lagseeing8341]

How?