A powerful book reveals the corrupt deals and human exploitation behind the global scramble for strategic metals.
Resource extraction has similar problems be it cobalt or oil. There is one big difference you can’t ignore. That is cobalt and other resource minerals are being made into durable goods that last for decades and then can be recycled. Oil is perpetual extraction forever because we simply burn and destroy it.
Right now, lead acid car batteries have a 90+% closed loop supply chain because 90+% of new batteries are made of old batteries. There is no reason why cobalt and lithium can’t achieve something similar. One of the reasons EV batteries have not created a recycling industry is because most of the batteries installed are still well within their service life.
Expanding hydrocarbon use expands hydrocarbon extraction. The extraction of minerals for batteries will go down the more popular they become.
I saw one person put it like this:
“The richest most efficient place to mine new battery materials, is a pile of old batteries. It has everything in one spot and in the exact proportions needed.”The issue is that most modern lithium ion batteries have not reached their end of life. It will be a good source in the future, but they are in limited supply at the moment.
This seems to be less a book about green technology and more a book about the horrors of capitalism.
