2023-11-22 15:38:40
Deforestation, coal-fired power plants, the extermination of entire villages, chemical waste in the water, workers burned alive, child slaves, destroyed fauna and flora, fatal accidents. These are the hidden prices of electric cars. The Green Revolution actually comes at a serious cost. The European Commission has decided that from 2035 only electric vehicles can be sold. CO2 emissions must be reduced at all costs to combat the greenhouse effect. But if the transition is made without taking human and environmental factors into account, there is a danger that going green will cover up all sorts of abuses. This topic is the focus of an investigation entitled “Electric Discovery” shown on Italian state television. The most important part of the electric car is the battery: 500 kilograms of minerals, including nickel, lithium, manganese, cobalt, which can travel up to 50,000 nautical miles before reaching the factory where it takes its final form. Some car manufacturers have hundreds of suppliers of raw materials, and it is not easy to know where their products come from and where exactly they are delivered. There are threads so inextricable that even the US Congress has not been able to map them. In its investigation, Italian television decided to look into the supply chain of nickel, a mineral that makes up regarding 10 percent of the weight of the most powerful batteries, roughly 39 to 43 kilograms per car. The team of the investigative team ended up in Indonesia, where they were able to document how “dirty” the supply chain is and how it disregards the most basic human rights, starting with access to water. Indonesia Indonesian nickel is popular because it is cheap. However, the human and environmental damage is enormous. Investment and Mining Deputy Minister Saptian Hario Seto is not worried. On the contrary, he is looking forward to Elon Musk’s investments: “We have been talking regarding it for more than a year and a half. Tesla already buys nickel from us through its supplier. If you want to come now and open your own plant, of course we welcome you,” he told the Report team. Indonesia decided to be the only player to mine and process everything locally: today it is the world’s leading supplier. All the car manufacturers in the world are knocking on his door, but the dog is not concerned with environmental protection. Il nichel indonesiano è diventato molto popolare perché costa meno. Ma i danni umani e ambientali sono enormi. Abbiamo chiesto spiegazioni al Viceministro agli Investimenti e alle Miniere cosa ne pensa. Segui #Report ora in diretta su #Rai3???? pic.twitter.com/gaTZpizKK7 — Report (@reportrai3) November 19, 2023 “By September 2023, the area of nickel extraction in Indonesia reached nearly one million hectares, with 362 permits. We expect to clear an additional 600,000 hectares of primeval forest for the still-to-be-explored nickel reserves. This means that nickel processing, in addition to causing very high emissions, also destroys the region’s biodiversity,” says Arie Rompas from Greenpeace Indonesia. This year, Meidy general secretary Katrin LengKey reported, “178 million tons of raw ore were produced. The national target is 468 million tons,” he added. According to reports, Indonesia uses 303 million tons of coal to supply its entire industry. Each ton of mined nickel emits an average of 58 tons of carbon dioxide. Congo The same is happening in Congo. The Kolwezi area is rich in cobalt, an essential mineral for electric batteries, but for the locals, the development of mining is a disaster: the population is threatened with total deportation. The area of Kolwezi in Congo is rich in cobalt, a fundamental mineral for electrical batteries, but today the development of extractive activities has become a disaster for the inhabitants: the population is at risk of complete deportation. #Report ora su #Rai3???? pic.twitter.com/5poJPaXSUS — Report (@reportrai3) November 19, 2023 And what is Europe doing? In reality, European funds “are primarily paid for research and innovation, and less for actual battery production. In our report, we found that adequate supervision is lacking,” said Annemie Turtleboom of the European Court of Auditors. Interviewed by the cameras of the RAI program, the woman added: “Let’s not forget that 3.5 million people work in the automotive industry in Europe. You can advocate for climate neutrality, but you have to see if the goal can be achieved only by importing from China”. “If we want to move along the path of electrification, there is no alternative,” said Gianclaudio Torlizzi from T-Commodity, who believes that raw materials are practically a geostrategic weapon, since those who do not have them are left out of the game. He explained that for now the ball is in China’s court, which keeps prices low to drive out competition and then gain a monopoly on products. In 2022, the import of rare earth metals (REE+) in the EU increased significantly. A total of 18,000 tons were imported, which is 9 percent more than in 2021, and 7,000 tons were exported, which is 8 percent less than the previous year. The value of imports rose to 146 million euros, 37 percent more than in 2021, while exports reached 142 million euros, 2 percent more than the previous year. This is clear from the data just published by Eurostat. Rare earth metals are a group of 17 special metals of high supply risk and significant economic importance, used in various high-tech applications. The average import price was €7.9 per kilogram, an increase of 26% compared to 2021, while the export price was €20.7 per kilogram of rare earth metals, an increase of 11%. The main import partner for rare earth metals was China, which accounted for 40% of the total import weight, i.e. 7.4 thousand tons. This was followed by Malaysia, which accounted for 31% of imports, i.e. 5.6 thousand tons. The USA and Japan each had a share of 2% in EU imports of rare earth metals.
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