image by: Art For Culture Change

HWN Suggests

Cobalt Mining: The Dark Side of the Renewable Energy Transition

Cobalt is quickly becoming the defining example of the mineral conundrum at the heart of the renewable energy transition. As a key component of battery materials that power electric vehicles (EVs), cobalt is facing a sustained surge in demand as decarbonisation efforts progress. The world’s largest cobalt supplier is the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where it is estimated that up to a fifth of the production is produced through artisanal miners. Cobalt mining, however, is associated with dangerous workers’ exploitation and other serious environmental and social issues. As such, questions have arisen as to whether the transition to electric vehicles and cobalt-based batteries is yet another…

read full article

Featured

 Cobalt: The Human and Environmental Cost of the Blue Gold of our Energy Transitions

Its name evokes a deep, vivid blue. But when cobalt is mined from the ground as an ore, it barely contains a hint of the superb colour to which it lends its name. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, which produces more than half of the world's reserves, it takes the form of heterogenite, a dull, brownish ore that could easily be mistaken for small lumps of earth. For him people die, for him everything is sacrificed: the most basic human rights, the environment, security.

Previously Featured

As cobalt demand booms, companies must do more to protect Congolese miners

The Katanga region in the south of the Democratic Republic of Congo is home to more than half of the world’s cobalt resources, and over 70% of the current cobalt production worldwide takes place in the country. Demand for cobalt is projected to surge fourfold by 2030 in pace with the electric vehicle boom.

Cobalt is critical to the renewable energy transition. How can minimize its social and environmental cost?

Demand for cobalt is expected to soar in coming years as electric vehicles take to roads everywhere.

Effect of cobalt on the environment and living organisms - a review.

This literature review presents a summary of papers related to the determination of the sources of cobalt compound presence in the environment and the resulting pollution of water and land.

Effects of the energy transition on environmental impacts of cobalt supply: A prospective life cycle assessment study on future supply of cobalt

Cobalt is considered a key metal in the energy transition, and demand is expected to increase substantially by 2050. This demand is for an important part because of cobalt use in (electric vehicle) batteries. This study investigated the environmental impacts of the production of cobalt and how these could change in the future.

How the race for cobalt risks turning it from miracle metal to deadly chemical

If the prophets of technology are to be believed, the best hope for solving the climate crisis is ever more efficient batteries. But the race to produce enough materials for this energy-storage revolution is creating a host of other environmental problems, as cobalt-producing nations like the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zambia and Cuba are discovering.

Resources

Cobalt Institute

The Cobalt Institute seeks to increase the understanding of the role and presence of cobalt in the environment so as to ensure its safe use while addressing environmental challenges.