Inside the batteries that go into our electronic toys, computer workstations, cars and so much more are raw materials that come from mines and manufacturers in some fairly dodgy and dangerous places.
And it's those dodgy, dangerous places that are emerging as choke points – or if you prefer, weak links – in the clean energy supply chain.
Bloomberg has a long-form story on the rare earth metals mined in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zambia and elsewhere in Central and Southern Africa. Getting the ore out of the mines is bad enough. Transporting it to market? That's where the real trouble begins. Consider this bit about copper – which some people are calling the ”new oil:”
…logistics ([in which trucks driving over dirt roads, sometimes for a thousand miles or more, can take a month to get from a mine to their destination] are not the only impediment. Corruption is rife, and disputes with governments are common. One of the largest copper and cobalt mines, Tenke Fungurume, hasn't been allowed to export any material since July because of a dispute between its owner CMOC Group and Congolese state mining company Gecamines.
Other operations present technical difficulties. Mufulira, in Zambia's Copperbelt province, is one of the world's oldest producing copper mines, and must pump out enough water to fill 47 Olympic-sized swimming pools every day, or risk flooding.
And let's not forget the traffic:
It can take as long as two weeks just to get out of Congo and into Zambia, when the queue stretches to 30 miles, as it did around mid-year. Eight days is considered a good time, according to one big mining company. All told, when Bloomberg traveled stretches of the route between May and July this year, it was taking as long as 35 days to get from a mine in southern Congo to southern African ports.
In October, the queues flared out again after drivers demanding improved security on Congo's highways refused to enter the country. It took a call from Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema to his counterpart in Congo pushing for better conditions, before drivers agreed to resume.
There's much more at the link. The bottom line? Away from the EV showrooms and very far removed from the protests about climate change and conferences about green energy is the inescapable, very dirty, often dangerous and increasingly fragile realities of producing the materials that make the future run.
Oh…and let's not forget that China is the largest source and producer of rare Earth metals in the world.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.
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Need OUR Own energy base Revived & running Now
One major issue is allowing activists to define “clean”. In reality, that is nothing more than a MARKETING ploy.
I want to know from Biden or any of the climate geeks, Exactly when you will be able to change the climate (weather)??
The Democrats are all in on the Climate change economic which will fail, simply because we will be in the Dark!!