World production is set to soar over the next decade. Then there is the issue of lithium mining. “In one village we visited, people showed us how the water in the local stream that they drank was contaminated by the discharge of waste from a mineral processing plant.” “Men, women and children are working without even the most basic protective equipment such as gloves and face masks,” said Mark Dummett of Amnesty International, which has investigated the cobalt-mining crisis in DRC. Photograph: Sebastian Meyer/Corbis/Getty Images Miners in the DRC pull up a bag of cobalt – vital for the production of rechargeable batteries. There they breathe in cobalt-laden dust that can cause fatal lung ailments while working tunnels that are liable to collapse. In the case of cobalt, 60% of the world’s supply comes from the Democratic Republic of the Congo where large numbers of unregulated mines use children as young as seven as miners. Their production is likely to increase significantly over the next decade – and that could cause serious ecological problems. Both elements are needed to make lightweight rechargeable batteries for electric cars and for storing power from wind and solar plants. Metals such as lithium and cobalt provide examples of the awkward issues that lie ahead, said Herrington. “We are going to have to learn how to consider profit and loss with regard to ecosystems just as we do now when we are considering economic issues.” “The move towards net zero carbon emissions is going to create new stresses on our planet, at least in the short term,” said Prof Richard Herrington, head of earth sciences at the Natural History Museum, London.
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