Africa is experiencing a mining boom of unprecedented scale, say researchers writing in Science Advances. However, this time the driver is huge reserves of nickel, cobalt, copper, and lithium in deep jungles with giant trees overhead. Humankind once again faces the challenge of balancing the need and the consequences. Must responsible battery material mining be the loser once again?
Why the Call for Responsible Battery Material Mining?
The Hill sustainability journal dedicated the story to their Big Topic column on April 3, 2024. They lead with the startling statement that the mining boom ‘could wipe out a third of African great apes’. Should we care about this in the face of the urgency to counter climate change?
Well, we do know from past experience that mining is staggeringly destructive to our environment. Sterile rock removed in the process is piled high on open ground, where it wipes out insect, animal and plant life for ever. Access roads and mining villages destroy surrounding habitat further.
But there is another caveat cautioning us to think twice about responsible battery material mining. The Covid pandemic alerted us to the risk of releasing further diseases waiting for us, as we steadily remove the remaining forests that once covered our planet.
Is This a Case of Choice, or Compromise?
Bonobos are arguably humankind’s closest living relatives, followed by chimpanzees, western gorillas, and mountain gorillas all living in the undisturbed jungles of Africa, and flourishing.
Storage batteries are important to these giant apes too, because they may not survive unmitigated global warming through to the next century either. Nickel, cobalt, copper, and lithium mining are essential input to the renewable energy movement.
Renewable Energy Is Our Best Option Available
Mark Twain famously said, “All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence, and then success is sure”. Perhaps we should add a third criteria, compromise, to the mix? Is there a middle path through responsible battery material mining?
Jessica Junker is co-author of the report in Science Advances we mentioned earlier. She told The Hill journal, “Companies, lenders, and nations need to recognize that it may sometimes be of greater value to leave some regions untouched. To mitigate climate change, and help prevent future epidemics.”
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