A good old Christmas debate, whats not to like ?? Whils’t electrical vehicles may come across as being green, may make the UK’s and the rest of Europes air cleaner to breathe, even with the use of coal fired powestations, we do so at the expense of countries where Rare Earth Elements is mined. Its a con like carbon offsetting. There are 2 primary methods for REE mining. A third relatively new method of mining perhaps the only place not touched by man is the deep sea bed. Thankfully this has been temporarily halted by scientists for fear of the eco system. Both of the two primary methods for REE mining produce mountains of toxic waste, with high risk of environmental and health hazards.. Cancer and other health conditions are ripe in humans and animals in the towns associated with mining, waterways are polluted and villages directly around the mines are buried underneath the waste material. For every ton of rare earth produced foe electric vehicle batteries, the mining process yields 13kg of dust, 9,600-12,000 cubic meters of waste gas, 75 cubic meters of wastewater, and one ton of radioactive residue. This stems from the fact that rare earth element ores have metals that, when mixed with leaching pond chemicals, contaminate air, water, and soil. Most worrying is that rare earth ores are often laced with radioactive thorium and uranium, which result in especially detrimental health effects. Overall, for every ton of rare earth, 2,000 tons of toxic waste are produced. The process is also enegy intensive, which also has a negative impact. China dominates the REE market accounting for 80% of global supply. Only 35-40% of the worlds REE supply’s are in China itself however, China also controls mining in other countries. China’s most infamous mine Bayan Obo, the largest REE mine in the world. Even more infamous than the mine itself is the tailing pond, which has produced over 70,000 tons of radioactive thorium stored in the area. This has become a larger issue recently because the tailing pond lacks is leakng, as its contents have been seeping into groundwater and polluting the Yellow River, which is also a key source of drinking water. Currently, the sludge is moving at a pace of 20-30 meters per year, a dangerously rapid rate. Anyone seen the documentory on the Yellow River? The village of Lingbeizhen in the Southern Jiangxi province has leaching ponds and wastewater pools exposed to open air. Toxic chemicals spilling into groundwater or waterways since they are left unmonitored and vulnerable to nature. In another mine, so much wastewater was created that China had to build a treatment facility to clean 40,000 tons of wastewater per day before letting the water flow back into the river. Both people living in the villages around the mines and mine workers are also suffering from health complications due to exposure to these toxic chemicals. Worker safety is also not prioritized or monitored in these mines, resulting in skin irritation and disruptions to their respiratory, nervous, and cardiovascular systems as well as cancer are ripe in these areas. Human rights abuses have been reported throughout mines in these areas as laborers are overworked and underpaid. China has taken some steps to address issues arising from REE mining, but not nearly enough. The Chinese government has also acknowledged the existence of so-called “cancer villages” where a disproportionately large number of people have fallen ill with cancer due to mining-based pollution. Officials have shut down some smaller illegal mining operations, looking to consolidate mining under six state-owned groups that the Chinese government claims will maintain better practices surrounding toxic waste management, but farmers claim state-owned companies are just as bad. Some argue state-owned companies are worse because they poison communities with governmental support. For example, in Zhongshan, a company claimed it was extracting resources before the government built a highway in the area, but after the highway was finished, it refused to leave. People in the area began noticing wastewater seeping into their farms, and they were forced to inhale sulfur every time they went outside. 15 protestors were arrested in 2015, and ten more protestors were arrested two years later. Some farmers from Yulin, an area with REE mining, have a similar story: they started protesting when they saw their crops and livelihoods being affected by REE extraction. For China’s narratives of progressive reform on REE mining, China understands the value of its monopoly and wants to maintain the status quo. It appears as though China is now moving its operations to Africa, where it can contaminate outside communities instead of exposing its citizens at home to the risks of REE mining. Though some of these operations are conducted by private companies, the six major mining companies are all state-owned enterprises. China has achieved exclusive rights to the REE deposits in a handful of African countries in return for infrastructure building. For example, China obtained the rights to lithium mines in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in return for building national roads, highways, and hospitals. Similarly, China obtained commercial licenses for REE mines in Kenya by agreeing to build a US$666 million data center. More deals are surfacing in Cameroon, Angola, Tanzania, and elsewhere. To try and counter Chinese influence, the United States has restarted some of its older REE mining operations in various states. The government wants to ensure that critical US industries can remain separate from China in the event of a larger dispute.
And that’s all exclusively for cars?
Whilst the production has increased for cars there’s still a mass of items we all own that are also responsible for this. As I said, unless you’re using nothing with a battery in it, you’re complicit in the environmental destruction attributed to the BEVs.
I'm Autistic, if I say something you find offensive, please let me know, I can guarantee it was unintentional.
I'll try to give my honest opinion but am always open to learning.
Mark