Cobalt in lithium ion batteries. How do we solve the problem?

[@snowstrobe]

Just want to show my appreciation for the level-headed, facts-based information.

[@JustHaveaThink]

Thank you. I appreciate that :-)

[@akaikiseki9346]

Indeed ! Seeing and listening to well-searched, fact-based content is what makes certain yt channel so special, like this one.

[@qimover]

Just Have a Think 🤔 i

[@3emispheres]

Amazing channel: rigorous, not too long, informative and well constructed videos.

[@gamingtonight1526]

From your lips...!

[@JustHaveaThink]

Thank you. I really appreciate that.

[@terence123cars]

@@JustHaveaThink Yes, I agree.

[@andrewwolff9129]

I really appreciate that this channel does not just worship technologies without also pointing out the massive social and environmental problems. Well done.

[@jomiar309]

I was literally asking the same question that you immediately posed at 13:00. I really appreciate how you address multiple levels of an issue!

[@stevenghan8177]

Thanks for this valuable message. You pack a lot into these videos, and present it very well. You've deepened my understanding of cobalt considerably, both increasing my appreciation for the challenges and offering evidence for solutions. I am moved to support your work.

[@JustHaveaThink]

Thank you Steven. I really appreciate that. All the best. Dave

[@stevenghan8177]

@@JustHaveaThink I post your videos on our local Citizens Climate Lobby Facebook page, which has 256 members.

[@OxidativePhosphorylierung]

Once again a maginificent video about a hideous topic.

[@aidymcgrath4197]

True words.

[@denisdaly1708]

The best channel on sustainable development. I spread the word.

[@JustHaveaThink]

Thanks Denis. Much appreciated.

[@camerontaylor7471]

The first four letters are key... DEVEL-OP-MENT...

[@tjampman]

That's Horrible - is all the work here done by children? No, no... Not the whipping - Futurama how I miss you

[@blazinchalice]

Thank you for shedding light on this problem. The exploitation of children in DRC is appalling and needs to be stopped.

[@mousetails9]

I don't know how you can manage to research and write such high quality videos every week! Phenomenal content. Thank you

[@pavelsunny1]

Big portion of cobalt use is in Petrol refinery process.

[@haxi52]

And you can't recycle the gas you burn in your car...

[@billhanna2148]

And when we stop using ICE cars this problem will get better

[@JustHaveaThink]

It's 8% versus 42% for battery tech. Nevertheless it also needs to stop.

[@pavelsunny1]

Just Have a Think are You sure it’s just 8%? As I see from your chart, during the rise of mobile phones (2009-2010) the needs for cobalt went up from 80.000 tons to 107.000 tons. So probably around 75 is for Petrol refinery, 27 are for first part of mobile phones, which probably recently went to 35.000 tons. I think only 15.000-20.000 tons are for vehicle batteries

[@peteglass3496]

@@pavelsunny1 I agree with Dave, when I went hunting for the breakdown of Co uses, I came up with 8% too for catalysts. As the battery percentage has been growing fast in the last 3-5yrs, now more than half, it's been pushing the other uses downwards so I don't see this as a static figure. Cobalt is vital industrial material in many other uses such as high performance steels, things like aero turbine blades, pigments and ceramics not to forget the catalysts we started with. Cobalt isn't going to go away even if EV batteries were to stop using it.

[@vernonbrechin4207]

Thank you for your comprehensive analysis of this topic as well as many others. I always learn much from these productions.

[@susanhepburn6040]

I only came across your Channel today and want to say a very big thank you. It is such a relief and a breath of fresh air to find such factual, well researched and presented information. Greatly appreciated.

[@JustHaveaThink]

Thanks Susan. I'm delighted you've discovered the channel :-) All the best. Dave

[@roccov3614]

I love the way you cover every aspect of a subject. With a very thorough and reasonable approach.

[@stephenshannon3706]

Just want to add my appreciation of your work. Very welcome to have balanced, thoughtful and rational questioning about serious issues that affect everyone, irrespective of nationality, race, ethnicity, religion or political persuasion. Thank you.

[@PádraigJMCarey]

sounds just like the old Blood-Diamond scandal, let's hope someone is checking these mines so that the big companies are held to account and not just treating human-rights as a marketing exercise. We need proper sustainable and moral supply-chains.. good info, thanks for sharing

[@bazoo513]

13:30 - hardly anyone speaking of "artisanal" cobalt mining mentions this. Well done!

[@jangunnarrooth]

I really appreciate your addressing the "what happens to the people who economically depend on this" question. I certainly support freeing these people from an abusive and deadly industry. But that needs an alternative that's healthier.

[@Ubersnuber]

Thorough video. The problem Solutions Plans for the future. This channel has an apt name, and I look forward to most of the videos.

[@camiloguzman1801]

I have to thank you for the light that you flare in science subjects that are actually misguided in mainstream media. Riguorous but balanced info in hard topics.

[@Dave5843-d9m]

Battery recycling needs to happen with phones computers and power tools. Recycling with EV cells is hardly done because the cells are re-purposed in fixed storage (Power Walls) etc. 99% have not (yet) reached to point of recycling.

[@Ghryst]

"re-purposed" = recycling. destroying something to turn it into a new product is NOT recycling, thats called downcycling, and it is a lossy process in 100% of cases, because of the laws of physics.

[@garethbaus5471]

@@Ghryst lead acid batteries are currently at 99% recycled material, reuse is preferable but battery recycling can reach a very high efficiency (the correct term for dessessmbling old products to use as raw materials is recycling a term that is not quite synonymous with repurposed)

[@91plm]

there are Cobalt mines all over the world. But in DRC it's easy to get industrial quantities at low price WHILE disregarding human safety, mining regulations and avoid "high" wages. Colonialism 101.

[@alphacanuck939]

Couldn't agree more keep them poor and you can exploit them forever

[@WadcaWymiaru]

"Rare Earth" aren't that rare too! kzbin.info/www/bejne/oqnad2xprNOFh9E this is about NATIONAL SECURITY!!!

[@Sublimeoo]

@brinbrin62 62200 what about american colonialism :P

[@Thumbsupurbum]

@brinbrin62 62200 You're wrong. The UN officially classifies Puerto Rico as a US colony, among many others.

[@jamesmacleod9382]

Regardless of the Puerto Rico situation, in the Congo they are in charge of their own fate. If Tesla turns up and says we want cobalt here's what we're willing to pay. Then it's up to the powers that rule the Congo to decide whether to do business with them.

[@millertas]

We also need to think and treat ALL our fellow humans with respect - no matter their colour, no matter their nationality, no matter their gender. Countries like the DRC can also benefit from the tourist industry. Hope to visit when I can.

[@davidmenham1782]

As usual you are supplying us with a very detailed and balanced account of the issues involved in the exploitation of natural resources vital to the ev, computer and smartphone industries.

[@robroysyd]

Plenty of counties have plenty of cobalt sitting in the ground. The problem is there's not enough demand for it to get anyone interested in investing in new cobalt mines. That it's a finite resource that we need to be recycling is at the moment a secondary problem but certainly one that needs to be addressed.

[@carlstringer2922]

Absolutely loved your video! I really do hope Africa can be fixed, horrible to see child slavery. Sick of seeing starving people and governments that don't care about there people. Hopefully one day this continent will be a safe place to live and prosper.

[@chuckkottke]

Great synopsis of our current Cobalt problems Dave! Maybe Cobalt crusts on the edges of sea mounts can help take some pressure off current demand? Best for us to find a common elements solution for the cathode, as rarity of any element can slow battery progress. Here we are faced with sulfide mining issues just across the river in Michigan, so lessening demand on sulfide ores would help keep our water clean. I'm not sure if there's Cobalt associated with the zinc-copper-lead-silver-gold deposit (left from ancient underwater volcanic plumes), it sounds like Cobalt is mainly in the deep deposits of Nickel? Anyhow, just in the Shakey Lakes region here, there could be about 1.7 billion USD worth of metals extracted, but the net would be much less, so there is tremendous pressure to mine in economically depressed Michigan. But it's all in sensitive wetlands adjacent to pristine rivers (the deposit actually runs under the river and into Wisconsin), mining companies need to advance their technologies to prevent spills and acid mine drainage, which is a problem over along the Flambeau river where there was a mine in the early 90's. I'm hopeful we can solve these issues, as clean water is as critical as rare elements to our and the planer's future.🌎

[@benbowyang]

Impressive, as always. Thank you.

[@kelvinham8576]

Again, an excellent commentary on important technology issues, thank you.

[@andyl8055]

You really covered all the bases with this video, bar perhaps one. I just hope that changes to cobalt extraction (and enrichment through movement into agriculture) can take pressure off the mountain gorillas and other endangered wildlife in the Congo. Really happy to support you too; you’re my first!

[@JustHaveaThink]

Hi Andy. Thanks for your feedback and for your support. Much appreciated. I certainly missed the angle about the mountain gorillas, that's for sure. I agree with you wholeheartedly though, and I also hope that with more and more awareness in that country, the environment and indigenous species will be looked after and not decimated as we so often manage to do.

[@paulbrouyere1735]

Thank you for addressing this very important subject of child Labor and human rights linked to our use of modern days technologies.

[@SeeNickView]

Slight correction Dave, but from my research over the past 9 months looking into PHEV/BEV battery chemistries, most have been based on Nickel-Manganese-Cobalt (NMC) cathode + graphite (Carbon, C) anode. NMC has been so popular that it's gone through different phases in it's developmental life, phases being marked by the ratio of NMC parts to each other. A popular one that the Chevrolet Bolt runs on is NMC-622, which represents 6 parts Nickel, 2 parts Manganese, and 2 parts Cobalt. Some manufacturers have been pushing the ratios to NMC-811, the mix with the lowest cobalt we've seen yet. These batteries seem to be beasts, but the stability is of greater concern the less cobalt you include. I think Jaguar might be planning on ramping up their I-Pace battery to 811, but it's been a while since I've been up on Jaguar news. Tesla seems to be the only company investing in Nickel-Cobalt-Aluminum (NCA), and so you can take a guess at what percentage of the market share they have to get an estimate of how many batteries are based on NCA. Lithium-Iron-Phosphate (LiFePO4) batteries have be touched by a few companies here and there with singular models, but not entire manufacturer portfolios. Daimler/Mercedes dropped their support for LiFePO4 within the last 3-4 by switching from GS Yuasa/Lithium Energy Japan to SK Innovation, for example. The latter makes NMC I believe. My research isn't done, but I would say that

[@Dave5843-d9m]

Stop using cobalt. It’s used as a catalyst for petrol refining as well as batteries. The LiFePO4 battery has no cobalt, no nickel and no rare earths. It’s more bulky than 2170 Li-Ion cells used in car EV batteries but it’s less weight per KWH.

[@AnalystPrime]

Batteries were already using less and less of it and cobalt free alternatives already existed, the issue is that idiots don't want to know facts, they just believe lobbyists telling them that EVs are specifically made from cobalt mined by child slaves so they should buy an ICE car because there is no proof that the gas you use was refined with unethically mined cobalt. Smart people know that by using EVs the need for cobalt will go down because there will be less need for oil.

[@AnalystPrime]

@Dongs Given it is about million times less than the ecological problems caused by fossil fuels, still a win.

[@Alrukitaf]

Lots of politics to all this. Seems like some people don’t want other countries to get rich from their natural resources. These “other” countries include DRC, Venezuela, Bolivia, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Russia.... the list goes on and on.

[@kanewilliams1653]

Love the content, really in depth in a really important, really specific topic that only a really nerdy person (which everyone should strive to be..!) could care about... Dig it!!!!

[@vizheadrms]

Another great video, thank you.

[@johndelong5574]

Bestest channel ever

[@Ew.ld87655]

Great Video, as always. But please make sure to do something about the hissing noise in the video. If you could fix this problem the quality of the videos would improve drastically 👌

[@JustHaveaThink]

Hi Clemens. That's interesting feedback. I'm not aware of the hissing. I use a good quality microphone directly into a Zoom H4 sound recorder edited through Premiere Pro. There's no waveform showing in the audio sections in the editing suite, but I will listen back through a good set of headphones to see if I can pick up what you are referring to. Thanks for the feedback. Dave

[@alaneasthope2357]

You failed to mention the largest user of colbalt; the oil industry, who use it as a catalyst for desulphurisation. Was that an oversight or deliberate? As ususal, a well thought out and presented topic. Great to see the United Nations advocating agriculture as an economic alternative.

[@adamlytle2615]

I world be interested to see stats on this. I did some quick googling and the numbers are very hard to come by - but one source said about 5% of global cobalt production went to desulpherization, as compared to 9% for batteries (maybe just EV batteries?) anyway, would be interested to see.

[@JustHaveaThink]

Hi Alan. It was deliberate. I did look at the stats because I had intended to point a finger at the fossil fuel industry, but in fact desulphurisation is only 8% of cobalt usage compared to 42% (and growing) for battery tech,

[@alaneasthope2357]

@@JustHaveaThink Thanks for the reply. I saw the 42% for battery tech and thought that might be the reason.

[@samanthabailey02]

Thank you

[@nuvisionprinting]

Amazing channel! Great way to educate millions! My only gripe is that it is never really touched on that the major issue is the socio-economic system that controls this, not just the for profit capitalist system but also the social issue of not being able to speak up. When you are hammer everything is nail.

[@lucaguerrini32]

You should have tons of subs my man

[@dr.zoidberg8666]

Optimism & pragmatic problem solving doesn't get subs like it should. The best way to get subs is to either scare the shit out of people, or give them a good distraction so they don't have to think about all the folks scaring the shit out of them. This channel talks about our problems directly & how we're making gradual progress on solving them... gradual progress isn't sexy or satisfying to most people.

[@lucaguerrini32]

I def are what you say but ... I have to tell you that there are few interesting and pragmati and honest scientist divulgators with the deserved success . So I not totally agree with ya

[@mayflowerlash11]

Had to laugh at the intentional spoonerism. An effective way to get more attention, if your host understands the English language. This is a damn good channel, informative and even guilt inducing at times. Cheers

[@jensonee]

and how did the DRC get to where it is today? "Patrice Lumumba, the first legally elected prime minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), was assassinated on 17 January, 1961. This heinous crime was a culmination of two inter-related assassination plots by American CIA and Belgian governments, which used Congolese accomplices and a Belgian execution squad to carry out the deed. For 126 years, the US and Belgium have played key roles in shaping Congo's destiny. In April 1884, seven months before the Berlin Congress, the US became the first country in the world to recognise the claims of King Leopold II of the Belgians to the territories of the Congo Basin. When the atrocities related to brutal economic exploitation in Leopold's Congo Free State resulted in millions of fatalities, the US joined other world powers to force Belgium to take over the country as a regular colony. And it was during the colonial period that the US acquired a strategic stake in the enormous natural wealth of the Congo, following its use of the uranium from Congolese mines to manufacture the first atomic weapons, the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs. With the outbreak of the cold war, it was inevitable that the US and its western allies would not be prepared to let Africans have effective control over strategic raw materials, lest these fall in the hands of their enemies in the Soviet camp. It is in this regard that Patrice Lumumba's determination to achieve genuine independence and to have full control over Congo's resources in order to utilise them to improve the living conditions of our people was perceived as a threat to western interests. To fight him, the US and Belgium used all the tools and resources at their disposal, including the United Nations secretariat, under Dag Hammarskjöld and Ralph Bunche, to buy the support of Lumumba's Congolese rivals , and hired killers. In Congo, Lumumba's assassination is rightly viewed as the country's original sin. Coming less than seven months after independence (on 30 June, 1960), it was a stumbling block to the ideals of national unity, economic independence and pan-African solidarity that Lumumba had championed, as well as a shattering blow to the hopes of millions of Congolese for freedom and material prosperity."

[@incognitotorpedo42]

That's interesting. Thanks for posting it. The DRC is yet another casualty of the Cold War.

[@BernardLS]

Some would contend that Patrice Lumumba was ‘installed’ by the KGB at the point of a Kalashnikov so that his group, who were more amenable to the Stalinist world view would be able to exploit the DRC resources for the benefit of the ruling elite of Holy Mother Soviet Russia.

[@didierverschatse6422]

@@incognitotorpedo42 , even pre-WW2 geo-politics were in play, the nuclear weapon dropped on Japan was ("Belgian") Congo uranium.

[@johndelong5574]

So the reason africa is a shithole is cos of usa?

[@BernardLS]

@@johndelong5574 & USSR (or CCCP if you prefer the vernacular) the colonial power, Belguim, probably deserves a share of the blame especially King Leopald II. Local indigenous tribalism did not help or being cursed with resources others needed to defeat those trying to predate on them; Hirihito and his chums. If all else fails blame those Brit b.......a!

[@pandemik0]

A significant use of of Cobalt is the desulphyrisation of fossil fuels, particularly diesel. It is single use not recycled.

[@sizex1966]

U R spreading awareness of a real situation that is easier 2 solve! The problem with People!................Is People! Guidance & Protection Mannerz & Respect Peace 1Love 2All. Balance!

[@anders21karlsson]

Fantastic video, as always

[@polo99a9]

Nice program

[@richardabrahams585]

Bravo please keep the truth channels coming..such as this...outstanding technology facts!!! Best wishes team. Peace Solidarity Truth

[@philheaton1619]

Is there another method for mining cobalt? If the new mining method is just as bad for the miners as the old one, why switch? If the new method harms the ecology of the area more than the old, is it worth the switch? What will it do to the price of cobalt (include in that any start-up costs)? Every choices has its trade-offs, between good and bad. You have to balance the factors I've listed, plus many others I haven't thought of, to come to the correct decision.

[@seamlessgreen]

One word: Awesome

[@peterdollins3610]

An excellent You Tube supplier. Keep up the good work. If not done please explore vertical sea farming of seaweed & seafood from shellfish. I switched from my line caught Salmon to seaweed making me close to a veggie. Except free range eggs. Seaweed can also produce oil. A few videos on this are on my Facebook timeline. I buy my seaweed from larger Chinese stores in London's China Town. Japanese also carry seaweed though my Chinese partner says this is more expensive.

[@hyric8927]

Superb video here!

[@fatah496]

Thank you very much for the link

[@martincotterill823]

Fantastic video

[@Elwin3918]

Awesome labor agricultural alternative. Would be good if they exclude child labor👍🏾🙏🏾🎉

[@incognitotorpedo42]

It would be good if we didn't impose our values on them.

[@conradgeyser8975]

Great coverage of the Cobalt issue. Thank you. Would love to see a look at Cobalt global reserve vs. use rates and the same for Phosphorous!

[@jeffmathers355]

Thanks for also covering the affect cobalt divestment will have on the Congolese and other poor miners. Sustainability isn't the easy path but it must work for everyone.

[@Samael1113]

The first minute of this video also fairly perfectly describes the Banana and Chocolate trades as well.

[@C05Mik]

Great video ! What's the blue book reference behind you ? Thanks !

[@johnlarson111]

cobalt is also used to desulphurize natural gas and petroleum

[@giri1478]

I love your show - thank u. I subscribed - and really love your style of presentation - its easy to learn. thank you :)

[@elizabethwinsor-strumpetqueen]

LTO batteries ...no cobalt needed ......keep up old dude !

[@ErickBuildsStuff]

Similar story from India came out a few years ago about "Mica" the most common mineral used for almost all cosmetics. Child labour is the only way to extract mica from mines so industry took a very miniscule steps to solve it (just for press coverage). Cover that topic as well.

[@incognitotorpedo42]

Child labor can not possibly the the "only way" to extract mica from mines. It might be the cheapest way.

[@AnalystPrime]

@@incognitotorpedo42 There were mines using child labor in US and Europe in pretty recent times. They didn't need to make the tunnels so small only children could fit there, but I guess the inability to understand math is not a modern era thing. Replacing workers with machines costs a lot but increases production massively. Using healthy adults instead of malnourished children would increase the production as well. Only issue is the adults are more likely to refuse being enslaved: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Virginia_coal_wars

[@fallofmanbrand]

amazing video

[@tehKap0w]

if i was just listening to this as a podcast, i'd be blissfully unaware but upon watching the video, i *_need_* to know what is to his right. Now you can't unsee it either. YW

[@Jorge_Pronto]

Hey Dave, nice episode as always. Do you think you will ever look into the concept of Marchetti's constant and its role in the increasing average distance people are traveling every day to their work (resulting in more emissions from commuting mobility)

[@AnalystPrime]

Yes, the conditions in DRC are bad, but somehow I doubt there is a cartoon villain in charge of the local mining who deliberately refuses to replace child workers with more efficient and productive machinery and only sells the cobalt they produced to battery manufacturers and none of it ever goes to his bigger customer, the oil industry... Children have been supporting their families by working, sometimes in horrible jobs, for millennia. Mines have been dangerous work places that don't publicize the number of people dying there to whoever they are selling for about as long time. The most important uses of cobalt are oil refining and steel manufacturing, but the steel can and will be recycled while the oil is gone when burned. And now when we have companies trying to be more environmentally friendly by causing less pollution, for example by not using oil, cobalt mining is suddenly important enough to notice? This stinks of corruption as badly as the sudden interest in saving birds by forbidding windmills when the local coal plant keeps killing both people and animals with their pollution. But the batteries only used a tiny amount of cobalt and manufacturers have already developed cobalt free alternatives while other users remain as they were. So when is anyone going to ask the people making nose about it why aren't they suing the oil companies?

[@creedsixteen891]

I always enjoy the show. Keep it up

[@tomkelly8827]

Here in Canada we have Cobalt, lots and lots and lots of Cobalt! We have Massive Nickle, Copper, Gold and Silver mines and they all have Cobalt there that can be extracted from the same ores that the other metals are being extracted from. We are the capital of mining finance in the world and we have all the technology to be producing Cobalt at scale today! Instead our government is nationalizing Texan oil pipelines to ship oil to Asia and spending $12 000 000 000 to make that happen. Not a peep about Cobalt though. We need the will power to make this happen. Leaders, miners and financiers just need to see the profit potential and hear us demand that we want this and it can happen. Surely there are many other countries that have loads of Cobalt too. Germany is one. After watching a documentry on DRC mining, I found out that Cobalt was not the main mineral they were excited about, Coltan was. I don't know too much about that but I was surprised that I had been lead to see Cobalt as the main issue there. It is also about government structures and such there too

[@Aermydach]

Since you asked for stuff in the comments: *rabble rabble rabble rabble rabble* Also, showing my support and appeasing the algorithm.

[@keithoneill6273]

Another excellent video.

[@billsugden3734]

Great to see the changes being made to reduce the usage of cobalt. There is one problem though with the increasing use of LiFePO, phosphates are an important and increasingly scarce ingredient in fertilizers. We must be careful not to cure the cobalt problem by making phosphates too expensive for fertilizers.

[@MrNasterly]

Canada is in the early phases of developing a cobalt supply chain, take a look at the company First Cobalt, it will be North America's only cobalt refinery. Feedstock to be coming from North American mines in the near future. Canadian government just provided a $5 million grant and $5 million loan to help get it going. Cobalt prices have almost doubled so far this year which is making it feasible to mine the North American sources. Domestic cobalt production is on the way.

[@martinleett8116]

I like that you showed Africa growing Hemp. it is part of the solution man..

[@JustHaveaThink]

There may well be a Hemp video coming up in the New Year.

[@ricos1497]

It'll be interesting to see if rain forest and gorilla homes are subsequently trashed for some monocrop planting to replace the cobalt mining. Bet there's a GM crop just waiting to be planted with all that cheap labour.

[@avastone4772]

"… battered by decades of war and corrupt government" - and before that decades of brutal colonialism.

[@who9387]

Ava Stone - What is your point here ? That was a long time ago and hardly relevant now.

[@bozo5632]

@@who9387 Not long ago at all. Entirely relevant now. Why does that upset some people?

[@sulaak]

@@who9387 All those cobolts mines are still owned by the same brutal colonialist.

[@Davido2369]

Mmm your voice is soothing man, keep it up

[@xenocampanoli815]

It would be nice if we could establish a universal proportion defining effective sustainable present use of resources like Cobalt. Like if everyone could simply see Cobalt is 17% or something (arbitrary number) and iron is 225% and pleutonium is -55%, and we all know what the number implies, then we could get the general public better understanding and contributing to such policy.

[@e6ensperception]

You explain this info very well. I want to learn more about the unethical metals in batteries. Are lithium iron phosphate batteries the be all end all solution?

[@TG-lp9vi]

Good thinking. Now what about Lithium?

[@DemMedHornene]

Great video. If I can make a recommendation for future videos, I would recommend that you clean up the audio, since there's a constant static that you mic is picking up.

[@JustHaveaThink]

Hi Saturn666. Someone else has mentioned that today and it comes as a bit of a worrying revelation to me. I record with a decent mic through a Zoom H4 sound recorder and the sound quality seems OK in the editing software (Premiere Pro). I'll have a listen through headphones this evening to see if I can work out what's going on. Thanks for the feedback. Dave

[@klokoloko2114]

@@JustHaveaThink Interesting, it's almost as loud as background music 🤔 Your amplifying ratio is probably to big that's why you have so much background noise. It can happen if you attenuate mic signal before amplification and than you amplify to much so you get low signal to noise ratio. Experiment a little.

[@quaqamolgreatandmightyskin7312]

Honnestly your channel is a breath of fresh air. I mean between all the 5g conspiracy, covid crap, riots and all tha. You give me hope for the future! Environement-green tech and all that i something i really care about so i'm glad to see how much we work on it... Kind of! So thanks !

[@JustHaveaThink]

Thanks Zouki. I'm delighted you like the videos. Much appreciated :-)

[@acmefixer1]

A thought occurred that if the BEV batteries were made of smaller modules, they could be monitored and replaced at much lower incremental cost so that the vehicle overall costs could be spread out over a number of years. No big bill for a complete battery pack replacement.

[@peterjol]

We have to identify and make it financially worthwhile for people to start sharing the jobs we NEED people to do and working LESS....then no matter what happens there would be no such thing as a shortage of jobs or unemployment....and I can't see how there could be any valid arguments about their not being enough money or we can't afford it if all the work/jobs we NEED and want to have done is being done, or equally any valid arguments for why everyone can't at the very least be paid enough money to have all they NEED.

[@grindupBaker]

I was promised a working week of

[@JustHaveaThink]

Exactly Grindup. Over night change is a simple matter of 57 years of graft and Hey Presto, it all falls into your lap. You lucky old bastard! ;-)

[@darrenpat182]

Michael Moore said we have to have a NEED based economy and not a WANT based economy

[@garethbaus5471]

Find a way to do this fairly while still promoting innovation, minimizing environmental harms, and still incentivizing hard work and you would have solved one of the most difficult questions in existence.

[@peterjol]

@@garethbaus5471 its not incentivizing hard work that we need ..it's incentivizing doing the work we NEED to have done....It would have been very hard work building the pyramids or the temples or the castles or all the mansions for the rich ..but the people who did all the hard work sure didn't need or benefit from all their hard labour.

[@martinlacey5985]

Let's take battery use of Cobalt. NIMH batteries contain around 4% Cobalt, Tesla 2018 Model 3 LR NCA pack weighs 480 KG of which 4.5 KG is cobalt - ie

[@dogphlap6749]

While it's true the biggest use for Cobalt is in batteries (mostly mobile phone) that use still accounts for less than half (42%) of the total. The cobalt in Li-ion batteries is available for recycling at the end of cell life in a nice sealed package, something that cannot be said for the 9% that is used as a catalyst in oil refining or any of the other many uses for cobalt with the exception of cutting tools used in metal machining.

[@b43xoit]

What about the sourcing of graphite for the anodes? I read that there are problems with that, too.

[@owenwall5486]

Is it possible to recycle cobalt from ceramic glaze material? Don't know if it would amount to much in the grand scheme of things.. It makes the strong blue in glaze and i (i am a potter) sometimes use 3% in a glaze and i often wonder if i can send my rejects somewhere..

[@incognitotorpedo42]

There isn't enough cobalt in the glaze to be economically recycled.

[@patrickmcnulty848]

Seems the new silicon batteries developed by Goodenough are a much cleaner choice.. No recycling needed as the silica is as abundant as sand...

[@Arbarano]

Recycling is always a good thing.

[@g4egk]

If we don't recycle it, it's not part of a circular economy?

[@patrickmcnulty848]

@@g4egk Certainly much better then plastics as the batteries would would just breakdown into sand....

[@incognitotorpedo42]

There's a lot more than just "sand" in Goodenough's solid state battery. There are still anodes, cathodes, and the mobile lithium ions. They aren't going to be commercialized for quite a while, either.

[@patrickmcnulty848]

@@incognitotorpedo42 Still they are the far better choice of tomorrows batteries...

[@oisnowy5368]

The whole world doesn't change in a blink of the eye. Although change and improvements lack the desired pace, as long as it is steered in the right direction and as long as efforts forge ahead, we're making progress. Never be dismissive of that even if it comes short upon what we eventually want. A better world is an extremely long term effort. Patience is a virtue. Having said that, humans are very ingenious and several of us will come up with ways to hasten progress or ways to side-step issues. And let's not forget everyone can be a minor part of the solution simply by trying to consume less. You said "insatiable" demand for cobalt. It's not; supply and demand is based on scarcity. If we, as consumers, just take a bit more care of our products, if we don't buy new phones and laptops every year so (which I'm glad to say I haven't done since ages), then you reduce the demand for products and therefore the demand for cobalt. There's no point making stuff no one buys.

[@camerontaylor7471]

Then the economy will collapse because people are consuming less and less and less... money and capitalism and economy and government and religion everything of the system is the problem...

[@incognitotorpedo42]

@@camerontaylor7471 What's your solution then?

[@electronresonator8882]

you don't buy phones and laptops? fine, but the other 7 billions people have their own decision as well "Having said that, humans are very ingenious and several of us will come up with ways to hasten progress or ways to side-step issues." then you underestimate politics that already cause so many wars including two world wars, not because you invent something then you can do whatever you want, Nikola Tesla experenced it the hard way, his inventions are beyond his time, and look what happened to him

[@caine7024]

creeping up on 100k subs!! great video, made me hit the bell

[@JustHaveaThink]

Cheers Caine. Much appreciated :-)

[@jameswest4819]

It should also be noted that while investigating the polymetalic nodules, the sediment, that has been considered a nuisance because of the plume or cloud the suction extraction produces, has rare earth elements in it, one of them is scandium that has recently been combined with aluminum to make a metal used for some types of airplanes. If it is necessary for military type airplanes, I expect they are probably considering it something important for national security and you can rest assured that there will be very little sediment floating down to cover the little sea creatures. Who knows how deep the sediment is in some places?

[@telfordpenfold18]

If a Canadian, for example, commits Paedophilia abroad, he/she is charged under Canadian law. If a mining company commits a child labour violation abroad, that company should be charged under the child labour laws of its home country.

[@incognitotorpedo42]

I don't think that Canadian companies are engaging in child labor in the Congo. The artisanal mining operations are indigenous to the DRC.

[@AnalystPrime]

The companies aren't using child labor, the locals are mining cobalt and selling the ore to local company and simply not advertising who does the work. Even if the company declared they aren't buying from Bob because he forced his children to work in the mine, Bob can simply sell the ore to Joe who sells it to the mine, and BTW, lower income for Bob means now his kids are starving again so he needs to dig more ore to keep his family fed. The reports of bandit warlords enslaving people are another issue that needs to be dealt with.

[@incognitotorpedo42]

@@AnalystPrime If we put those kids (most of whom are teenagers, not babies) out of a job and they die of starvation, did we do good? If you want to impose the values of a rich westerner on poor Congolese, it's going to be a little messy.

[@blenderNOOb69]

Cobalt is also used to refine gasoline - in big quantities...

[@joeblack4436]

Cobalt is heavily used for highly resistant alloys as well. Especially in turbines and jet engines. Including natural gas turbines power plants. Whatever else - People must not conflate batteries used for utility scale power storage (with low or no Cobalt) with batteries used for high density mobile applications (which use significant quantities of Cobalt). Replacing natural gas turbines with a combination of renewable power and low (or no) cobalt battery systems will actually lower demand for cobalt and release a lot of cobalt back into the system for recycling. Cobalt demand for EVs is a serious matter, but it should also be noted that Lithium Ion Phosphate batteries have developed to the point where they are starting to be viable for EVs too. Tesla is after all using LFP batteries for battery pack production in China.

[@ryantennyson7562]

Maybe tech manufacturers should be forced through legislation to make their products recyclable by law.

[@onestartravellermarkeymark5329]

Another good doc, thanks. I do question when you say hydro is a renewable. With climate change it is a very risky form of energy especially the large hydro projects which have many other issues eg displacement of populations and destruction of down stream marine ecology, construction of dams in earthquake zones . Would good to see a doc on this.

[@SteveRichfield]

So, let me understand this. To save the children from cobalt, the plan is to deny them this income so they starve. Right? How about supplying them with resperators, or give them stock in the companies that replace them, or give them jobs in these companies, or do SOMETHING other than "saving" these children from the horrors of cobalt, only to leave them to starve?

[@theotherandrew5540]

Agricultural work, farm labour, is hard and will not of itself provide adequate and satisfying employment for most of these young people. Support must also be directed towards the processing of agricultural products. The processing is where the profit is. There are of course extremely important local markets for refined and processed food. DRC also needs help to deviate from exporting raw materials (of any sort) to exporting of processed, market-ready materials. This of course is being resisted my buyers in the "developed" world, and as with cobalt mining, need to be exposed. DRC needs support to develop refining facilities to produce a high quality product for export. The next step could be the production and export of the finished batteries.

[@Robert-08542]

We should determine the # of 'portable' laptops that are never &/or rarely moved to locations that don't have access to electricity and stop equipping them with batteries. Also, increase the price of laptops with batteries. That would cut down the cobalt otherwise needed for those laptops, and the extra costs of laptops could be added to that fund for the families in the DRC.

[@mohammadaman175]

Child labourers die mining mica in Jharkhand, India. Mica is added to cosmetics to make them glitter. Major makeup brands and consumers are responsible for it.

[@grindupBaker]

Captain Kirk & Tammy Faye Bakker are personally responsible for most of it.