Myth:
Big batteries, home batteries and EV batteries all use cobalt, which is mined under appalling conditions in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Those who promote these technologies are as responsible for these conditions as the mining companies themselves.
Fact:
Most modern batteries no longer use nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) technology. Instead, they use lithium iron phosphate (LFP) technology, which does not contain cobalt. In Australia, all of the big batteries being installed around the country use LFP, as do all the major brands of home batteries.
As far as EV batteries are concerned, 60 percent of all those manufactured globally use LFP technology rather than NMC. The figure is 70 percent for vehicles made in China.
The devices that do all use cobalt are mobile phones, laptops, tablets and power tools. Every single one in them contains it. So, if people are concerned about cobalt mining in the Congo, they should be protesting against the use of these devices, not batteries. Interestingly, it is also used in oil refineries to remove sulphur from crude oil, to produce cleaner fuel. So, the fossil fuel industry is also dependent on it.
Cobalt mining in the Rupblic of the Congo. [Source: Wikimedia Commons]
Sources:
Fred Lambert, “Tesla is already using cobalt-free LFP batteries in half of its new cars produced,” Elektrek, 22/4/22
Hannah Ritchie, “Is cobalt the ‘blood diamond of electric cars’? What can be done about it?,” By the Numbers, 28/6/23. https://hannahritchie.substack.com/p/cobalt
Neeraj Sharma, “‘Blood cobalt’ is disappearing from batteries – and cheaper, cleaner batteries are arriving,” The Conversation, 19/2/26