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One of the big changes facing the global transportation industry is electrification. Big corporations and car manufacturers are ditching combustion engines, with Toyota saying it will have an electrified or hybrid version of all vehicles by 2025. But there is a dark side to this revolution.
Cobalt is one of the key ingredients added in electric batteries, and more than half of it is currently mined in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Amnesty says children as young as seven work in dangerous conditions in Congo cobalt mines.
"At the present time, you'd have to say that there isn't a lot of regulation around the mining of cobalt," says Gavin Wendt, the founding director and senior resource analyst at Australia-based Minelife.
Wendt thinks recent international scandals in the car industry have put pressure on car manufacturers to ethically source the materials needed for their cars.
"We're seeing more and more ... pressure from society to ensure that these commodities are ethically sourced ... A very big issue is going to be where this cobalt will come from, and hence companies are looking to source cobalt outside of the DRC as much as possible," Wendt says.
With 54 percent of cobalt currently coming from the Congo, that goal is still a long way off.
(Score: 3, Touché) by Aiwendil on Tuesday December 26 2017, @04:29PM (2 children)
Well, nothing really prevents Tesla from putting a "ethical cobalt: +50USD" option in their extra-lists, and it would be in line with they other extras
(Score: 2) by n1 on Tuesday December 26 2017, @04:55PM (1 child)
It would perhaps make the Tesla loyalists think that Tesla doesn't do everything in the most ethical and green way by default, which is why the most ethical consumers are now on their 4th or 5th brand new Tesla in the same number of years, saving the planet... (or because it takes so long to get a Tesla repaired, they buy a new one [as described by a Tesla owner and shareholder on their forum])
On top of that Tesla needs all the cash they can get, and giving it away to child laborers who can't ever hope to afford a trip to mars or an aesthetically pleasing solar roof is a waste of valuable hat marketing resources.
(Score: 2) by Aiwendil on Tuesday December 26 2017, @07:00PM
So... Want a spin and profit... Let's see. "Extra childfriendly production: 100USD" and then only bump the mining surplus by 5% and pocket the remaining 75USD.
Or they could introduce a new trademark "Coral Cobalt" and charge 100USD and only source from australian mines (costs as much, less children [and adults] involved per mined unit), and then not mention that they get the same Cobalt and still tell the world that all their cobalt comes from mines that doesn't involve child labour.