While electric vehicles (EVs) are being touted as the green solution to transportation, a humanitarian and environmental crisis is unfolding in the lithium triangles of South America and Africa. By 2025, global demand for lithium will have tripled compared to 2020, reaching 3.5 million tons annually, but the cost behind these batteries is alarming.
1. The Faces of Exploitation: Where and How is Lithium Extracted?
South American salt flats (65% of global production):
- Salar de Atacama (Chile):
- 2.2 million liters of water per ton of lithium evaporated in salt flats.
- Indigenous Atacama communities without access to drinking water (75% of dry wells).
- Lithium Triangle (Argentina-Bolivia-Chile):
- Workers in semi-slavery conditions: Wages of $5/day and toxic exposure.
Central African mines (new epicenter in 2025):
- Congo and Rwanda:
- Artisanal mines employ child labor (UNICEF reports 35,000 children in mines).
- Cobalt and nickel contamination associated with birth defects.
2. Invisible Environmental Impact
- Water stress: 85% of lithium extraction uses evaporation systems that consume 40% of the water in arid regions.
- Toxicity: Evaporation ponds with chemicals such as hydrochloric acid leach into aquifers (e.g., Lake Poopó in Bolivia, now dry).
- Biodiversity: Andean flamingos in danger due to the destruction of wetlands (population down 60% since 2020).
3. The “Zero Emissions” Deception
- Carbon Footprint: Producing a 75 kWh battery emits 8-10 tons of CO₂ (equivalent to two years of driving a combustion engine car).
- Global Transportation: Lithium travels 50,000 km from mines to factories (Chile → China → US → Europe).
4. Ethical Alternatives Emerging in 2025
- Geothermal lithium: Companies like Vulcan Energy extract lithium from hot springs in Germany (zero wasted water).
- Sodium batteries: China mass-produces Na-Ion batteries for 50% of its EVs (no lithium/cobalt).
- Ultra-efficient recycling: Tesla’s Redwood Materials recycles 95% of a battery (vs. 50% in 2020).
5. How to Consume EVs Responsibly
- Demand transparency: Brands like Fairphone and Ford publish mineral supply maps.
- Support regulations: The EU Ethical Battery Act (2024) requires diligent owners.
- Consider alternatives: Electric bikes or public transport where viable.
The Ethical Dilemma: Are EVs Really Green?
- Short term: They reduce urban emissions but externalize damage to the Global South.
- Long-term: They are only sustainable if the extraction and consumption model changes.
“We cannot solve the climate crisis on the shoulders of the most vulnerable” — Anexa Chung, Congolese activist.
