The Trouble With Cobalt | Answers With Joe
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- čas přidán 23. 02. 2020
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Electric cars have a dark secret - cobalt. The element that is in almost all lithium-ion batteries is often considered a conflict mineral because half of all cobalt reserves are found in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a troubled region with over a century of instability.
But is it as bad as the anti-EV crowd has led us to believe? What's the reality of the situation, and what are some of the solutions?
Big thanks to Zarko Meseldzija of American Manganese and RecycLiCo
www.recyclico.com
www.americanmanganeseinc.com
And Marc Kohler of Lithiumwerks
www.lithiumwerks.com
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LINKS LINKS LINKS:
www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/...
batteryuniversity.com/learn/a...
cleantechnica.com/2019/12/04/...
www.theatlantic.com/technolog...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democra...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_C...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_...
insideevs.com/news/397883/gle...
www.cobaltinstitute.org/asset...
science.howstuffworks.com/env...
www.raconteur.net/manufacturi...
www.worldbank.org/en/news/pre...
www.ft.com/content/e05d8582-2... - Věda a technologie
![[Vowel]물고기는 물에서 살아야 해🐟🤣Fish have to live in the water #funny](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/3G9MH063Cx4/mqdefault.jpg)
I’m live in Belgium and (not so) fun fact!
History teacher are not required to teach about the stuff Belgium did in Kongo, it’s optional because “it’ll taint our country’s name”
My history teacher told this to the class and said “isn’t that crazy, that would be like Germans never learning about the nazi’s because “it’ll taint our country’s name””
I'm glad one teacher had sense, but how many others didn't?!
I just realized my utter lack of faith in humanity is summed up in this one question...
As a duttch citizen I sympathise and know exactly what you mean as the slave traders and VOC of history are often considered the golden era where the nation and companies grew very wealthy and the ffact it wwas over the back of the cruelties of sugar plants in indonsia and slavetrade was a sidestory. Not very proud of those historical facts, even if the times were different.
To be fair they didn't teach about the third Reich in schools in the 1950's and 1960's. My father told me that when he had history class they did start with they french revolution, moved then on until 1933 and then went on with 1949.
The world was always a cruel place but Europeans are the ones who finally put an end to it, after partaking in it themselves.
Here in the U.S. our teachers are not teaching certain parts of our history because it would be offensive to some. They leave out some and twist others. It's awful. Politics have no place in deciding what part of history is taught. Teachers should teach everything, the good, bad and ugly. It's something we should never forget.
Me, a DnD player:
"Huh. That's where kobolds came from"
Yeah I know. Amaze.
Where Kobolds come from?.. When a lady Kobold and a gentleman Kobold, love each other very much...
lol same, as someone who played Neverwinter Nights since 2002, which was based on D&D lore and mechanics, and did real time dice rolls in real time combat. i sank so much time into that game it's not even funny lol
Anything that isn't directly copy-written by Wizards of the Coast, such as Beholders, is likely from folk lore.
Me, as a Legend of Drizzt Reader:
“Huh, THAT’S where kobolds came from.”
Also, I did not know Kobolds were used to name Cobalt. Interesting.
"Congo's problems go back much, much further." - Me: Nervously swallows in Belgian...
Haha
You don't swallow in ANY language, and there is no such language as "Belgian." Other than that, brilliant.
@@DieFlabbergast he's likely referring to BEING Belgian.
But *swallows in Belgian ancestry* doesn't sound as good.
And our current culture seems inclined toward expressing thoughts in as few words as possible.
Gnome sayin?
Y'all killed Kenny! (probably)
@Egg T what pride do you mean? I don’t think they are showing any pride.
as a belgian i can say it : i’ve learned more about all the horror caused by my country in this video than in my 6 years of secondary school
All you will do is write and sympathize and continue in your day
@@kamalmohamed9403 wtf are they supposed to do change history 😂
@@kamalmohamed9403 not really though? It does effect your world view and, by extension, your voting partners which can cause change.
@@kamalmohamed9403
All you will do is write and make yourself a fool.
that's a good thing actually, we all got our share of horrible things done, your humbleness is what everyone of us needs to do (and some are doing)...it's not a BELGIAN thing or anything...it's a HUMAN nature and we effin need to talk about it. Homo homini lupus - Thomas Hobbs.
That being said - We need to stop any kind of exploitation of people in any place on Earth on behalf of people on another place on Earth (or vertically - society class wise...disclaimer: I'm not a commie)
Very well done video, Joe. This is exactly the kind of content I come here for: new information about things I had no prior knowledge of, and updates on things to come. Good show, old chap.
Jolly swell show good sir!
ok boomer
Ask joe Scott these question on patron.ask him whether science has gone downhill since science ignore criticism Dissident science CZcams channel sciencewoke.org The Ten Assumptions of Science: Toward a New Scientific Worldview Glenn Borchardt book
@@animatedfun1803 Huh?
As a Congolese, I can attest how frustrating it is for our government to fail for so long to regulate properly the exploitation of cobalt so it can profit to the people instead of empoverish and harm them.
I dont think that minig empowerishes them. Why would they do it?
@@vojtasks oh it totally does. They absolutely don't profit from it at all but work harder than you would ever do
@@julienckjm7430 well, if they would not need it they would not do it.
My grandma in the 20s used to work on field when she was a child because every hand was useful and summer hollidays were invented so that children could help parents to harvest weed.
Child labor is part of economic development. Once the country is rich enough children just stop working because it is no longer needed. Practically no parent want his child to work in a mine but when they don't have any choice left. Prohibiting it does not help them quite contrary.
@@vojtasks regulations bro, think about regulations! Those children aren't paid a lot and they suffer too much for less gain. The thing is the money gained from the mining in the country don't profits to the locals at all. No hospital created, no school build, the roads remain awful, unless it is the road linking the mining office to the mines, but nothing in the area where people live, no agriculture sector developed, like everything which does not help to extract more ore isn't considered worthy to maintain or to even build. That's how bad the people suffer.
@@julienckjm7430 yup, but if state rises taxes on that labor it makes it more expensive and result will be less of this labor purchases. Meaning even worse wages. I guess some smart regulation can be implemented but cost of loosing those jobs especially when those people are so desperate is pretty high.
"Hipsters mining for beard cream"
Neck beard cream and man bun pomme
Nah those are Beard Blaze users
its interesting how everyone is suddenly so concerned about child labor being used in cobalt mining yet no one gave even half a shit about it back in the day when cobalt's main industrial application was in oil refining
"Hipsters mining for beard cream"
I laughed, then I realised that if I looked hard enough, somewhere on the internet that is probably a thing..
svvitchio a fairly close thing would be hipsters mining eBay and estate sales for 100 year old razors to use with their modern beard creams
@@MasterShake9000 that's moving away from "hipsters" into just young rich people. Young 1%ers. They have are different names in different languages, but when a lifestyle can hardly be imagined by middle-class college graduates, "hipster" isn't the right term.
Cuvtixo D oh you sweet summer child. You know nothing of the ways of low income hipsters on ebay
What the hell, I'm German and even I had no idea that cobalt was named after kobolds/goblins :D
I always thought Cobalt sounds like Kobold, but had no clue of the origin of this name. Joe always surprises me with new knowlege - even in our language.
Well I’m a Swede and didn’t know it was discovered by a Swede as the first metal for ages. :)
Good thing we have joe to teach us. ;)
Nickel has a similar origin with Nickel being the name of a goblin, devil or some other mischievous spirit.
Anyone here know how I can ask Joel Scott a question and he will make a video about it I tried contacting him on his answer with your website and submit it does question but he hasn't answered
@@animatedfun1803 The easiest/most promising way of contacting him is to support him on Patreon and DM him there.
"Not to give too much away"
*Immediately gives away a big season 4 spoiler*
That was kind of assholic.
Time stamp?
@@ieajackson5518 24:31
@@ieajackson5518 There he says "not to give too much away", and 24:54 is the spoiler.
@@justsomeguy892 thanks
"There's basically a limitless amount of lithium in the ocean." That's what they said about fish a few hundred years ago. 😉
Well there would be if we kept fishing the way we did hundreds of years ago
Exactly. Lithium is plentiful but mining it resourcefully and efficiently, and then processing it is the challenge, which is why so many junior lithium miners go out of business.
@@sooks05 kinda....like even big wood sail boats we got food at fishing with nets i think we would not deplete the oceans as fast using 100 year old methods but would still be done for if we went ham
@@elijah3821 Who, me? I'm denying that fish are limitless and am saying that fishing unsustainably is a guaranteed method of driving our food sources to extinction. Similarly, the faster we mine lithium, the sooner we run out.
@6079 Smith W I have no idea how lithium is extracted or produced, regardless though, if it's as simple as you claim, you're still drastically underestimating the limits of human ingenuity and what a few hundred years worth of technological advancement can bring. You're ignoring that we've successfully depleted most every resource we've sought to some extent or another, up to and including even *sand* due to its use in concrete.
Can I just say this is so brave for you, for someone who clearly enjoys technological progress and who’s audience sympathises to look this hard straight into a huge problem with it is genuinely impressive. Well done Joe.
theres nothing brave about speaking the truth, its just the baseline expectation, so he gets congrats for that, not “bravery”, no one knows what bravery is until they know what true primal fear is, which this has nothing to do with
@@SobeCrunkMonster "nothing brave about saying the truth"...
on a scale from Huxley to Orwell you're totally on the Huxley side aren't you?
@@matheussanthiago9685 Boom
I like the balance approach in your presentation of this sensitive subject. Keep it up!
@The Truth of the Matter I am a man who likes to give credit where credit is due. Yes, you may not like this, it's OK, I respect that!
Yea this guy is fucking good and he makes a shit ton of videos!
Balanced?! The video very strongly suggested that anyone expressing concern about the inhumane conditions in cobalt mines is either disingenuous or an anti-electric vehicle shill.
@The Truth of the Matter From the video. He's obviously a Tesla fanboy.
Anyone know how I can contact Joe to make them make a video on my question
This is why The Good Place hit the nail on the head: no matter how much you try to separate yourself from the "grid," you're actively contributing to the suffering of someone else on the other side of the planet. Every one of your choices causes terrible ripples.
Modern life is great.
Edit: lol I wrote this comment before the end of the episode. I didn't realise that that would end up making it into the episode. Guess the show made that point REALLY well.
Thanks Joe. The only way we've ever improved upon a situation is by learning about it. You're helping with that 1st step ~
2:45 "blood batteries"
... yeah, cause oil is fought over so peacefully
...also, the Oil industry used waaaaaay more cobalt than EV's in their refining/desulfurization processes.
well I mean not currently
@Robbi Rose Not only is it true, the processes that use it to desulfurize fossil fuels make it un-usable afterwards, whereas batteries can be recycled and almost 100% of their cobalt recovered and re-used.
The cobalt catalyst lost in the process is lost in a toxic slurry of petrochemical waste, financially and environmentally prohibitive it recover, so they use new cobalt. The cobalt in batteries, is unchanged at end-of-life and easily re-used, IF we even need it by that time.
NET, even if the EV industry continues to use CO (which it probably won't), the fossil industry will have used and dumped vastly far more CO on the world (and during a period when these mines were unregulated). When Exxon recovers it's spent Cobalt, it does so in a drum in a hole in the ground in India, When Tesla recovers it's co, it'll go straight into new batteries.
@@petercarioscia9189 as in a war specifically stated beforehand to be just for oil? I feel you are being specious but here goes, Germany invading russia, pearl harbour and Japan's expansion towards the Philippines, Iraq invading Kuwait. Theres got to be more, the last is surely the clearest
not defending oil because i am excited about EVs....but generally in life its good to remember that sins of others doesnt wash away your own sins...thats old saying that keeps tru...dont matter how bloody the history of oil is.....or how "blood oil" it is...it's doesn't change the fact that maybe batteries have some blood in them ...and its an issue that needs to be recognized so that at some point we might be able to change that ....
Thanks for mentioning Hydrodesulfurization. Every time I hear "what about the child labor used to mine cobalt for your EV" I mention that Cobalt is used to remove sulfur from refined petroleum products - and I get a blank stare.
But doesn't that just mean it uses less child labor, but still child labor?
But it's a catalytic reaction, meaning it doesn't get depleted. Of course some material is lost due to process inefficiencies, simply left behind, but do you know how much it is, how much or how little cobalt is consumed in petroleum production, and how much lifetime consumption of cobalt caused by a combustion vehicle as opposed to an EV?
Obviously i don't want to argue against EVs here, i believe they are a strategic necessity, and obviously Cobalt is not the only thing to look at by far, but pointing figures doesn't do anyone any favours, we need to try to accurately assess the impact of everything we use.
@@SianaGearz Since we're considering cobalt recovery in petroleum production, if you recycle all batteries eventually, I'm guessing most of the cobalt would be recoverable too.
@@SianaGearz the cobalt in batteries doesn't get depleted either, so that point is moot. It's simply converted from one alloy to another, same as in petroleum refining.
@@SianaGearzthe difference is people who drive regular cars don't have a holier-than-thou attitude, that's why the blood colbalt used in EVs is ironic.
Something you didnt mention is that those copper cobalt mines in the DRC tend to be mildly radioactive. Not a problem unless you have daily exposure, say when you work in a mine.
But if you enter the DRC by land, there are piles of bags of copper cobalt ore near the border posts that set of the Geiger counters to "unacceptable levels". The truckers that move the ore also end up with mild radiation sickness and their vehicles slowly become radioactive over time and are eventually scrapped because they set off those Geiger counters everytime they attempt to cross the border.
Copper cobalt uranium mines
I live in Cobalt Ontario Canada. Crazy amounts of native silver came out of here, and cobalt as well. Lots. 500,000,000oz of silver and millions of lbs of cobalt. (No totals available as it wasn't the primary ore with massive veins of silver everywhere around)
Petition to rename everything in the periodic table after things from the Monster Manual
7 8
N O
Plutonium Dragon comes to mind...
@@ka-50withsaams36 That just gave me such a cool idea
@@UncleWermus could reskin a green dragon and instead of belching chlorine it exhales radiation. And instead of a fear aura, or along with, a poison aura. Numerically it shouldnt change.
@@rabbidninja79 I was thinking Radiant dragons, that start as something mundane and as they gain power they enrich into more dangerous isotopes toward the middle of their life cycle then gradually decay as they get older
The reason why cobalt in Kongo is so important, is that the extraction from its mineral is exceptionaly easy. Extraction of cobalt in Australia and other places is harder and more expensive.
MegaDuras where was the easy part? Didn’t u see the pix?
I think he meant it is cheep
@@aliyahlotus4274, Congo has sulfide copper ore, which is much easier to extract. If you want more info, read my article: amosbbatto.wordpress.com/2017/07/05/emissions-from-gigafactory/
No, it's extremely cheap and exploitative. They pay children less than $2 per day, and it's so dangerous children die from it.
@@smiling5683 and now Elon created cobaltless batteries 🤣🤣🤣. Elon destroying whole industries😂😂
Dear Joe, as always, great video. The most comprehensive I've ever seen on this topic, and I'm specially glad about the emphasis on the role of the Belgians on the scourge of Congo.
But there are things in all this discussion about cobalt mining in Congo that people in rich countries just don't grasp:
These kids don't work in these conditions by the force of a gun but by the force of hunger.
Hunger.
Congo is a resource-rich country with a starving population, devastated by wars financed by the great powers. Agriculture is not an option in a country that lives in constant war for over a century. Developing a market or building industries is nothing but a fable or a distasteful joke. Extraction is the only source of wealth possible in Congo.
So the solution cannot come by replacing cobalt for something else: these kids will still starve to death, but faster. The only difference is that people in rich countries won't feel guilty because their electronic devices directly cause their deaths; only indirectly, because they depleted their only possible income, but there are ways to rationalize other people's misery in forms of meritocracy.
Without mining cobalt from Congo, their situation will worsen, not improve.
The solution, in fact, is to make the mining companies comply with international laws, not to stopping them to mine in Congo. You say that only 15% is artisanal, which means that about 85% of mining is done in modern ways. So the problem with these mines is minor; important and needs urgently to be adressed, but minor, since professional mining is almost 6 times as big in Congo.
And there is one point no one talks about: do these companies pay their taxes or only bribes? How is Congonese tax system to these companies? I bet their tax system is soft on them, whenever they pay anything at all. How can a country ravaged by war, with no agriculture, industry or services develop without taxation?
Yes, Congolese government may be corrupt, but it is much easier to control taxes than bribes, and the money generated by Congo resources is becoming profit in rich countries (specially Belgium), instead of a wealth the Congonese people could share. Half of the taxes (after 50% corruption) invested in the country is better than all the profits invested abroad.
You see, conditions in factories in the XIX century in UK, USA or the Europe were not much better than the condition of the Congolese miners. In fact, factories today in China, Pakistan and Vietnam may present worse conditions today, but nobody is talking about helping using smartphones or clothes or shoes because of it. Things can improve, as long as these companies do not run the country, but its people itself.
So, if we really want to improve the situation of the Congolese people, we must force the mining companies to improve the situation of Congo, not making them produce cobalt elsewhere or getting rid of it.
Yes. I completely agree. The way forward is tp develop the country in the DRC in a sustainable way, so that their people can have a fair buisiness and sustain their lives. The solution is not to look away, and boycot their product, which would rob the people from the DRC from a possibility to develop their country. In that way, you would actually consolidate the status quo of poverty and corruption in a country that desperately needs to get away from that situation.
Point well made
Word. 🤘🏾
🌈🫒
You want companies to develop a country? That's a government's job.
@Antiyoukai
There is VERY BAD govt. In DRC.
Your comment shows you to be an exploitative capitalist with NO SENSE of humanity.
I hope you don't call yourself a Krischin... because you AIN'T
I vote for the mining of asteroids, responsibly, ethically, respectfully. I really feel we personally could be doing a slew of things in a healthier, smarter and safer manner. There needs to be more people who genuinely compassionately care about the way we treat our species as well as other species/waterways and the environment.
Unfortunately the reason they'll be more careful with people mining in space is more because of how expensive it is to get people up there than companies actually valuing human life.
That's why us bigfoots just never mess with cobalt
WHY ARE YOU EVERYWHERE
I saw you in GTA.
@@PnlBtr i saw u on the moon
You might think so, but when it's all tallied up, I'm sure we'll meet in the bad place ;)
I SWEAR YOU SUB EVERY CHANNEL I DO. BIGFOOT COMMENT. EVERYTIME.
I gotta say, Joe, you really know your stuff: this video is OUTSTANDING!
99
Without hesitation I say The Good Place was the best written show I've ever seen in my life. I feel like there should be alarms and news reports on just how good that show was. Hats off to everyone involved!
I just finished watching the show. I loved it. Very thought provoking.
Joe, I can’t tell you delighted I am to have found your channel ! Not to mention how much I’ve learned since subscribing to your channel! The content is always interesting and your delivery is so engaging and full of sardonic humour that it’s fun . YOU would have been a much loved teacher…in any school… but you’re reaching a far wider student body on the internet…
Thank you so much 😊.
Really appreciate your work on this, Joe. I wish you , Tim, and Ben got contracts from Netflix and the likes for your long form work.
That's why they're on Curiosity Stream now - they're free to do videos on whatever!
Joe. What an amazing video. Chemistry, history, logistics and geo-politics all wrapped up in a science/tech video.
This is why I love your channel mate.
My dad was part of the UN mission as a pilot from the IAF to Congo back in 2004 . I remember him saying that people were incredibly starved and malnourished. His objective was to transport cargo to the UN established refugee camps and occasionally people in need of immediate transport. He was there for almost 2 years and I remember when he came back, he was a changed man. In a good way i.e, he was more appreciative and confident about being alive and well. He quit smoking for good and made changes in his diet. And to this day, he lives with the changes he made. He said it was humbling to see the appreciation the people had with whatever help he could offer, even though he wanted to do more.
I think this WAS the longest video of yours I've watched ... But you did a great job at pacing, and pulled me in along with you almost every step of the way. Great job, and don't be afraid to try further long-form topics; this 15 second attention-span generation can always use the challenge, if nothing else. Either way, this video really made me think; consider a lot of things. Thank you.
Joe: *mentions goblins
Goblin Slayer: hold my torch *goes around checking everything
Joe: *mentions kobolds
Furries: *starts jacking it
Joe: *mentions kobolds with a picture out of D&D 5th Edition Monster Manual (Or is it Volo's Guide to Monsters)
Me: Gets excited for the pending Wizards of the Coast versus Joe Scott copyright lawsuit.
As metallurgist I am so happy to finally see a good concentry of informations which resume the reality of batteries in our modern world. Thank you so much for This video.
That was perhaps your best most comprehensive video yet Joe. I am a really big fan of yours and I will support your channel through patreon.
Joe! I freaking love you're channel! I feel my brain growing each episode. Keep up the great work.
I like when the backdrop music kicks in :) it’s like, ‘now we’re cookin! Let’s get this thing movin! Yeah! Take that info home with you!’
1. We need a 50s style educational film, "What is ... Cobalt?"
2. I worked with a man from Zaire in the mid 90s. He had some harrowing stories.
3. Any explanation for the concentration of Cobalt in the Congo? Was there a Wakanda style asteroid strike?
4. The white stuff on my counter top isn't salt
Thanks for all the info.
Yeah, the white stuff on my bathroom counter is salt. At least that's what I told my gitlfriend.
Don Gately by* your girlfriend
@@dongately2817 well I'm sure it tastes like salt
@@justghostie4948 seaman
Congo has basically everything. It's the richest country in the world, by an order of magnitude, in terms of natural resources.
I'm an African American and I'd like to say thank you for covering this topic. You shined a light on the genocide King Leopold conducted in the Congo which so few want to talk about. It's important that people know this history for the reasons many commenters have already pointed out. Once again, THANK YOU!
So how are you connected to an event that happened in a continent which was the genetic nest of your distantly related relatives of whom comprised a small fiber in a land with hundreds of spoken languages, in an area that is larger than that of the entire European, middle eastern and south American land mass combined, uniquely qualified to speak on behalf of a situation centuries removed from our modern world, on the geopolitics that dictated the genocide of a people who have a completely different experience with being African than the entire African American population? a population of people who claim to know the pain of colonialism based off of what? The rantings of Jessie Jackson? The sensationalized experience, that's what you and people who adopt the moniker of African American people who claim they understand genocide because they have the same skin tone of the Africans- so so woke you are! Please don't use the qualifier of similar melamine in the pigment of skin tone as a qualifier for anything other than knowing the struggle of skin that is fickle and requires constant attention and moisturizing, or the same follicle issues of hair that is beyond unique and extremely hard to style and maintain. Because as far as struggle goes, that's where the similarities begin and end. Please include the argument qualifier of height struggle to a midget from the perspective of a undersized NBA center in the fight for equality amongst people who have debilitating limitations which have caused them great economic hardship and social embarrassment that is crippling from the perspective of a undersized NBA center who is having a difficult time convincing the midget of their plight and economic limits that are based on stereotypes. I'm European American so I guess I can empathize with the Jewish people who were eradicated from our earth simply because I have the same skin tone and pigment? Or better yet, I have a perfect idea for you, use the argument of a racial qualifier being the basis to knowledge and claim a stake to the cranial capacity of George Washington Carver or W.E Debois, maybe you are as well spoken and prolific as the wordsmith Maya Angelou, simply because you both have hair that is beyond wild and unique! Because nothing screams HEY IM QUALIFIED like sharing the same skin tone of the Africans-of America who have pioneered and broken down doors. So thank you Joe for sharing this video, as a qualifier, IM A EUROPEAN AMERICAN, THANKS FIR SHINING A LIGHT ON A EUROPEAN ROYAL FAMILY, since I too have a tan comparable to the Belgian monarchy in 19th century Europe. Thanks for pointing out the same drivel and then repackaging it in away that inspired me to comment on the geopolitics of man who is somehow distantly related simply because we have a complete 💯 similar melamine content which is decidedly mute due to the environmental conditions of the land which European Americans thrived for eons- shoddy houses which were located in temperate Alpine forests and plain areas that lacked high sunlight and shielded us from high vitamin D production, because for me, nothing says " hey, vanilla faced Belgian monarchs, please make me ashamed for my similarities and geographically similar melamine production because without validation I simply can't find a common thread or fiber to connect my fragile sense of self, kudos to you! Because us European-Americans totally understand the plight of the Holocaust victims of WW2, the forced implementation of indentured servitude of the Irish and British isles who were essentially slaves in the 17th,18th,19th and sometimes even well into the 20th century. I'm so grateful I can empathize with the ethnic Muslim community of Serbia and Montenegro and the genocidal Slobidan Milosavic simply because I have white skin and a few more relatives in the pseudo continent that is Europe, a small collection of ethnically different people who spoke hundreds of languages, were fractured into hundreds of principalities and micro States who struggled with unity until relatively recently- see the Italian state creation and German unification circa the 1870's- because as many others who also embody the different shades of white skin tone who also are quick to react when making a connection with the overwhelming educated conjectures of a population that is overwhelming educated on the geopolitics and history of our people, European Americans, King Leopold, of which was a European ( possibly American, who knows) and sometimes even though I am not able to make a connection to anything and anyone who isn't white like me simply because my epidermis is translucent and somehow that is the only reason I have connection to anything, because I guess pigment is the sole qualifier for cognitive functioning, once again, THANK YOU FOR COVERING THE WHITE SKIN TONE NEWS 🗞️📰🗞️ Lmao 🤣🤣😂 Thanks for the fun JohnnyNismo, I applaud your way of seeing the world through the eyes of a true bigoted group- AFRICAN AMERICANS AND THE WHITE SKIN DEVIL, for without the same skin tone I truly am blind and ignorant, 😂👍 Congratulations on the geopolitically profound argument of a black guy in a world without colored skin tone, because as an American, we really appreciate the same recipe of inherited traits that have been vomited up for centuries now- my experience is important because genetics I guess? Fuccing generation after generation continue to fukk it up because someone put your distantly related relatives onto a boat and forced you to live in the most prosperous nation in the history of mankind- a land where you can make it if you decide to educate yourself and reject the lies of the black guys whomever is propagating the fictionalized experience of being a failure because of "racial bias" instead of looking into the mirror and addressing the guy that reflects back an image of failure because this tan is not the same as the guy who is successful and happens to be a white skin tone or brown, of which eventually even halfrican amaricans of your world happen to bash because when you successfully rise from the perspective of a small people who claim pride and then purposely destroy the same skin tone as you simply because they are you without the mirrored image and reflected image of a man who is a product of your world sans biased neurological and cognitive decline from a reflection that blames am echo of a Belgian dictator for having no room to rise in the world 🌎🔥🤡
Wtf happened here? Does he have to explain and defend his blackness? Can we not learn about tragedies done upon our ancestors and feel bad anymore?
@@paul9299 not reading allat 💯💯
@@paul9299 bro wrote a whole essay just for it not to be read LMAOO
I had cobalt chloride in my chemistry set as a kid. If you warmed it up with an alcohol lamp and let it cool, then added water it would generate heat. The experiment was meant to show an example of an exothermic chemical reaction! Great Gilbert!
My first thought when clicked on vid... 30 minute with Joe.. Awesome!!!
Sadly only felt like 10m...
Love your channel Joe and it's great that you've talked about this, I am in the jewellery industry and have been interested in these issues for a while and have visited small and medium scale artisanal mining operations in both Tanzania and Namibia (gold and gemstone mines). You've done well to cover so many parts of these issues but there are a couple of things I take issue with and id also like to add some links to other videos.
Firstly large scale mining operations with modern equipment coming in can actually make things worse for the people who were working on sites as ASM (artisanal small scale miners) because they often dont employ local people and can take overzealous security measures. Basically shutting out locals who have no other form of income. Yes, working in these mines is awful and dangerous but it beats starving and not having medicines and shelter. The real problem is the underlying poverty that makes these hell hole mines desirable places to work.
What many people think are better options is to support artisanal miners, help them to formalize and legalise their claims, educate them about safer practices and how to get good prices for what they mine. Basically giving people the power to as safely as possible take advantage of the wealth beneath their feet.
For smartphones, you can get the fair phone which uses fairtrade gold and other materials from Rwanda and the congo. In the jewellery industry, you can also get Fairtrade gold and Fairmined gold.
www.fairphone.com
www.fairgold.com
www.fairmined.org
czcams.com/video/VNETvpgdXlA/video.html
This is me heading down a mine
czcams.com/video/p_rUEdkyVc0/video.html
I'm hoping the Joe will see this particular post as I think you've hit on some of the really important things that got messed.
I come from east africa.you can't be more right,thank you for highlighting this issue.All the best in your work and be safe in your travels.
This was my same thoughts. These are small business owners who need education & support not some foreign company coming and taking over their land.
Thank-you for your comment. Yes, the answer is to enable these small operations and help them to be safe, not taking away their only means of income.
The issue is that the "owners" of these artisinal mines are often actually the state dictators or warlords. These are not people who actually care about their "employees" and wish they could pay them more. If extra money, investment or additional demand goes to the artisinal mines it often gets extorted back to warlords and does not benefit the people in the mines. Often the money is a side benefit, the mine is primarily a way to economically enslave and segregate what they consider to be "a lesser race" of human (genocide or just plain racial/religious hatred). Even if more money goes to the workers there is inflated rates for company owned housing and the company store to continue dominating the workers. In North America there are still remnants of this type of control and working poor enslavement (yes Canada that includes you too), so it is even more difficult in war torn undeveloped nations.
The evil is military dictatorships, usually calling themselves "democratic republic of..." who have an active interest in keeping the majority of their population in desperate poverty as a method of control.
If there was a way to lop the heads off these snakes without having to fight through millions of their soldiers first, then maybe there is hope for these people. Police and soldiers in these corrupt nations are often good people who either brainwash themselves to survive or just plain would rather support their families working on the less dangerous side of the gun while receiving slightly higher pay. They constantly have the threat that one day they could end up a mine worker.
I do not know how to peacefully end a dictatorship and install a truly representative democratic government answerable to all the people in a country no matter what their race/religion/sex. If someone smarter than me can figure it out let's do that.
Unfortunately most of the "developed" nations of the world are moving away from representative government, if we ever really had it. Not toward military dictatorships but to economic dictatorships who profit by supporting generations of military dictatorships under them so on this topic we are kind of going backwards.
"Kobolds that they thought were pranking them by putting dust in the ore."
"Hey, Jeff died while smelting more ore today."
"Daaayum, that's such a good prank bro!"
"I know right?"
As always another excellent and enlightening video. Thank you very much!
You seem to be a good person who looks reality square in the eye. How refreshing.
it reminds me of the timeless anthem by Jackson Browne that goes like "I have done all that I could
to see the evil and the good without hiding
you must help me if you can"
What does him being a "good person" have to do with anything? I'm not refuting that, I don't know the guy, and neither do you.
It's a video with information. Not a saint.
I love how you make me learn about stuff I was never really interested in. Your channel is pure gold!
His channel is pure cobalt
Brilliant! (as Always) Never knew that about cobalt. Thank you sir. Fun fact I'm a retired 'Hard Rock Miner" and mined Nickle when I worked in Western Australia, (I never knew it was/is bound with Cobalt. (Ignorance can be bliss)
Great video Joe! When I first saw how long this video was, my eyes rolled, but you really piqued my interest and I’m glad I watched the whole thing.
I drove a Chevy Cobalt for 8 years and then got rid of it. I'm doing my part.
I’m really torn on the Cobalt. Mostly because I’ve head horror stories about what a nightmare those cars can be, on the other hand, I like HHR, which is pretty much a cobalt that was shoved through a Play-Doh fun factory and came out the other end looking like a suburban from the 40’s.
@@Dylan_Sterling , somebody I used to know put his special end through a Play-Doh factory. I thought the results were conclusive. He wanted a second opinion. Sadly, that was no longer possible
@@Dylan_Sterling I know a guy who only gets cobalts, because he loves the car so much. Mine has been pretty nice to me as well so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Ok dum dum
Ive been slaying Kobolts in DnD
At 1:10, the structure you show on screen for arsenic is a compound called Roxarsone, it's an additive for chicken feed. Arsenic is an element (number 33) just like sulfur.
Nuovoswiss lol definitely just fact checked your fact check haha. Gg CZcamsd commenter. Although I have a feeling he used this particular chemical because it has arsenic in it... either way good catch and interesting rabbit while you’ve dragged me down
50 years ago, I used to swim in the Chesapeake Bay, just south of Baltimore city, even in te winter, in cooling water from a coal plant's electric turbines, as it flowed into the bay, would leave a big, warm area, like a hot spring. I got a tumor in my sinus cavities, and got treated with Cobalt 60, to elminate the tumor. Got testicular cancer in my 30s, brain tumor in my late 50s. Always blamed in on electric power plants, and Cobalt. Really was the stupidity of swimming in waste water. It was a great place to grow up.
You'll find the same issues in South Africa, with the popularization of diamond rings. It's another interesting rabbit hole, in which the de beer's limited the supply of diamonds to make it seem rarer than what they actually were, which is why the price of diamonds are as high as they are.
The reason solid state batteries are the future is that, simply, they are Goodenough.
TheWrathsblade Mad props for the John B. Goodenough ref! 👍🏼👍🏼
😂😂😂😂😂😂
At first I thought this was a reference to Richard P. Gabriel in an essay "Worse is better" (also known as New Jersey Style). Sometimes the software world and materials science intersect.
I live 10km away from Schneeberg, no more Kobolds in sight ... :-)
That's what they want you to think.
Great research and presentation, Joe. Thanks for informing us!
Joe I have now watched this video 4 times; love the information density, the not shying away from the hard stuff, the compassion, and (to invoke another youtube fave), the determination to view the world complexly. Huge contribution to my understanding nuances of this issue I have only known the vague outline of - thank you. :)
The Good Place bit was SO on point. I've been thinking about that ever since I saw it, and while you were talking about how cobalt is used in EVERYTHING that we don't even know I immediately thought about what you said on 25:00
Came here to say the same. Its spot on. The world is set up in a way now that everything we consume has a net negative effect on the world and that's a crappy thing to realize. Think there's a way to get out of this pickle?
There is a way to get to the good place but it’s not based on a point system....fortunately.
I don't like the premise of The Good Place. It's just a way for some people to beat themselves up over stuff they have no control over. Are there documented problems with literally any decision you make? No. But there are lots of imaginary problems. How about focusing on something real instead?
@@incognitotorpedo42 There's always a choice. Even the poor migrates from interiors to cities, uprooting their lives, for better opportunities. We are only talking about consumption choices here.
Danielle Baldridge just pull a doug forcette and live in the middle of nowhere with no contact to the outside world
"Part II: the trouble in the Congo" made me pause, go to my belgian fridge, grab a belgian beer and try to drown my shame (it works well though belgian beers are exceptionnaly strong... up to 12°... and so damned delicious... you should try some... but good ones like trappists keep away from Leffe, Hoegarden or Grimbergen).
That part was really hard to hear but totally fair! By the way there were even much more cruelty.
And like other comments mentioned the educational system in Belgium does not include this... "detail" of our history. I mean we're a small country who want to know that one king of Belgium can pretend to the "prestigious" top 5 (or 10 depending on the sources) of the deadliest leader in history?
No what's really important is that Belgium was one the wealthiest country in the world... thanks to our coal mine (and colonization but shhhht). The mine were "operated" by Italians, Greeks, Turkish,... people that we... bought/imported/invited (let's not look at the ethics and safety standards nor the impact over environement... just remember that we've great pizza in Belgium).
Now serioulsy my father has lived for 20 years in Africa (including DRC / Zaire) since his parents were working there since the 50s. The colonization problem used to be very hard to manage and to process as a kid/teenarger. I keep a massive frustration from schools and teachers who completly ignored this important part of our history. Even the media and culture seems to be in complete denial of this. As we are for most of the consequences of the european colonization era would it for France/ UK/...
For me it is deeply wrong NOT to the talk about the colonization era. So yeah Belgium is not only a great country to eat waffles and chips or in football (soccer) we have a very dark history (like our neigbours). Luckily we can cheer up with some delicious belgian chocolate... (wait... would it...)
What struck me as an American when I first made a Belgian friend was how divided between French and German-speakers your country is. You mention beer, not wine. Belgium has "fries" with mayonnaise, right? I think you are even divided about the fantastic foods you eat. The lessons of this historical arrangement may be more useful to others than (another) shameful colonial history. Us Americans, on our five dollar bills we have Andrew Jackson, who campaigned as the "Indian Killer" to become president. The Mount Rushmore monument stands on lands stolen from the Lokota, who have never accepted the compensation offered. Every industrialized country has a past we don't fully face up to. Belgium is really no different than much of the rest of the world in this way.
Any country in their history when it gained some "power", more than the countries it interacts it, used it to get rich. Even if majority of people were good, peaceful citizens, group of greedy people always ventured out to abuse
both others and their own people.
Times were way different back then and most of the countries would do the same if given more power.
You cant blame ur people for having a prosperous empire so it gained a lot of power in that period
In Canada, we're not really taught about how our nation has treated (and in many ways continues to treat) our First Nations people. I fully get what you mean by a missing "detail" making so much difference.
So.... how about chocolate ? :-) chocolate is pretty dark as well.
Cobalt also is used in applications from surgical instruments and joint replacements, to jewelry and guitar strings - any place a corrosion-resistant alloy is needed.
For replacement of diesel/gasoline-powered vehicles by electrics, the EVs make a lot of sense for delivery fleets and similar applications; for other transportation requirements, fortunately there's no hurry and the diesel and gasoline engines can be replaced over time as the technology matures, economies of scale evolve naturally, and the market adopts them, in a manner akin to the way diesel locomotives replaced steam over several decades.
Dammit, I'm still on Season 3 of the Good Place. I didn't know you were going to talk about things I haven't gotten to yet.
I like these longer all around more informative videos, it must've taken a long time, but Great Job Joe!
Jesus, that history lesson! Thank you for sharing!
Blaspheme the Lord????? Does your mouth talk without your brain choosing the words you use. You need a Saviour. I know, I know you don’t believe yada, yada. That won’t matter when you’re kneeling before your Creator. Just a suggestion but you might want to ask for forgiveness and get saved.
David Daivdson everybody’s laughing now. Sounds crazy , right? How about our country right now. Who would have thought we would be handing over our freedom to a lie perpetrated by a socialist communist agenda. If you had been reading your bible instead of listening to CBC you would not be so taken aback by my words. We are at a tipping point for the end times prophesy. Just for shits and giggles why not check it out. Check out Dr. Rashid Buttar. Laura Lynn Tyler not religious people but aware of what’s going on. This started with a man taking the Lords name in vain with absolutely no thought to what it means. Absolutely ignorant to sin. Uses his name to express disgust but does not believe or even know him. Use your enemy Satan’s name instead. Jesus Christ is your Saviour.
David Daivdson you’re talking to a Swede. Sky daddy! There’s going to be a lick of flames for you too. I know you tough guys would rather burn in hell than kneel to your Creator now, but things change real quick, just take a look around the world. Don’t wait till it’s too late to get your priorities in order.
Thank an praise the Lord in everything .
@David Daivdson Nordic, Do you mean Viking cause they converted to Christianity .
La calidad y profundidad de tus videos es increíble. Gracias ¡!
WOW!!! Thank you for making a horribly complex subject somewhat understandable. It was a long video, but I know it should have been hours long just to lightly touch on all aspects that are directly involved in the subjects you had to delve into to explain what you did. Excellent job! Keep up the great job you do.
UNDERSTANDABLE? Really? Just where in this hot mess did Joe even bother to address the question of how we’re going to CHARGE all these batteries? How do you suppose that’s going to be possible without........wait for it........burning more coal, oil, or natural gas?
0:26 Yaaay, I grew up close to the Erzgebirge :D
I accidentally found your channel. Now in the past week, I think I've almost watched every video! 😂 Thanks for keeping me busy!
mindlessly busy is not productive. lol... This channel is not all facts for Pete's sake. They want clicks and Ads. CZcamss algorithm will have you waste your life away.
@@TheeRocker So, CZcams will make you waste your life away...yet not only are you watching, but also taking time to make petty comments. 😂 Which of us is wasting time? Hope you cheer up! 😊
@@rexrad9735 lol,,, I'm guilty, that was my point totally !!! lol,, I'm good brother, lol, Thanks man:D
It's a great channel. Try 'real engineering' if you want another. Good topics covered on both.
Never apologise for your longer videos! I love them!
Love this longform work. Keep up the great work.
That’s a lot to unpack. I appreciate you putting time & energy into making it available to unpack.
I do like this extended videos.. Keep it up..
I took a decolonization seminar class in university and one of the cases we studied was King Leopold's oppression and terrorization of The Congo. Truly horrific stuff! I think the worst part about all of it is that you think, as time progresses, we naturally move away from that kind of cruelty and exportation for recourses, but in reality it just keeps going and the violence persists. Maybe it doesn't look like it did in the 19th century, but its still out there!
This video set me straight on the lithium amount left. Thanks. I think it always important to be skeptical and critical but also understand when you are wrong.
This got me staring at my phone and computer battery,and wishing they came from responsible hands,but i guess am part of the problem.damn!
Yup.
What problem? In America when we had trouble with working conditions we formed unions and fought back. Strikers were beaten by gangs and union leaders would be found dead in a river somewhere but we won our rights. What's wrong with black people in Africa?
It's pretty much impossible to do it correctly.
So... where do you get your chocolate ?
@Michael Freed Who's this enemy you speak of? By the way, when you post a link youtube algorithms will see you as a spammer, you might want to hide your links like this
quora. (delete this youtube hates links) com/Can-you-post-CZcams-links-in-the-CZcams-comment-section
There is no ethical consumption under capitalism. There's nothing you could really do about it short of questioning capitalism as a whole. We're not screwed up for living in this system. The system itself is screwed up. Don't blame yourself. Rather, blame the people who work to perpetuate inhumane practices for their personal gain.
Thanks to you uploading late, I’m finally able to catch your video early!
Hey Joe, thanks for this video! Related to Cobalt, there's a really great series on Lithium by the "How We Survive" podcast. Would love to see you do a video about that!
"Hipsters mining for beard cream" lmaoooo 🤣🤣😭💀that will now be a phrase I use whenever I can
I really appreciate the amount of effort you put into this content. I really enjoy this long form stuff. Keep 'em coming
Never imagined hearing about my home region Erzgebirge on this channel! :) How did you find it?
Research
Kobolds
If you’re looking for the opposite of a light beach read, King Leopold’s Ghost tackles many of these historical issues - though that book focuses mainly on the rubber trade at the time, the injustices suffered by the Congolese population are numerous and unthinkable.
I remember thinking “boy, people are missing a lot of hands in these pictures.” And the materials they were harvesting could easily cost them fingers and hands on their own. But sometimes that causes was a little more… artificial, i.e. forced amputation for failure to meet a quota, as Joe reminded us just now.
Losing a hand (and typically your dominant hand first) makes it that much harder to meet the next quota, but makes the worker desperate, since having one hand is a dire hardship, but having zero will likely result in your death. There’s a brutal logic to this, but ultimately of course it’s founded on treating a labor force as chattel.
Fun Story: I used to work in Angola with some of the western oil companies. The Congolese used to ride out on boats and try to hijack the ships bringing supplies, ransom them back to the western oil companies. On land, where a few companies were drilling for oil, they would strap explosives to the rig, hold everyone ransom until the "relief payments" were paid. In Angola and Congo, it wasn't uncommon to see child soldiers. It wasn't uncommon for men who fought against one another in their respective civil wars to now be working together in oil jobs.
This is the best you're done in quite a while, and the quality of your videos is always high.
Thank you.
Joe, I love how you give such a horrifying history with the respect and gravity it deserves.
❤
Same💔❤
But he didn't. He basically said there's nothing he can do about it because it's just too hard to know which companies are using the slave cobalt, when at 50% of the supply he knows very well they are ALL using slave cobalt.
Except he doesn't, like, at all
The thing some people tend to not understand is that these numbers for ressources per country does not represent an accurate number but rather an estimated amount based on the already produced ores, potent ore deposits and the overall density of potent deposits in a closed area of measurement. Thats why DRC is considered to have half of the estimated ore deposits on earth but that could change with new methods of ore processing or the discovery of new large deposits fairly quickly. As well as we know the world there are still many places never searched for these minerals.
I used to live less than 1 mile from historic Cobalt Mines in CT. It was mined in the 1800s. It is in Connecticut's oldest State Forest.
I like the connection you made to that show. Thanks for enormous research you've done for all of us!
Targeting the end user is problematic for me, I've seen a documentary on this. Even when the end user tries to ensure they are only getting cobalt from miners who aren't children etc, they very often still get sold the cobalt that has come from child miners due to middle men and corruption in the entire system.
It's very easy to point a finger at the large corporations benefiting from the cobalt industry, but I honestly believe the largest issue by far is the corruption of the Democratic Republic of Congo. They are best placed to regulate all this, that is where the focus should lie. By all means make the corporations fund this regulation.
I agree. I've spent a fair amount of time in the DRC. The corruption there goes back so far that the people there are pretty much resigned to it. I don't know what the answer is because for pretty much every single peron living there, this is just the way it's always been. It's unfortunate because it's a (mostly) beautiful place with so many lovely people.
It's not really the end users, because we're the end users and we aren't being sued. The corporations in question are large & wealthy and could be investing in teams & systems to audit their supply chains.
I've read a theory that the root of most of Africa's turmoil is the colonial powers withdrawing having never installed or upgraded national infrastructure. Perhaps it's the former colonial powers who should be liable.
@@bimblinghill only, that's exactly what they are doing. But if you are suggesting that they some how dictate precisely how the mining is being done, then that's not going to happen. It's the DRC that control that.
The corporations are the end users of the cobalt, we are merely consumers of the tech. But that's just word play.
@@James-mb3je Uhh yeah, maybe we need to get the Mongolians and Romans to start paying for their past empires too. Despite the fact that most empires do not simply ruin the lands they conquer. It's not just a case of empire = evil, it's far more complex.
Also the DRC was never really dominated by an empire, it was Belgium. You know those Belgian warlords who conquered half the world, oh wait no they didn't did they.
I would love to watch the full interviews!
I’m enjoying watching you develop into an excellent researcher. Thanks for your effort in educating us all.
Great content! So much awesome data!
Oil company: it's bad for the environment! Lol
Aye, the irony
do not blame the oil industry but the people that uses oil, like for example in the US train transportation doesnt really exist for people and the US almost only rely on aircraft transportation which is cheaper , but aircrafts uses alot of kerosene if you dont know
@@manuelredgrave8348 Or.....the carbony
this is one of your best shows in my opinion. it is educational but not painful to watch. that's how I like my knowledge.
Morning Mr Scott. Bit of a late subscriber to your little sanctuary of calm and reason in this world of chaos and madness, but thanks for helping out, been a great help.
Thank you Joe, for your research and hard work! Your best video to date and I learned a lot! Looking forward to the next video *no pressure* 🙏🏻🏆
Thanks Joe! I really appreciate your videos. They are responsibility-focused with realistic perspectives. I can't help but feel like if they were seen by more people, we all would benefit.
I visited the DRC briefly in 2017. One of the most eye opening experiences in my life. Not somewhere I recommend for tourism.
Well duh lol
your content is seriously amazing
I watched a video in 2018 from an interview of a computational fluid dynamics physicist and he was talking about his breakthrough with a solid state salt battery. 1000x more power storage than Tesla's lithium battery. Can't wait for that to come out!
It's doubtful it'll come out....
Dude, awesome video. Very well researched and extremely informative. Learned several new things today. Keep it up!
I wish we had a secret group of pirate scientists that would go around figuring out all these super useful patented methods and releasing them, and/or figuring out ways to apply them in smaller scale ways.
Love your videos. However, this one, at 1m14s, the first graphic is of the compound roxarsone. While the compound contains arsenic, it also contains carbon, oxygen, hydrogen and nitrogen. A graphic more specific to the element arsenic would be better.