Net Zero Mining Boom Fuels Destruction of Rainforests and Coral Reefs

Swathes of rainforest and coral reefs are being destroyed by a nickel mining boom in Indonesia sparked by the Net Zero race to transition away from fossil fuels. The Telegraph has more.

Across the country, a major drive to exploit the country’s abundant natural resources is underway. The photograph [above] captures the sheer scale of the production process.

Rows of chimneys, belching smoke and fumes, tower over the schools and houses of what were once rural communities in scenes recalling the work of L.S. Lowry, whose paintings captured life in the industrial districts of North West England in the mid-20th century.

Indonesia is now the world’s largest nickel producer, with 15% of the globe’s lateritic nickel resources – typically low-grade deposits found near the surface.

But demand is still soaring in tandem with the rise of the electric vehicles (EVs), which depend on it for their batteries.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) predicts that global demand for the metal will grow at least 65% by 2030, and EVs and battery storage are set to take over from stainless steel as the largest end user of nickel by 2040.

Billion dollar Chinese firms anchor the nickel market in Indonesia, but they are often fed cheap ore by hundreds of smaller, mostly locally-owned mines that dot the rainforest. These mines have transformed once-peaceful agrarian villages and communities, providing economic opportunity but a health and environmental crisis looms from pollution.

In just three years, Indonesia has signed more than a dozen deals worth more than $15 billion for battery materials and electric vehicle production with global manufacturers including Hyundai, LG and Foxconn.

In 2021, Indonesia unveiled a new nickel smelter in North Morowali Regency of Central Sulawesi. It has been equipped to process 13 million tons of nickel ore annually.

Sulawesi, an Indonesian island east of Borneo, is a peaceful land known for its pristine coral reefs, dive sites and prehistoric cave paintings. But it is fast becoming an industrial heartland.

The chimneys of PT Obsidian Stainless Steel, a nickel processing complex, spew smoke into the air 24-hours a day, with flames lighting up the night sky.

Worth reading in full.

Of course, modern civilisation is built on industry so we mustn’t be overly precious about the natural world. But such extensive mining and industrial activities connected with the drive to Net Zero gives the lie to the oft-repeated claim that battery and electric technologies are ‘green’ and ‘good for the planet’.

The intense environmental destruction also highlights the double standards of those who make a big fuss about rainforest and coral reef degradation when they think they can blame ‘greenhouse gases’, but go very quiet when ‘green’ technologies are to blame.

By Will Jones