'A tale of rapacious colonialism Cold War spy games dazzling technical innovation big
business rivalry big power geopolitics [...] an unflinching landmark work on the nature of
extractive capitalism.' Patrick Radden Keefe bestselling author of Empire of Pain and Say
Nothing 'Joseph Conrad called colonial ventures in Africa "the vilest scramble for loot that
ever disfigured the history of human conscience". After reading this book you might want to add
the words "until now"' The Times How we became addicted to a supply chain that wreaks havoc
across the globe. Epic shocking and deeply reported The Elements of Power tells the story of
the war for the global supply of battery metals - essential for the decarbonization of our
economies - and the terrible bloody human cost of this badly misunderstood industry. Congo is
rich. Swaths of the war-torn African country lack basic infrastructure and after many decades
of colonial occupation its people are officially among the poorest in the world. But hidden
beneath the soil are vast quantities of cobalt lithium copper tin tantalum tungsten and
other treasures. Recently this veritable periodic table of resources has become extremely
valuable because these metals are essential for the global "energy transition"-the plan for
wealthy nations to wean themselves off fossil fuels by shifting to sustainable forms of energy
such as solar and wind. The race to electrify the world's economy has begun and China has a
considerable head start. From Indonesia to South America to Central Africa Beijing has
invested in mines and infrastructure for decades. But the U.S. has begun fighting back with
massive investments of its own as well as sanctions and disruptive tariffs. In this rush for
green energy the world has become utterly reliant on resources unearthed far away and
willfully blind to the terrible political environmental and social consequences of their
extraction. If the Democratic Republic of the Congo possesses such riches why are its children
routinely descending deep into treacherous mines to dig with the most rudimentary of tools or
in some cases their bare hands? Why are Indonesia's seas and skies being polluted in a rush for
battery metals? Why is the Western Sahara a source for phosphates still being treated like a
colony? Who must pay the price for progress? With unparalleled original reporting Nicolas
Niarchos reveals how the scramble to control these metals and their production is overturning
the world order just as the global race to drill for oil shaped the twentieth century.
Exploring the advent of the lithium-ion battery and tracing the supply chain for its production
Niarchos tells the story both of the people driving these tectonic changes and those whose
lives are being upended. He reveals the true devastating consequences of our best intentions
and helps us prepare for an uncertain future. If you have ever used a smartphone or driven an
electric vehicle you are implicated.
