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The Rare Metals War The Dark Side of Clean Energy and Digital Technologies

By: Guillaume Pitron(Author), Bianca Jacobsohn(Translated by), Hubert Védrine(Foreword By)
263 pages, no illustrations
NHBS
A sobering exposé, The Rare Metals War reveals the material cost of our utopian dreams of green energy and digital technology.
The Rare Metals War
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  • The Rare Metals War ISBN: 9781914484964 Paperback Jan 2023 Not in stock: Usually dispatched within 1 week
    £9.99
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  • The Rare Metals War ISBN: 9781912854264 Paperback Jan 2021 In stock
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About this book

The resources race is on. Powering our smartphones are some of the Earth's most precious metals – but they are running out. And what will happen when they do?

Drawing on six years of research across a dozen countries, The Rare Metals War shows that the digital revolution has a hidden dark side. By breaking free of fossil fuels, we are in fact setting ourselves up for a new dependence on rare metals such as cobalt, gold, and palladium.

They are essential to electric vehicles, fighter jets, wind turbines, and solar panels, and also to our smartphones, computers, tablets, and other everyday connected objects. China has captured the lion's share of the rare metals industry, but consumers know very little about how they are mined and traded, or the environmental, economic, and geopolitical costs.

The Rare Metals War is a vital exposé of the ticking time-bomb that lies beneath our new technological order.

Customer Reviews (1)

  • A sobering exposé
    By Leon (NHBS Catalogue Editor) 29 Apr 2021 Written for Paperback


    Normally the sight of photovoltaic panels and wind turbines fills me with hope, but after reading this book I have my doubts. Many politicians, business leaders, and environmental organisations argue that we need to invest in renewables to transition away from fossil fuels and the accompanying carbon dioxide emissions. What is rarely mentioned is that these technologies require the mining of rare metals: chemical elements such as rhenium, lithium, antimony, neodymium, tantalum, and many others that most people have barely heard of. In The Rare Metals War, French investigative journalist Guillaume Pitron sounds the alarm, showing both the environmental impact and China's chokehold on the market.

    I read this book in tandem with David S. Abraham's slightly older The Elements of Power which I had been meaning to read for ages. Thus, this is the second of a two-part review dealing with these little-known elements that have silently come to dominate our lives.

    This book was originally published in French in 2018 as La Guerre des Métaux Rares and was swiftly translated into eight languages. Although the publisher does not mention it, the English version has been updated, referencing events and reports up to 2019.

    After a brief introduction to the nature and numerous applications of rare metals, the first three chapters tackle pollution. Pitron surreptitiously visits major mining sites in China and Mongolia to see first-hand the destruction: the vast toxic sludge ponds that leach metals into the groundwater, the poisoned agricultural land, the villages where people suffer and die from pollution-inflicted diseases. "The Chinese people have sacrificed their environment to supply the entire planet with rare earths" (p. 28), says a Chinese rare-metal expert.

    What makes this so shocking is that this pollution is not spoken of in the West. Pitron is intent on opening your eyes and does not mince his words. "[...] in contrast to the carbon economy, whose pollution is undeniable, the new green economy hides behind virtuous claims of responsibility for the sake of future generations" (p. 54). It is all too easy to forget that our online world requires a huge infrastructure requiring rare metals: "[...] the age of dematerialisation is nothing more than an outright ruse" (p. 44). It is even worse for renewable energy: "Put simply, clean energy is a dirty affair. Yet we feign ignorance because we refuse to take stock of the end-to-end production cycle of wind turbines and solar panels" (p. 53). And then on page 72, his coup de grâce: "Concealing the dubious origins of metals in China has given green and digital technologies the shining reputation they enjoy. This could very well be the most stunning greenwashing operation in history."

    Pitron here calls it "delocalised pollution". While China does "the dirty work of manufacturing green-tech components", the West happily buys "the pristine product while flaunting its sound ecological practices" (p. 71). He reminds us that: "everything comes at a cost: the globalisation of supply chains gives us consumer goods while taking away knowledge of their origins" (p. 81). For me, this part of the book was worth the price of admission alone, and it might come as a rude but necessary awakening for some readers.

    The next four chapters tackle the second major topic of this book: the near-monopoly China now has on the supply of many rare metals. Pitron traces the history of how Europe and the US shuttered its rare metal mines, off-shored its heavy industries, and focused on high-value manufacturing with imported components and the service economy. China used this opportunity to the fullest and has come to dominate the production of many raw materials, including the rare earth elements so critical for high-tech applications. But that is only their first step towards becoming a global powerhouse, as their 2010 rare earth export quotas made clear. Companies are of course welcome to relocate their production to China, and many have done so to remain competitive. Though the west has cried foul, Pitron avoids anti-China sentiments by providing their perspective. At a conference, a Mongolian official clarifies that "Western businesses that, like the colonisers before them, sought only to mine resources to generate added value back home are no longer welcome" (p. 110). I could not help but think: can you blame them?

    Our appetite for rare metals is rapidly growing and Pitron highlights that some could run out within decades. Mention of "peak anything" easily attracts derision, but I agree with him that we are in "collective denial of resource scarcity" (p. 162). Logically, we have used up the most rewarding and easily accessible resources first, so we mine and drill in ever more extreme environments, including plans to mine asteroids and the deep sea. Bonus points for Pitron for mentioning the underappreciated concept of energy returned on energy invested that Ugo Bardi highlighted in Extracted. Producing energy costs energy. As long as there is a net gain, all is well, but ore grades (the concentration of desired material) have been in decline for decades. "[...] As Bardi concludes, 'The limits to mineral extraction are not limits of quantity; they are limits of energy'" (p. 165).

    Pitron's proposed solution is unusual, but I like it. Reopen mines in the West. Not just to compete with China, but to make consumers "realise – to our horror – the true cost of our self-declared modern, connected, and green world" (p. 177). He hopes that this will finally move us to dial down our consumption. And it is hard to argue with his conclusion that "nothing will change so long as we do not experience, in our own backyards, the full cost of attaining our standard of happiness" (p. 178).

    The Rare Metals War is a powerful and sobering exposé that will no doubt shatter the green dreams of many readers. However, we cannot continue to ignore the material reality that underlies the green revolution that politicians and environmental organisations want us to pursue. This book is a much-needed conversation starter.

    So, how does it compare to Abraham's The Elements of Power? I considered the former to be remarkably comprehensive: it covers pollution and China's monopoly, and several other topics besides. And yet, its tone is more neutral and might not set alarm bells ringing. Abraham seems concerned but optimistic about the promise of green technology. Maybe it is something about the French, but Pitron is much more outspoken by calling out our collective hypocrisy in the West and suggesting we act on the root problem of overconsumption. If Abraham informs you widely, Pitron wakes you up – I found both takes on this topic very useful and recommend both books highly.
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By: Guillaume Pitron(Author), Bianca Jacobsohn(Translated by), Hubert Védrine(Foreword By)
263 pages, no illustrations
NHBS
A sobering exposé, The Rare Metals War reveals the material cost of our utopian dreams of green energy and digital technology.
Media reviews

"Recognising that the latest technologies might not be as green as we like to think is a good place to start planning for a better world."
– John Arlidge, The Sunday Times

"[T]he journalist and filmmaker warns against the optimistic belief that technology is the solution [...] At a time when many claim to be "citizens of the world" or retreat into naive or hypocritical protectionism, Pitron's book is an attempt to open people's eyes to the consequences of their societal choices and lifestyles."
Green European Journal

"Both novel and eye opening [...] The Rare Metals War is worth the read."
– Art Flynn, Irish Examiner

"French Writer and analyst Guillaume Pitron warns about growing reliance on rare-earth metal – which are necessary to build high-tech products [...] He shines a light on "the untold story" of the energy and digital transitions."
European Scientist

"An expert account of a poorly understood but critical element in our economy."
Kirkus Reviews

"[E]xposes the dirty underpinnings of clean technologies in a debut that raises valid questions about energy extraction."
Publishers Weekly

"The Rare Metals War is Guillaume Pitron's urgent exposé of the race for resources and an examination of its environmental and human impacts."
– Dan Shaw, Happy Magazine

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