"Nickel drama highlights Tsingshan’s role in energy transition" 13 June 2022

[...] With investments by Tsingshan and other Chinese companies, such as Huayou Cobalt, Indonesia is likely to be the dominant supplier of nickel for EV batteries by 2025.

But there is an environmental cost to producing nickel matte in Indonesia. It requires large furnaces that rely largely on captive coal-fired power in the country, and can emit almost six times as much carbon dioxide per tonne as producing nickel in Canada, according to the International Energy Agency.  

In addition, nickel mining often requires stripping large areas of upland forest to access the lateritic nickel ore near the surface, which can lead to run-off that impacts communities. In addition, many nickel mines also produce hexavalent chromium, which can damage human health. This is the chemical Erin Brockovich campaigned about in the US in 1993, leading to the Oscar-winning Hollywood film after her name. [...]

Will automakers be willing to accept nickel from Indonesia, despite its environmental footprint? The evidence suggests they will. In March, Volkswagen China said it had signed an agreement with Huayou Cobalt and Tsingshan to develop nickel and cobalt resources in Indonesia. Huayou and Volkswagen China said their project would be sustainable without giving more details. [...]

Unless Indonesia forces its nickel industry to clean up by using more renewable energy and disposing of its waste properly, the country will shoulder a growing environmental burden from the EV revolution. “The net result is we have clean air in our cities – but then we destroy a rich biodiversity area,” the Indonesian environmental activist Pius Ginting said. [...]