Green energy technologies are often presented as the solution to climate change, but electric vehicles, wind turbines and solar panels require vast quantities of copper, lithium, graphite, cobalt and rare earths. Across China, Chile, Bolivia and other resource-producing regions, the transition is creating new mining pressures, industrial dependencies and environmental costs far from the consumers who benefit from cleaner air.
From graphite pollution in China and water-intensive copper mining in Chile to Norway’s electric vehicle model, Bolivia’s lithium ambitions and the difficult recycling of wind turbine blades, this global investigation examines what lies behind the promise of clean technology. Can the energy transition reduce emissions without intensifying extraction and resource consumption?
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