Mining Critical to Renewable Energy Tied to Hundreds of Alleged Human Rights Abuses

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June 07, 2023
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by Katie Surma (Inside Climate News) A report released Wednesday faults the U.S. and other nations for providing incentives for the mining of rare metals like lithium and cobalt without enacting adequate labor and environmental safeguards.

Over the past dozen years, hundreds of alleged human rights abuses have been committed by over 90 corporations mining minerals critical to the production of clean energy, a U.K.-based human rights organization said in a report released on Wednesday. 

The Business and Human Rights Resource Center said the alleged abuses involve global mining for copper, lithium, cobalt, manganese, nickel and zinc, all used in critical renewable technologies like solar panels, vehicle batteries and windmills. 

The abuses, the report concluded, stem from the failure of the United States and other nations to develop appropriate labor and environmental safeguards for resource extraction critical to the green energy transition, a key aim of the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act. 

Beyond alleged incidents of assaults, child labor, arbitrary arrests and detentions, the report’s database of 510 alleged violations includes environmental crimes involving the pollution of drinking water and other natural resources, and violations of communities’ rights to be consulted about projects that affect them.

The report includes allegations against 93 companies operating 172 large-scale mining sites between the years 2010 and 2022. 

...

Human Rights Watch has documented problems with those schemes, whereby companies state that their supplies of raw materials have engaged in no improper conduct. In some cases, he (Richard Pearshouse, director of the Environment and Human Rights Division at Human Rights Watch) said, auditors are paid by the companies being audited.

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(Caroline) Avan and her co-authors recommend policy changes including the enactment of mandatory human rights due diligence laws, which would require companies to identify, prevent and remedy human rights violations. While several non-binding frameworks exist, like the United Nations Human Rights Council’s 2011 Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, transnational companies have remained stubbornly opposed to mandatory legal requirements.    READ MORE

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Excerpt from Business and Human Rights Resource Center: Over 500 allegations of human rights abuse have been linked to the extraction of key minerals needed to reach net-zero. 

 As pressure builds to extract the minerals needed for renewable energy equipment and technology, new figures have revealed the extent to which these transition minerals are linked to a concerning number of human rights abuses. Updated annually, the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre’s Transition Minerals Tracker spotlights the human rights implications of mining six minerals key to the energy transition: cobalt, copper, lithium, manganese, nickel and zinc. The latest figures published today (7 June 2023) added 65 new allegations of human rights abuse from 2022 – bringing the total number of abuses recorded since 2010 up to a staggering 510.  

Local communities and Indigenous peoples face the greatest risks from companies sourcing the transition minerals, especially when they act as human rights defenders (HRDs). Attacks on HRDs are the most frequently recorded type of abuse in the Tracker, recorded in 20% of allegations in 2022 and 29% of allegations since 2010. Indigenous Peoples and their communities were the victims of 38% of attacks on defenders in 2022. 

Poor governance and lack of effective due diligence by companies, investors and governments awarding licences in the extractives sector have been identified as causes of many of the worst human rights abuses. Figures for 2022 revealed corruption as an increasing problem with transition mineral mining – often linked to human rights abuses. Ten allegations were related to tax, corruption and disclosures of payments were recorded in 2022. The water intensity required for mining operations was highlighted as another significant threat to communities of transition mineral mining, with 15 allegations of abuse recorded relating to water pollution, issues with access to water, or both. 

Basic respect for human and environmental rights, which centres communities and workers, is a fundamental first step to achieving a just and sustainable energy transition. However, less than half of the companies associated with allegations of abuse in 2022 have human rights policies in place. Further, over half the allegations of abuse were connected to just five companies: China Minmetals, Solway Group, Glencore, Grupo Mexico and Codelco. Together, these companies accounted for 35 out of 65 allegations of abuse. Glencore is linked to the highest number allegations of abuse, with 70 allegations of abuse since 2010 and five allegations of abuse in 2022 

Heidi Hautala, Vice-President of the European Parliament, said: “Injustice and power imbalances between the Global North and countries endowed with mineral resources has long been the unfortunate norm. It is however now clear that the conditions of supply of key minerals for the energy transition must be fairer if we are to scale up renewable energy capacities at the speed required to avoid global climate catastrophe. It must not come at the cost of human rights – and we know it does not have to. 

“It is critical emerging legislation on securing global mineral supply chains, such as the Critical Raw Materials Act, ensure mining companies clean up their acts. It is equally crucial that it seriously considers measures to curb demand for new minerals to reduce pressure on local communities in resource-rich countries”. 

Mutuso Dhliwayo, Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association Executive Director, said: “Communities in resource-rich countries who have already borne the cost of decades of irresponsible mineral extraction, are at real risk of paying again as the world pursues a rapid transition to renewable energy, dependent on these resources to power clean energy installations and batteries across the world.   But as the Tracker demonstrates, they are also increasingly saying ‘no’ to an irresponsible transition, through protest and the courts to protect their rights.  A human rights-focused transition, that centres Indigenous peoples, local communities and vulnerable workers, is the only way to ensure a global energy shift that is fair, so that it can also be fast.” 

Caroline Avan, Natural Resources Researcher, Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, said: “Transition minerals are essential to power clean and green technologies, but the number of human rights issues linked to their extraction fundamentally threatens the speed and scale of a successful transition to net-zero. Community resistance – through protest and the courts – to this approach to transition mineral mining is on the rise. Ignoring these risks will inevitably lead to conflict, harm and violence in communities and to defenders – and delay any progress towards the rapid decarbonisation urgently needed to avert the climate crisis. 

Achieving a just transition for all depends on three core principles, which companies, investors, and states should commit to. First, fair and equal negotiations host communities, beginning with Free, Prior and Informed Consent for Indigenous communities and respect for local community rights. Transition mineral extraction must then ensure shared prosperity with those communities, and both local governments and communities must implement robust human rights due diligence processes which prevent and mitigate abuses in extraction supply chains.”


  • The Business & Human Rights Resource Centre is an international NGO that tracks the human rights impacts (positive and negative) of more than 10,000 companies across nearly 200 countries. We seek responses from companies when concerns are raised by civil society.
  • The Transition Minerals Tracker is updated annually to monitor the human rights policies and practices of companies mining six key commodities vital to the clean energy transition: cobalt, copper, lithium, manganese, nickel and zinc. Extraction of these six minerals – core components for renewable energy technology – is expected to rise dramatically with growing demand for renewable energy technologies.  READ MORE

 

Excerpt from Politico Pro Greenwire: The Biden administration on Tuesday revoked a key wetlands permit for a controversial copper and nickel mine in northeastern Minnesota after concluding that the project didn't comply with a downstream tribe's water quality standards.

The Army Corps of Engineers' decision to scrap the permit for the NorthMet mine marks a significant blow to a project that has the backing of industry and lawmakers like Minnesota Republican Rep. Pete Stauber, but drew pushback from EPA, environmental groups and the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa.

The decision also highlights the delicate balancing act the Biden administration faces in advancing critical minerals projects needed to fuel electric vehicle supply chains while upholding its vow to elevate and incorporate Indigenous knowledge and tribal consultation. The NorthMet project has been mired in concerns tied to potential water quality degradation while also being touted as a potential source for copper, nickel and cobalt — minerals used to make EV batteries.  READ MORE

 

Excerpt from Reuters: "There is no way for the world to meet the terms of the Paris climate agreement if we don't have an increase in the supply of copper and other metals," Joshua Meyer of mining equipment maker FLSmidth (FLS.CO), referring to the climate accord that aims to limit greenhouse gas emissions by keeping the global temperature rise "well below" 2.0 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) this century.

Regulatory approval for new copper mines has fallen to the lowest in a decade, according to Goldman Sachs (GS.N), an ominous harbinger as mines often take 10 to 20 years to permit and build. Goldman expects surging copper demand to push prices to $15,000 a tonne by 2025, 67% above current levels.

Much of the new demand is expected to come from electric vehicles, which are built with far more copper than internal combustion engines. But without enough copper, EV manufacturers could use less than expected or even turn to aluminum, analysts warned.

Aluminum is lighter and cheaper than copper but more corrosive and brittle and only about 60% as conductive. It could be an acceptable alternative in some applications, including wiring for offshore wind turbines and some EVs, the ICA said.

"Demand (for copper) is there. What I think potentially impacts it, is lack of supply," said Rag Udd of BHP Group Ltd (BHP.AX), which operates the world's largest copper mine in the Atacama Desert in Chile. "In the absence of supply, we will see substitution."

Charles Johnson, CEO of the Aluminum Association trade group, told Reuters the aluminum industry now "has a tremendous opportunity to grow in this market."

RECYCLING

Copper executives acknowledged that mining has a poor reputation due in part to past safety failures, putting the onus on companies to work harder for acceptance.

"We have an industry that has to win the trust of society," said André Sougarret, CEO of Codelco, the world's largest copper producer.

And while copper recycling rates are rising, industry executives said a truly "circular economy" where it is almost entirely recycled is likely not imminent. Aurubis AG (NAFG.DE) says nearly half of its copper cathodes are made with recycled material but that it will take decades to reach 100%.

"Recycling materials, even if everything could be collected, would be in no way sufficient for demand," said Aurubis CEO Roland Harings. "We need more mining activity, because the demand for copper is just going up in the years to come."  READ MORE

 

Excerpt from Poltico Pro Energywire: The demand for key minerals needed for electric vehicles and clean energy projects has doubled in the past five years, raising concerns about supply shortages, according to the International Energy Agency.

The agency's Critical Minerals Market Review — released Tuesday — reports that global lithium demand tripled from 2017 to 2022, while cobalt demand increased by 70 percent and nickel demand grew 40 percent. The market for those minerals totaled $320 billion in 2022 and is expected to grow, according to the report.

The IEA is “encouraged by the rapid growth," IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said in a statement.

“Even so, major challenges remain,” Birol said. “Much more needs to be done to ensure supply chains for critical minerals are secure and sustainable.” 

Investment in mineral development also rose last year, in response to demand, IEA said. Companies specializing in lithium development increased spending by 50 percent in 2022, with overall investment by 20 large mining companies increasing by 30 percent. READ MORE

 

Excerpt from Politico Energy Podcast: This year, the United States has been stepping up its efforts to secure the critical minerals that are needed for clean energy projects from countries like Mongolia, which is resource-rich and wedged between China and Russia. But making pacts to deliver these critical minerals to the U.S. isn't easy, and the stakes are high since the Biden administration’s climate goals are at risk. POLITICO’s E&E News reporter Sara Schonhardt breaks down how the U.S. is trying to negotiate with Mongolia and other nations and the challenges of cutting critical mineral deals.  READ MORE

 

Excerpt from Associated Press:  The mining of minerals critical to electric vehicle batteries and other green technologies in Congo has led to human rights abuses, including forced evictions and physical assault, according to a new report from Amnesty International and another rights group.

Congo is by far the world’s largest producer of cobalt, a mineral used to make lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles and other products, and it is also Africa’s top producer of copper, which is used in EVs, renewable energy systems and more.

Rights groups and U.S. officials have long criticized the trade of Congo’s cobalt, copper and other minerals due to abusive labor and the risk of violence in an impoverished central African country where militants control swaths of territory.

A measure was introduced in the U.S. House in July to ban imported products containing cobalt and copper and mined through child labor and other abusive conditions in Congo.

...

The groups said they interviewed 133 people affected by evictions related to cobalt and copper mining in six locations around the city of Kolwezi in Lualaba Province during separate visits in February and September 2022. They also reviewed documents, photos, videos, satellite images and company responses.

The report highlights the numerous human rights violations that have occurred as a result of mining activity.

In one case, Congolese soldiers burned down the Mukunbi settlement in the southern province of Lualaba in November 2016 to make way for cobalt and copper mining by Dubai-based Chemaf Resources.

Residents who tried to stop the military were beaten, according to the report. The fire, which left a 2-year-old girl with life-altering scars, and the assault had followed initial warnings delivered to residents by company executives escorted by police.  READ MORE

 

Excerpt from Washington Post:  Tesla boasts that its electric vehicles are a marvel not just of innovation but also ethics, pledging in annual reports that it will “not knowingly accept products or services from suppliers that include forced labour or human trafficking in any form.” The carmaker touts its teams of monitors that travel to mining operations around the world, and has pledged to mount a camera at an African mine to prevent the use of underage or slave labor.

But Tesla has been conspicuously silent when it comes to China, despite evidence that materials that go into its vehicles come from the Xinjiang region, where forced labor has been rampant. Firms that appear to undermine a U.S. ban on products made in Xinjiang emerge near the top of Tesla’s sprawling network of suppliers, according to a Washington Post examination of corporate records and Chinese media reports. Among them are companies that have openly complied with China’s quotas for moving minority Muslim Uyghurs out of rural villages and into factory towns through what Chinese authorities call “labor transfers” or “surplus labor employment.”

Tesla is among several EV companies that have suppliers with Xinjiang connections, records show. Ford has a deal with a battery maker that congressional investigators allege has ties to vast lithium mining and processing operations in Xinjiang, and Volkswagen operates a factory in the region with a Chinese partner.

Though not all labor in Xinjiang is forced, China’s lockdown on information flowing from the region led the U.S. government last year to bar the import of any Xinjiang-made parts and products out of a concern they could be made with coerced labor.  READ MORE

 

Excerpt from Elements:  While the shift in cobalt production is notable, it is not without challenges. Plummeting cobalt prices, which fell almost 30% this year to $13.90 a pound, have severely impacted the DRC.

Furthermore, the longer-term prospects of cobalt could face hurdles due to efforts to reduce its use in batteries, partly driven by human rights concerns associated with artisanal cobalt mining in the DRC and related child labor and human rights abuses.

In a 2021 ruling by a federal court in Washington, Google parent Alphabet, Apple, Dell, Microsoft, and Tesla were relieved from a class action suit claiming their responsibility for alleged child labor in Congolese cobalt mines.  READ MORE

 

Excerpt from The Independent:  Child labor, sexual assault, birth defects, abject poverty, workers buried alive: A new exposé on artisanal cobalt mining in the Democratic Republic of the Congo lifts the curtain on a nightmarish world in which billions of people are unwittingly complicit. Senior climate correspondent Louise Boyle reports -- 

...

It is just one of many devastating personal accounts in Cobalt Red, a detailed exposé into the hidden world of small-scale cobalt mining in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

The “quaint” moniker of artisanal mining, Mr Kara (Siddharth Kara, an author and Harvard academic who has spent 20 years researching modern slavery) points out, belies a brutal industry where hundreds of thousands of men, women and children dig with bare hands and basic tools in toxic, perilous pits, eking out an existence on the bottom rung of the global supply chain.

...

Cobalt is toxic to touch and breathe in, and can be found alongside traces of radioactive uranium. Cancers, respiratory illnesses, miscarriages, headaches and painful skin conditions occur among adults who work without protective equipment.

Children in mining communities suffer birth defects, developmental damage, vomiting and seizures from direct and indirect exposure to the heavy metals.

Mr Kara describes children standing knee-deep with their bare skin in toxic pools, and babies carried in slings on their mothers’ backs into pits. Female miners, who earn less than the average two dollars per day paid to men, typically work in groups as sexual assault is common in mining areas.    READ MORE

 

Excerpt from Global Witness: We found that:

  • In Zimbabwe, the Sandawana mine saw a lithium rush involving thousands of artisanal diggers working in unsafe conditions, with reports of child labour and miners being buried by a mine collapse.

...

  • In Namibia, Chinese-owned firm Xinfeng Investments has been accused of acquiring its Uis lithium mine through bribery. There is also evidence that Xinfeng developed the industrial mine using permits intended for local small-scale miners. 

...

  • In DRC, the development of the Manono lithium deposit – stalled by a dispute involving Australian and Chinese mining companies – has raised numerous corruption red flags. The project appears to have generated as much as US$28 million for shell companies held by middlemen implicated in previous corruption scandals involving ex-President Joseph Kabila.   READ MORE

 

Excerpt from LeadTheCharge.org: This is the second annual Leaderboard on automotive supply chains, published by Lead the Charge. The Leaderboard evaluates 18 of the world’s leading automakers on their efforts to eliminate emissions, environmental harms, and human rights violations from their supply chains.

This year showed steady progress across the industry, in particular on fossil-free steel and human rights due diligence. U.S. automakers are making the fastest progress, led by Tesla who shot up in the rankings from #9 to #3 in one year – the biggest increase of all the automakers.

However, progress by the industry as a whole is lackluster when compared to the scale of the challenge ahead: one third of the automakers evaluated have still taken no concrete action on steel and aluminum, average scores across the indicators on responsible transition mineral sourcing, Indigenous Peoples’ rights and workers’ rights have risen by just 2 percentage points.

See how automakers stack up below or use the links to dive deeper into the results and the performance of individual automakers.  READ MORE

 

Excerpt from Business and Human Rights Resource Center: Previously neglected in the global analyses of transition minerals, Eastern Europe & Central Asia (EECA) is becoming a new hotspot for transition minerals extraction and supply. This is due to abundant reserves of transition minerals in EECA countries now critical to a fast transition to clean energy.

Over the last five years (2019-2023 inclusive), the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre tracked publicly reported allegations of environmental and human rights abuses linked to mining project development, extraction, and processing (smelting and refining) of transition minerals in EECA. We have identified 421 allegations of abuse linked to 20 transition minerals in 16 EECA countries: Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Russia, Serbia, Tajikistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.

Key findings:

  • Russia recorded the highest number of allegations of abuse (112), followed by Armenia (51), Ukraine (47), Georgia (36) and Kazakhstan (35). Russia accounted for over a quarter (27%) of the total allegations of abuse in EECA.
  • Copper accounted for 151 allegations, or 35% - making it the mineral with the highest number of allegations. Allegations related to copper extraction were recorded in 11 countries in the region.
  • Nearly half of the allegations concerned human rights abuses against workers (185 or 44%), while a similar proportion (178 or 42%) involved abuses against communities.
  • Occupational health and safety issues were recorded in 64% (118 allegations) of all impacts on workers, followed by workplace deaths (52 or 28%). Kazakhstan accounted for 43% of all allegations linked to occupational health and safety.
  • One hundred and thirty-nine allegations involved environmental harm predominantly affecting communities, where water pollution (52 or 29%), air pollution (48 or 27%) and soil pollution (39 or 22%) were the top three impacts recorded.
  • Sixty-six allegations (16%) were linked to protests by communities or workers. Attacks on human rights defenders opposing mining projects were recorded in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Serbia.
  • Georgia hosted the company (Georgian Manganese) and mines (Chiatura mines) with the highest number of allegations (31 and 22 respectively).
  • Eight out of the top 10 companies with the highest numbers of allegations are owned by oligarchs.

Our findings highlight how workers, local communities and the environment are, too often, paying the price for the energy transition in the EECA region. Transformation of existing business models in the EECA extractive sector is urgently needed to ensure the transition to clean energy is just and sustainable.    READ MORE

 

Excerpt from E&E News Greenwire:  President Joe Biden’s push to put more electric vehicles on the road runs the risk of sideswiping his goal of easing the unequal burden of pollution exposure in a newly updated air toxics regulation.

At issue is a revised copper smelting rule. Electric vehicles need lots of copper, and a top U.S. producer is a century-old plant in arid southeastern Arizona that in recent years has lofted hundreds of tons of lead, arsenic and other hazardous pollutants into the skies above, only a few miles from an Apache Indian reservation. As production rises, the tribe fears that pollution will rise, too.

While EPA predicts that the long-overdue update for the industry will significantly dent emissions, records show that agency employees rejected a bid for even larger cuts on the grounds that the estimated compliance costs were too high.

EPA “could do a lot more,” said Jane Williams, who heads the Sierra Club’s national Clean Air Team, a part of the group’s volunteer network.

Despite the White House’s pledge to wholeheartedly pursue environmental justice, the episode underscores the dollar-and-cents trade-offs embedded in a system geared to reducing health risks posed by hazardous air pollutants, not eliminating them.

After initially deeming the potential perils posed by smelter emissions unacceptable, EPA says the new requirements will eventually halve the industry’s output of toxic metals and provide an “ample” safety margin to the public.

Freeport-McMoRan, owner of the Arizona smelter, is banking on the value of copper’s importance to electric vehicles and other harbingers of a shift to an emissions-free economy.

The Phoenix-based global mining giant, which reported almost $23 billion in revenue last year, is studying the new rule’s potential impact, spokesperson Linda Hayes said in an email.

Since a 2018 upgrade, the plant’s lead emissions have steadily declined, Hayes said, “notwithstanding a general increase in production as well as an increase in the naturally occurring lead in material processed at the smelter,” located in Claypool, Arizona. A state-run monitor about 1.5 miles east of the plant registered airborne levels of the heavy metal that were a fraction of EPA’s current standard, she added.

Still, the smelter coughed up more than ten tons of lead and lead compounds in 2022, the last year for which numbers are available from EPA’s Toxics Release Inventory. That was almost triple the amount reported by the nation’s only other currently operating primary copper smelter, a smaller facility located in Utah and owned by Rio Tinto Kennecott.

A third smelter also in central Arizona is run by Asarco, a subsidiary of Grupo México. While it’s been idle since late 2019, company managers are eyeing the possibility of a restart.

The strengthened regulations took more than two years of sometimes testy give-and-take to complete, public records show. They are one in a spate of updates to hazardous pollutant rules that EPA — usually under court-ordered deadlines — has churned out for dozens of industrial sectors in recent years.

Densely technical and laden with jargon like “maximum individual risk” and “targeted organ-specific hazard index,” those updates represent complex judgment calls about how much businesses should do to cut releases of toxics linked to cancer and other serious illnesses. Whatever the outcome of a particular review, lawsuits often follow.

The smelting industry review represents a microcosm of the challenges. Not only are there just a handful of smelters that process copper ore, the two largest are both major polluters within a short drive of the same deeply disadvantaged community.

The San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation, created in the 1870s and spanning an area larger than the state of Delaware, is home to about 10,000 people, according to U.S. census data. Median household income is barely half that of the U.S. as a whole. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the tribe was among the hardest hit nationally by illness and death, one executive wrote.

The Freeport-McMoRan smelter lies within eight miles of the reservation’s boundaries and the Asarco operation is fewer than five miles away, the tribe wrote in joint comments filed last September with the Sierra Club and Earthjustice that called the Freeport-McMoRan plant the nation’s “single worst lead emitter.”

“Needless to say, if copper smelters’ production increases in the next years as expected, their emissions of lead, arsenic and other toxics will be even higher.”

Lead pollution concerns

Under Biden, EPA has heralded a strategy to cut exposure of lead, which is tied to a litany of health harms, ranging from lower IQ and hyperactivity in children to reproductive problems and kidney damage in adults.

At the same time, copper production, known to be a source of airborne lead emissions, is essential to furthering the spread of electric vehicles whose innards rely on the malleable metal more than traditional gasoline-fueled cars and trucks.  READ MORE

 

Excerpt from Dagens: In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where more than 70% of the world’s cobalt is mined, the dream of a better tomorrow comes at a steep cost, according to Boosted.

Cobalt is a vital component in the batteries that power electric cars, smartphones, and other technologies. In Congo, the race to mine this precious mineral often leaves devastation in its wake.

Children as young as six work in dangerous mines. Adults toil in life-threatening conditions, many without basic safety gear. Toxic exposure from mining leads to respiratory illnesses, cancer, and poisoned water supplies.

6,200 Children Indentified as Laborers

Organizations like the International Labour Organization (ILO) are trying to change this grim reality. Their GALAB project aims to rescue children from the mines and give them a chance at education.

So far, over 6,200 children have been identified as laborers in the mining regions of Haut-Katanga and Lualaba. It’s a step forward, but the problem runs deep.

Illegal mining operations thrive in areas where government oversight is weak or nonexistent. Armed groups extort money from local communities, smuggling cobalt across borders into Zambia and Tanzania.

Congo loses nearly $1 billion every year to these activities—money that could have built schools, hospitals, or better infrastructure.

Even when the mining is legal, corruption is everywhere. Soldiers and police officers tasked with maintaining order often join in the exploitation. Some sell minerals for personal profit.

Others protect smugglers for bribes. The chaotic system makes it almost impossible to trace cobalt’s origins.

Global corporations like China’s CATL, a leading supplier for electric vehicle batteries, rely on Congolese cobalt. They fuel the green energy revolution but risk contributing to the human and environmental toll.

Congo’s future depends on real accountability. Stricter laws, corporate responsibility, and investment in local communities are essential. Without them, the world’s push for sustainability will remain built on exploitation. The question is, at what cost are we building a greener future?  READ MORE

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awards/recognition Azerbaijan. b B0 B10 B100 B100 pumps B11 B12 B12.5 B13 B14 B15 B16 B17 B19 B2 B20 B24 B25 B3 B30 B30RD10 B33 B35 B4 B40 B49 B5 B50 B50RD50 B6 B60 B7 B70 B75 B8 B80 B98 B99 Babados nut tree babassu bacteria bagasse Bahamas Bahrain bamboo banana banana stems Bangladesh bankruptcy Barbados barge barley barley fiber barley protein barley straw Basque batteries Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV) bauxite beauty leaf tree beaver beer bees Belarus Belgium Belize Benin benzene Bermuda Bhutan big bluestem big data Big Food Big Oil/Oil Majors BIGoil billion ton study bio Bio LPG (Bio Liquid Petroleum Gas) bio-based diesel benefits bio-based economy Bio-CNG pumps Bio-CNG/RNG terminal bio-LNG (Liquified Natural Gas) Bio-LNG Pumps (Liquified Natural Gas) Bio-LNG terminal bio-natural gas bio-NGV (natural gas for vehicles) bio-oil/pyrolysis oil bio-SPK (bio derived synthetic paraffinic kerosene) biobased Biobased Market Access and Development Grants Biobased Markets Program biobased 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thermocellum cloud point clover cmelina CNG Conversion kit co co-generation co-location Co-op Extension co-operative co-processing co-products CO2 Electrolysis CO2 neutral fuels CO2Removal Certificates (CORCs) coal Coal and Biomass to Liquid (CBTL) Coast Guard coastal habitat conservation coastal hay cobalt cock's foot coco coco methyl ester (CME) cocoa Coconut coffee coffee cherries coffee grounds coffee pulp cold flow cold-tolerance college/university Colombia Colorado combined heat and power (CHP) Comment Request commercial flights commercialization commissioning commo Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) commodity trading common reed Community activity community college Community involvement/engagement community scale Community Wood Energy Program competition compliance compliance credits compost Compressed Natural Gas (CNG/R-CNG/bioCNG) compression ratios compression-ignition engine computer simulation concrete condensate Congo 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criteria pollutants Croatia crop crop insurance cropland croton crowdfunding crude oil Cuba cup plant cuphea currency/foreign exchange policy curriculum cusi cutworm caterpillars cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) cylindro Cyprus Czech Republic d D-3 (cellulosic) RINs D-4 (bio-based diesel) RINs d-5 D-5 (advanced biofuel) RINs D-6 (renewable fuel) RINs D-7 RINs (Cellulosic Diesel) D-8 (proposed) RINs D20 (20%DME) D5 (5%DME) dairy waste dandelion DARPA date kernel oil date palm date palm pits date palm waste Dates DDGS (distiller’s dried grains with solubles) dead zone decanol decision-support tool deep water drilling Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) Defense Production Act deficit definitions deforestation defossilization Dehydration Delaware DeltaWing demonstration demonstration scale/unit Denmark densify density Department of Agriculture (USDA) Department of Commerce Department of Defense (DOD) Department of Education Department of Energy (DOE) Department of Health and Human Services 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drop-in biofuels/hydrocarbons drought drought tolerant drought-resistant dry ice dual cropping Dubai duckweed e e-diesel e-LNG (synthetic/electro Liquified Natural Gas) e-methanol e-NG (synthetic natural gas) E. coli E0 E0 price E1 E10 E10 certification fuel E10 price E100 E100 conversion kit E11 E12 E13 E15 E15 price E15 pumps E2 E20 E20 price E20 pumps E22 E25 E25 pumps E27 E3 E30 E30 capable E30 certification fuel E30 optimized E30 price E30 pumps E35 E4 E40 E40 conversion kit E40 pumps E5 E5 price E50 E55 E6 E7 E70 diesel E75 E78 E8 E80 E85 E85 conversion kit E85 optimized engines E85 price E85 pumps E90 E92 E95 E97 E98 earthquakes East Africa Eastern Europe economic development Economic Development Administration economic modeling economic policy economics Ecosystems Services Ecuador ED7 (7% ethanol 93% diesel) ED95 education Education Series 3030 educational business private educational tour EERE efficiency egg shell Egypt El Salvador Electric aircraft Electric Car/Electric 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Co-optimization engineering England enhanced oil recovery (EOR) entrepreneur environment environmental impact study (EIS) environmental justice/socially inclusive environmental policy Environmental Quality Incentive Program (EQIP) Environmentalists Enzymatic enzymatic conversion enzymatic depolymerization enzymatic hydrolysis enzyme production enzyme recycling Enzyme solicitation enzymes EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) EPACT (Energy Policy Act) Equatorial Guinea equipment eRINs/electric pathway Eritrea erosion control EROWI (Energy Return on Water Invested) ESG (Environmental Social Governance) esterification Estonia ETBE (ethyl tert-butyl ether) etha ethane ethanol ethanol benefits ethanol blend wall ethanol blended diesel ED ethanol blends/ethanol flex fuels ethanol emissions ethanol ether diesel fuel ethanol fire ethanol fuel cells ethanol hybrid ethanol pipeline ethanol prices ethanol production ethanol pumps ethanol tax ethanol terminal ethanol to gas ethanol tolerance 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feed Feed In Tariffs (FIT) feed prices Feedstock Flexibility Program for Bioenergy Producers feedstock logistics feedstock material feedstock prices feedstock storage feedstock terminal feedstock transportation Feedstocks fermentation ferry fertilizer fiber Fiji Financing Finland Fischer-Tropsch Synthetic Kerosene with Aromatics (FT-SKA) Fischer-Tropsch Synthetic Paraffinic Kerosene (FT-SPK) Fischer-Tropsch Synthetic Paraffinic Kerosene with Aromatics (FT-SPK/A) Fischer-Tropsch/FT fish feed fish oil fish waste fit for purpose Fixed Base Operator (FBO) flameleaf sumac flavors flax fleet turnover Fleets fleshings flex-fuel vehicles (FFV) flight tests Flightpath flixweed/tansy/herb-Sophia flood-prone soil Florida flue gas FOG (Fats/Oils/Grease) follow-the-crop food Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Food and Drug Administration (FDA) food and fuel food policy food prices food processing waste food safety food security food vs biomaterials/bioplastics food vs fuel food waste for 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price gasoline-range hydrocarbons Gemany General Services Administration general waiver authority generators genetically engineered yeast cells genetically enhanced microbes genetically modified organism (GMO) genome Georgia Georgia (country) geothermal German Germany Gerrmany Ghana GHG (Greenhouse Gas Emissions) GHG (Greenhouse Gas Emissions) Intensity giant cane giant kelp Giant King Grass Giant Reed/Arundo GIS glass tubing gliricidia sepium global rebound effect Global South global warming global warming potential glucose glycerin glycerin standards glycerol goats gorse Governance practices) Government Accountability Office (GAO) government investment government resources government subsidies grain sorghum/milo grain speculators grains GRAND-AM grants grants-local grants-state grapefruit grapes graphene graphite GRAS (generally regarded as safe) Grasses grasses grasshoppers grease Great Green Fleet Great Lakes Greece green bonds green chemistry Green Deal EU green economy green house facility Green Jobs Green New Deal Green Racing Green Recovery green/black economy Greenland GREET Greenhouse Gases Regulated Emissions and Energy Use in Transportation Model Grenada gribble growers gua beans Guam guar Guatemala guayule Guerbet reaction Guinea Guinea Bissau Gulf states gulmohar Gumweed (grindelia squarosa) Guyana GWP gypsum h Haiti Halophytes harvest site processing harvesting Hawai'i hay hazardous waste hazelnut HBIIP Higher Blends Infrastructure Incentive Program HDCJ HDO-SAK (hydro deoxygenated synthetic aromatic kerosene) health health benefits health effects heat of combustion heat of vaporization heat-tolerance heather heating oil/fuel Heavy Duty Truck Rule heavy duty vehicles (HDV) hedging HEFA (Hydro-processed esters and fatty acids) HEFA50 helicopters hemicellulace enzymes hemicellulose hemicellulosic sugars Hemp hemp oil hemp seed herb hexanol HFO (Heavy Residual Fuel Oil) hibiscus high blend renewable fuels (HBRF) High Hydrogen Content Synthetic 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