Volt Rush: The Winners and Losers in the Race to Go Green

by Henry Sanderson

'A remarkably hopeful and useful book...The climate crisis leaves us no choice but to build a new world and as Sanderson makes clear, we are capable of making it a better one than the dirty and dangerous planet we’ve come to take for granted.' Bill McKibben, Observer book of the week

We depend on a handful of metals and rare earths to power our phones and computers. Increasingly, we rely on them to power our cars and our homes. Whoever controls these finite commodities will become rich beyond imagining.

Sanderson journeys to meet the characters, companies, and nations scrambling for the new resources, linking remote mines in the Congo and Chile’s Atacama Desert to giant Chinese battery factories, shadowy commodity traders, secretive billionaires, a new generation of scientists attempting to solve the dilemma of a ‘greener’ world.

Genres: Nonfiction, Business, Science, Economics, Technology, Environment, Sustainability

300 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 28, 2022

Reviews

[Cheenu · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good introduction to where all the stuff that goes into an electric car's battery comes from. However, I thought it was too heavy on company & entrepreneur profiles and not enough on technology or the human impact of these supply chains. The last few chapters just felt like puff pieces on certain early stage companies.

[C · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd appreciate more battery chemistry and less company history.

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Always a great time for human rights abuses and ecological destruction!

I don't know what it is about natural resources that brings a deep sense of evil into the air. What a fascinating and deeply horrifying picture at the mining industry both past and present. The sheer quantity of minerals we need to electrify - alongside the boom-and-bust nature of an already jank mining sector - does not help me sleep better at night.

Definitely connected with the book better since all this market context is what I absorb on the daily at work, but still, props to the author for bringing the DRAMA to the table (with respect to the major companies and their acquisition catfights; post-colonial oppression [ecological shadows, for a funky vocab word] is not juicy drama). Thrilling read from start to finish.

The rest of my comments make me sound borderline-republican, so I will keep them to myself.

Four stars! Points off because non-fiction books will never make it into my 5-star camp. Would recommend to anyone vaguely interested in mining, maybe to people interested in the energy transition, and definitely to people who love to sound pretentious at parties.

TLDR; lithium is cool because we are sustainable and ethical around the globe! Get energy transitioned or get fucked.

[Graham Barrett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading “Cobalt Red” earlier this year confirmed a fact that as a renewable energy proponent I know all too well, the shift to green energy is imperfect and can have negative consequences. “Volt Rush” contains a lot of the same content as Cobalt Red but on a global scale (China, Chile, Indonesia, deep sea and even the UK) and looking at multiple other resources like lithium and nickel. Henry Sanderson’s book is simultaneously a history lesson for the technologies and mining, an examination of environmental consequences, and business profiles of the big actors in the race to extract these resources in the race to go green.

The initial chapters chronicling how Thomas Edison’s attempts to make electric cars ran parallel to Henry Ford’s development of the Model T was a nice bit of history and brings to mind the “history repeats” phrase. We have history lessons like that throughout the book which I do appreciate in the context of nations’ histories, particularly those nations who have long been exploited for their resources and it looks like they will once again suffer human and environmental costs. Personally, the history lessons on individual mining, car and battery companies were less interesting and after a while became a jumble of different names for companies and CEOs and dictators. These business profiles are necessary for who’s who is weak and not so much of a condemnation of the more heinous actors, nor is enough focus given to their opponents.

While depressing and a valid critique of the cons of our push for EVs and renewable resources, the book’s environmental assessment of the business practices is important. Again more could have been done to talk with those being impacted by the negative environmental damage of mining but Sanderson still showcases how developed nations’ sustainability goals mean nothing if you don’t account for supply chains’ “ecological shadow”. I likewise did appreciate how the final chapters were devoted to ways to improve upon the process and truly make a sustainable future with these resources via the circular economy and green batteries.

While it may sound like I’m condemning the need for clean energy and EVs because we certainly need them, “Volt Rush” is a good showcase of actual and potential costs and why its important to address these concerns now as we begin to ramp up the presence of these technologies.

[Nico Mira · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great overview of the environmental and social cost of the electric revolution and the need for more minerals for the batteries that lies at the core of it. It should be clear that there are some major trade offs in this transition, and that we should be well aware of our responsibility tied to it, especially for us working in the automobile industry. I can’t recommend it enough. Our world requires extreme change and this - as always - means that there will be some ‘winners’ and ‘losers’ from it. The most important then is to make sure that it is as equitable as possible.

[The Inquisitive Biologist · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though electric cars are hailed as the future, Volt Rush is a well-rounded and thought-provoking piece of investigative journalism that exposes the resource scramble unfolding to produce the needed batteries. Read my full review at https://inquisitivebiologist.com/2022...

[Thomas Falezan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Deeply researched, Volt Rush provides an insightful overview of the supply chain behind today’s green technologies, from the batteries that power our electric cars to the solar panels driving the energy transition, and of the key players in the industry.

Unfortunately, these technologies depend on a handful of minerals (e.g., cobalt and lithium) heterogeneously scattered on Earth, including in some of the poorest and most corrupt countries in the world. Throughout his book, Sanderson sheds light on the shady deals struck in Congo, responsible for 70% of global cobalt production, and the dire conditions under which the local populations work, reminiscent of Zola’s Germinal. Another example of a country with a huge potential but where the large capital inflows never make it down to the local populations.

Volt Rush also take the reader to Papua New Guinea and Indonesia, two large Nickel producers trying to assert themselves as key nodes in the renewable energy supply chain. Again, Sanderson paints a grim landscape where the mining process comes at the expense of local populations, biodiversity… and large carbon emissions through the extensive use of cheap coal! This book will make you think twice before upgrading to the latest smartphone.

Sanderson also retraces how China came to be *the* major player in the clean energy industry thanks to the right economic policies, virtually unlimited access to cheap capital and strategic acquisitions. Volt Rush shows how China has leapfrogged Europe and the US and is now the world’s top processor of rare earth materials and home to the world’s largest battery manufacturer CATL. A scary realisation given the rising tensions between China and the West.

Although a great book, I think Volt Rush still lacks a clear story line bringing all these elements together into one coherent thesis.

[John Owen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow what an incredibly fascinating read. The book is timely during this move to cleaner energy and a “greener” world. It is both hopeful about the prospect of making a full energy transition while never shying away from the many convoluted and often understated issues with this new revolution. The book highlights a bevy of pros and cons while remained very objective and fair to all players in this game. The importance of managing the race to go green and understand all of the many factors involved is emphasized in a clear and concise way that’s easily digestible. Whatever your interest level is in sustainability, supply chains, geopolitics, or environmental health, this book is 100% worth the read.

[Turnip Head · Rating 4 out of 5]

From the use of child labour in artisanal cobalt mines in Congo to the destruction of coastal ecosystems caused by the dumping of waste from nickel mines in PNG, Sanderson boldly investigates and documents the hypocrisy in the race to go green - is there anything sustainable about an electric vehicle's lithium-ion battery sourced from mines in Chile whose water consumption has lead to mass drought and displacement of indigenous communities?

This book sheds light (a solar-powered one of course!) on the ecological and human impacts of the "green" transition. The extraction of minerals crucial to renewable energy, EV batteries and the electrification of the grid such as lithium, cobalt, nickel and copper, casts an "ecological shadow" across the planet. While 'innovators' such as Apple, Tesla and BYD lead the charge in technological change for a better and more sustainable world, the obscure and darker parts of the supply chain hide serious abuses of human rights and environmental degradation.

I wonder if rich countries thirst for resources at the cost of low-middle income countries' environmental and social integrity is akin to "Green Imperialism" where powerful economic and political interests (under the guise of sustainability) outsource the damage onto marginal communities for a profit.

Yet, perspective is important. Sanderson does an excellent job of highlighting the shortcomings of mineral extraction related to the environmental transition but falls short in placing it in the context of the arguably far more damaging impacts of the fossil fuel industry. Upwards of 8 million people a year die from fossil fuel-related pollution, the UN predicts that by 2050, 1.2 billion people could be displaced by the climate crisis, and this is not to mention the ecological and societal destruction that the lust for fossil fuels has already caused, think the Gulf Wars, petrol companies' human rights records and catastrophic oil spills. There is a need to transition irrespective of abuses in the critical mineral sector.

The final message of the book is an optimistic and pragmatic one. Sanderson shows that labour conditions in certain industries, such as cobalt, have improved due to public pressure, that we can "vote with our money". Regulation that seeks to weed out human rights and environmental infringements across the supply chain can be effective. Nevertheless, Sanderson beseeches us not to sleepwalk into a "green transition" and to prioritise minimising consumption. The rich world cannot continue to blithely indulge in modern luxuries that parasite the resources of those who live in the ecological shadows.

[James · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this is a prologue/prep for Chris Miller’s “Chip War” and had to start skimming after half way through. The Africa chapters especially just read like several Wikipedia articles stuck together with little to no insight on events which is a shame. Far too many structureless paragraphs of “this guy was born here, then studied here, then went to this country and did this… right… on to the next guy” and you just end up with a dotted history of people somewhat relevant to the battery revolution. The message of the book is essentially in the conclusion that batteries are the future but will always contain “ecological shadows” where supply chains are distorted by potentially malicious actors.

Would’ve been nice to have some sort of insight provided by the author or more commentary from experts.

[Stewart · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an important contribution to our dialogue as we decarbonize the transportation sector. Sanderson discuses the extraction activities necessary to create batteries for electric cars: namely lithium, cobalt, and nickel. He focuses on the mining activities and the socio-environmental impacts which are significant for each of these metals.

Understanding that this was not the type of book in which to discuss it, I wish Sanderson could have devoted more time and space to the true carbon footprint within the current clean energy supply chain. Each of these critical metals for electric cars is dependent upon a fossil fuel infrastructure of heavy machinery for extraction and power to convert the raw material into usable resource. The carbon life cycle is therefore not as clean as many advocates outside the industry would hope for. Sanderson calls this out, but I would have liked a more detailed life cycle analysis discussion.

That’s not to say that decarbonization isn’t a laudatory goal worthy of devoting the resources of a nation-state to. It is. But we need to be brutally honest that even our best efforts to decarbonize one of the biggest sectors of CO2 pollution are still stained by our dependence on fossil fuels. This book is a great step in furthering this conversation however.

[Alma · Rating 3 out of 5]

Volt rush on toimittaja Henry Sandersonin teos sähköautovallankumouksen vaatimien raaka-aineiden (etenkin koboltti, kupari ja nikkeli) globaaleista hankintaketjusta ja niiden kehittymisestä. Olen nähnyt muutaman uutisartikkelin kaivosten kurjista työoloista ja kaivostoiminnan saastuttavuudesta. Aika vähän lopulta olen kuitenkin törmännyt tietoon aiheesta, joten tämä kirja täydensi aukkoja kivasti. Kirjassa on tyypillinen toimittajan kädenjälki; tietoon ja tilastoihin sekoitetaan matka- ja ympäristön kuvausta, kohtaamisia ja haastatteluja sekä kaikenlaisia anekdootteja ja sitaatteja. Kirjan vahvuus on siinä, että kuvaa aihepiiriään laajasti liikkuen eri puolilla maailmaa ja antaen hyvän kokonaiskuvan aiheesta. Tästä hyvästä kolme tähteä (= hyvä kirja).

[naeem · Rating 4 out of 5]

As someone working on sustainable lithium recovery from seawater brines and metallic wastewaters, Volt Rush was a timely read, offering an in-depth look at the key players shaping the critical minerals industry - lithium, cobalt, nickel, and copper - integral to the green transition. These resources are not evenly distributed; they are concentrated in specific regions, and as Sanderson illustrates, their geopolitical significance is profound. The lithium salt-lake triangle in Latin America, hard rock lithium ores in Australia, the Congolese Copperbelt that holds the world’s largest cobalt reserves, and the nickel mines of Papua New Guinea and Indonesia all serve as battlegrounds where corporations, governments, and local communities collide.

In each example, Sanderson dissects the inner workings of these supply chains, exposing how backdoor deals between corporations and corrupt officials ensure that capital remains concentrated in their hands. The profits rarely reach the marginal communities living on these resource-rich lands, who often bear the brunt of environmental degradation and social displacement. Nowhere is this injustice more striking than in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where artisanal mining is both a symbol of desperation and systemic exploitation. Thousands of informal miners, including children, toil in hazardous, hand-dug tunnels, extracting cobalt with rudimentary tools and no safety protections. The book highlights how multinational companies, including those championing clean energy, turn a blind eye to the realities of these supply chains. While the transition to green energy is necessary, it must not come at the cost of green imperialism, where the Global North extracts resources and profits from impoverished nations without regard for the people who suffer the consequences.

Another pressing issue is China’s strategic dominance over these supply chains. Companies like Tianqi Lithium, Huayou Cobalt (which has been complicit in sourcing from artisanal mines using child labor), Tsingshan’s nickel, and China Molybdenum have cemented near-monopolies in their respective industries. Their control extends beyond raw materials—Chinese battery giants like CATL dominate the downstream supply chain as well, further consolidating power over the global EV market.

Sanderson also explores alternative sources, including the controversial practice of deep-sea mining in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone of the Pacific, where polymetallic nodules rich in nickel, cobalt, and manganese are being eyed as the next frontier for extraction. The environmental risks, however, remain largely unknown, with scientists warning of irreversible damage to deep-sea ecosystems. Meanwhile, industrial-scale battery recycling efforts, such as those led by Northvolt in Sweden, offer a more sustainable path - closing the loop on battery materials and reducing the need for new mining altogether.

Ultimately, the book emphasizes the urgent need for transparency in supply chains and the responsibility of consumers to hold companies accountable. The materials powering our green transition should not be tainted by exploitation, environmental destruction, or human suffering.

While Volt Rush provides a compelling narrative on corporate power struggles and the shifting ownership of critical mineral assets, it lacks technical depth in two key areas. First, I would have appreciated a more detailed discussion on the environmental impact of mining beyond the broader ethical concerns - how lithium extraction affects groundwater, the carbon footprint of nickel smelting, or the long-term soil toxicity of cobalt mining. Second, the book could have provided greater insight into legislative and policy developments aimed at preventing large-scale exploitation of these resources. There are growing efforts, such as the EU’s Battery Regulation and the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act, that seek to impose stricter sustainability and ethical sourcing standards - yet Sanderson touches on these only briefly.

Lastly, while the chapter on Cornwall’s lithium mining revival was an interesting exploration of the UK’s ambitions in critical minerals, it felt somewhat misplaced in the book’s structure. It would have been better integrated within the earlier lithium chapters rather than appearing near the end, where it felt like an abrupt geographical pivot.

Despite these gaps, Volt Rush is a crucial read for anyone invested in the future of clean energy. It lays bare the uncomfortable realities behind the batteries we depend on, forcing us to question whether our pursuit of sustainability is truly ethical—or merely a rebranding of the same extractive, exploitative systems of the past.

[Mehtap exotiquetv · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sind elektrisch betriebene Fahrzeuge wirklich besser? Was läuft eigentlich im Hintergrund, wenn nach Cobalt gesucht wird? Wer sind die Profiteure und wer sind die Verlierer auf dem Weg zu einer grüneren Welt?
Dieses Buch beleuchtet viele Aspekte und zeigt auf, dass es auch bei der „grünen Technologie“ Aspekte gibt, die nicht unbedingt die beste Alternative sind. Es ist ein differenziertes Buch, dessen Inhalte man beachten sollte beim Thema „green energy“

[Andrew Canfield · Rating 4 out of 5]

Volt Rush: The Winners and Losers in the Race to Go Green is a timely book written by a journalist with deep knowledge of the mining industry. Henry Sanderson has spent the better part of the last decade as a writer for the Financial Times reporting on commodities and mining stories, and this book is the product of prodigious research and travel to far flung locales.

Despite the book's title, this work focuses almost exclusively on electric vehicles. The author makes clear he is concerned about climate change and seems to welcome the international shift toward renewables and a lower carbon economy; those expecting to read a book trashing green energy need to look elsewhere. The elimination of millions of annual deaths from breathing polluted air courtesy of the burning of fossil fuels would be another calamity solved if the switch to lower carbon sources of energy can be done right.

The book does not, however, gloss over the challenges brought about by a transition away from fossil fuels nor look the other way when it comes to potential speed bumps along this path.

Volt Rush spends nearly all of its pages analyzing the mining of lithium, copper, cobalt, and nickel, critical components in electric vehicle (EV) batteries. Its look at the growth of China's electric vehicle components supply chain during the 2010s made clear the jump that country got on the West.

Chinese lithium-ion battery company Contemporary Amperex Technology Co.'s trajectory was looked at to demonstrate how rapidly China achieved a stranglehold on the battery market. When legacy companies like Volkswagen began looking to transition to electric several years ago, the book reveals that their executives were unnerved by just how far ahead of the curve China was in the provision of battery components.

Sanderson traveled to Chile's Atacama Desert reason to report on the mining of copper in that region. He spent a ton of time discussing his analysis of Congolese cobalt mining, a practice which had been rife with usage of child labor and poor working conditions. The entry of mining companies like Swiss giant Glencore in the field was a sign these conditions could be reversed; the improvement of working standards was sure to be a byproduct of international mining interests with a reputation to maintain entering the fray.

The mining of EV battery components in countries like Australia, where labor standards are much higher, and the possibility that volcanic brine in California's Salton Sea could possess enough lithium to power millions of electric cars are held out as positive signs that a reliance on less stable regimes could soon be at an end.

Sanderson also shows how a change in the chemistry used in EV batteries is already increasing vehicle manufacturers' flexibility when it comes to the supply chains they will need to rely on. Tesla's switch to lithium iron phosphate has only just recently changed the way battery makers are adapting to a rapidly changing industry. These factors, combined with the increased focus on child labor in supply chains, mean that a lot of the early challenges faced by the greening of the vehicle fleet could see a solution sooner rather than later.

Although Elon Musk is of course mentioned and quoted, Tesla co-founder JB Straubel also appears in an interesting section on the recycling of EV batteries. His new company, Redwood Materials, exists to recycle these batteries to ensure no more mining than necessary ultimately has to be done.

Before reading Volt Rush, be aware that a lot of emphasis on the intricacies of mining comes into play. Although not excessively so, it becomes a bit dense in sections and seems to be almost a book on the mining industry for stretches at a time.

Readers who follow the important switch to cleaner transportation will enjoy reading Volt Rush. Its journalistic tendency to follow the facts-wherever they lead-does not sugarcoat the reality that changing any sort of industry for the long run is a difficult task. But neither is it overly pessimistic, and anyone who reads it will come away much more informed of the hopes and struggles created by the transition away from fossil fuels.

-Andrew Canfield Denver, Colorado

[Venky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Doing his bit to buck the climate change/global warming trend, former Bloomberg correspondent Henry Sanderson traded his fuel guzzling petrol car in favour of a sleek Tesla. Fortunately, for hundreds of readers, Sanderson did not just stop at his purchase. Proceeding to satiate his curiosity about the entire supply chain undergirding the manufacture and sale of an electric vehicle, Sanderson exposed in spectacular fashion the dark underbelly representing a mad scramble for some of the rarest minerals on earth that are indispensable for “greening” and “decarbonizing” the transportation industry.

From the merciless mining fields of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), to the blazing desert sand of the Atacama in Chile; from the polluted seas of Papua New Guinea to a forgotten mining site with a storied history in Cornwall, Sanderson in a grim manner underscores how in an inexplicably ironic and paradoxical manner, the frenzy to honour environmental commitments, irreparable harm is caused to both the global ecology and to pockets of world economy. Pockets that are plagued by a resource curse. Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining (ASM), a term used to describe the process of mining by hand instead of using sophisticated equipment, that has been a regular feature in the DRC has been regularly in the news for all the wrong reasons. A whole slew of allegations ranging from the employ of child labour to ‘exposure related’ oxidative DNA damage (most pronounced in children), have racked the nation which possesses the largest reserves of Cobalt in the world.

Opportunistic Multinational giants such as Huayou Cobalt of China and Glencore of Switzerland, have swooped and sashayed into the DRC to cash in on the new Electric Vehicle boom. Initially unconcerned about the way the Cobalt was mined, or the environmental damage caused in the supply chain process, these entities made the most of a DRC struggling for stability following a civil war in the early 2000s. Locking in government-to-government contracts, Chinese companies laid and continue to lay claims to a predominant degree of the cobalt resources in the DRC. As Sanderson elucidates in a grim fashion, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) plays a major role in the rush for extraction and exploitation of minerals. Gobbling up supply chains wholesale, contemporary Chinese tycoons backed by the enormous financial muscle of State backed financial institutions and riding on the back of the nation’s political might, have shown an insatiable fervour to ravage the very depths of the earth to possess some of the most valuable metals and minerals on the Planet.

The Chinese mining company Tianqi bought a 51 per cent stake in the world’s largest lithium mine in Australia with the backing of the China Development Bank (CDB). Not to be left behind, the stainless-steel behemoth Tsingshan obtained a predatory monopoly over Cobalt in Indonesia. In fact, the influence of Tsingshan was so pervasive that the Indonesian Government – much to the chagrin of the world – imposed a ban on the export of nickel! A jaw-dropping eighty percent of the Cobalt output in the DRC is now the property of China.

Sanderson, however, ends his book on an optimistic note. Comprehending that there were no benefits whatsoever in getting their collective noses out of joint, the West has finally realised the need for developing and maintaining alternative supply chains in order to reap the benefits of these rare metals. In the year 2017, Swedish Company Northvolt, the brainchild of Peter Carlsson, a former Chief Purchasing Officer at Tesla, announced that it was on its way to enable the future of energy by developing the world’s greenest battery cell and establish a European supply of batteries. True to its claim, the Company, in collaboration with Scandia, unveiled a green battery that was capable of powering trucks for 1.5 million kilometers, in July 2022. Meanwhile, English entrepreneur and jack of all trades, Jeremy Wrathall, displays single minded dedication and an unerring focus in reviving the lost and long tradition of Cornwall as a repository of mining by extracting lithium from the county’s hills. There is also a grandiose plan to mine the depths of the ocean to pump up precious metals that are apparently available in copious quantities.

Volt Rush is an excellent, essential and energetic book that, while acknowledging the immense potential and upside of the electric revolution in automobiles, does not shy away from highlighting some inherent pitfalls and perils which the industry would do well to be cautious about.

[Duncan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a crash course on the extraction, processing, and markets of lithium, cobalt, nickel, and copper. These are the primary elements necessary for lithium ion batteries (and some other stuff) that are integral for EVs and portable electronics, and other technologies that are becoming increasingly common. It covers who the major players (both people and countries) in mining and processing are, and how they were able to corner the market. Considerable attention is given to the importance of these resources, but also the environmental and humanitarian toll of mining (which is quite the cockroach in the raisins of the sunshine and roses green tech transition). Deep sea mining and scrap recycling are also considered. The extraction of these minerals will not only continue, but increase by orders of magnitude in the next few years. Can we scale up cautiously and avoid doing more damage than we’re trying to prevent?

Fun facts: lithium can be found in high concentrations in underground brines, often at super hot temps. One way that it is extracted is by pumping it to the surface where it sits in evaporating pools the size of lakes for about a year.

China mines very little lithium but processes almost all of it.

Chile is BIG for these materials. They are rich in lithium and can cheaply processes in the sunny Atacaman dessert.

There are just a handful of mining companies that control most of the extract of the key resources

We’re projected to use more copper in the next few decades than we have in the last 5000 years.

The ocean floor is one of the last places untouched and untainted by human activity. Which exactly why we need to go down there and dredge the hell out of it.

My suspicion is that when Verizon pays you $1000 for a 5 year old iPhone, you’re probably getting ripped off. Nothing is free! Your used lithium is valuable!

[Toby Mathers · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great narrative into the history and potential demand for minerals used to create ‘green products’, particularly the minerals used in electric vehicles (EVs) and batteries. This book presents the key figures and companies in the green mining industry and also the geopolitical aspects involved as the consumption of such minerals expand on the expectation that the demand for electric vehicles and renewable energy products scales up. The author puts it into perspective how big the EV market can become and the subsequent demand for raw materials.

The book also touches upon the fallacies (and slight hypocrisy) of consumers demanding green products. The renewable energy supply chain, or at least most of it, particularly in mining, is not so ‘ESG’ at the moment and the cost of producing green products may outweigh its benefit if care and better public understanding is not established. For example, the author notes the human tragedies pertaining to nickel mining, yet such mineral is used in the manufacturing of stainless steel, a core metal in most kitchen utensils.

With that said, while only key figures are detailed in this book, there is limited detail on the smaller and emerging players throughout the renewable supply chain.

[Calvin Cheung · Rating 3 out of 5]

An alternate universe where Henry Ford had failed and Thomas Edison, an early advocate of electric vehicles (EVs), had succeeded would be a curious prospect indeed. Would the world be a greener place had the petrol automobile never been invented, or would humans have plundered the earth void of minerals for EV manufacturing as vast tailings ponds populate its surface?

VOLT RUSH: THE WINNERS AND LOSERS IN THE RACE TO GO GREEN by Henry Sanderson is about the global rat race for control over vital metals and rare earths. Today, EVs are touted as the solution to over-reliance on fossil fuels, but it easily becomes green-washing if one neglects to highlight the unsustainability of traditional mining practice.

I was worried this was the direction in VOLT RUSH’s earlier chapters about foresighted Chinese entrepreneurs who dominate different stages of the supply chain, but felt relief that the climate crisis had not gone unspoken: “making lithium in China was the most carbon dioxide-intense process in the world”. An article in The Guardian called the book “remarkably hopeful” but I did not feel the same - not until the very end. Much of it focused on environmental degradation, corruption, inequality, violence and child labor in various parts of the world.

Sanderson was a long-time journalist for the Financial Times and it shows. A considerable portion of the book focuses on corporate histories, the coming-of-age tales of key individuals in the mining industry, and lots about how numerous factors affected the stock market. So if business interests you, this may appeal to you more than it did to me. Personally, I was craving more info on mining and engineering processes, and how the metals ─ cobalt, lithium, nickel, copper ─ are used during the manufacturing of batteries or other parts of EVs.

VOLT RUSH offers a thought-provoking exploration of the global pursuit of minerals, shedding light on the complexities and consequences of the electric revolution.

[Elias Marseille]

''it's a reminder that for all ourabaility to live on our smartphones and store our data in the cloud we have still not moved beyond digging up finite minerals from the earth to meet our needs'' - P. 74

The quote above captures the spirit of this book very well I think. Mr Sanderson takes us on a tour of the world where commodities determine the destination. Biggest take-away: China has been at every stop before and ensured it is in pole position to win the race for the mass production of electric cars.

Why the West is playing catch-up right now is beautiful painted by the anekdote of Cobalt traders who have listen to a Volkswagen manager who makes them the following offer: ''it's okay for you to sell to tesla but we want a discount because we are Volkswagen'' p.90. It tells you all you need to know about why Volkswagen is struggling in the EV market I think, haha.

We go from mines where children are still employed to complete coasts that have become uninhabitable because of mining. It makes the following quote a very good conclusion after reading this book: ''environmentalism has failed to slow the ways that producing, using, and replacing consumer goods deflect ecological costs into distant places and future generations'' - p.124

[Miguel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very eye opening book about resource use, ownership, and extraction that has been set in motion for the 'green' economy, mainly revolving around lithium battery production. Though the last few chapters makes a 'college try' for efforts to secure sources and production in the UK and Sweden, it's pretty clear by the main body of the book that the Chinese have established a Cobaltian-grip on these resources in the DRC and other locales. It likely downplays what overall nefarious activities are happening with the likes of Glencore and other very large multi-nationals (see 'The World for Sale' by Javier Blas), but certainly doesn't undercut the position that the Chinese firms have established themselves with. Also enjoyed the chapter on deep sea nodule harvesting (not mining! - LoL) - couldn't quite tell if this is game changer or more hope-ium to get us away from slave mining in Africa. But overall very good set of reporting here and while it's not perfect it's extremely timely and a topic that needs far more attention at the present moment.

[Jaak Ennuste · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great read on the electric vehicle battery market and how it impacts the environment. The aim of building more EVs is noble, and there is no doubt about that. However, we must be aware of what the costs of this are. Sanderson focuses on the key materials which are required to build batteries: lithium, cobalt, nickel, and copper. Mining all of these materials harms the environment to some extent. In cases like cobalt mining, human rights are a serious issue that was overlooked for years.

Like a proper journalist, the author also offers solutions and guidance to how we might not only produce environmentally friendly vehicles but also do it so that the process itself is green as well.

If you're interested in the battery market, this is a book for you.

[Tom Wilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5

- Really hoped this would be like Chip War for batteries
- So much useless information & quotes i.e. there’s one point where the author uses a quote from an econ paper to reference that limited supply and high demand increases prices
- Overly focused on EVs, basically no reference of grid scale batteries and a few passing mentions of decentralised battery systems
- Would love to hear a future outlook on the rate batteries are being improved at and potential new technologies
- Recycling is focused purely on one company, feels underdeveloped
- Useful for explaining some of the mining sector

[Josh Peacock · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really really interesting, learnt so much about what is a hugely impactful and important industry to the energy transition. Read a lot of energy related books, just think this one talked a bit too much about the different companies and how they grew/competed etc so at times got a bit dry for me personally, and probs just a bit different from my more technology-focussed interest. But yeah glad I read as learnt a lot about the key players, materials, and mining industries that our society will rely on more and more.

[Rob Hamer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Essential reading . Explains the complexities behind the supply chains behind the EV phenomenon. How all is not what it seems is unpacked in a user friendly style with a healthy dose of cynicism. One learns that while EV's are here to stay, what we put in them has consequences for the environment that are potentially as significant as those of oil and gas - and best we take special care to get it right this time .

[Nicolas Koh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very well written book with good transitions across the different metals and their histories. Have seen some reviews stating that the book lacks depth into any one commodity but believe that’s the genius of it, it helps to interweave the narrative histories of these different elements together into a digestible form.

As someone in the mining industry and a life long lover of the slowly dwindling art of paper back reading, this was by far a treat.

[Joao Pedro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great prose style that makes the book very enjoyable to read. At the same time, Sanderson is not shy to provide figures and numbers that illuminate the dark side of the EV revolution, discussing in details the environmental and social problems of mining lithium, cobalt, copper and nickel.

The discussion of child labor and other human rights abuses in Congolese cobalt mines is an eye opener.

[Filip · Rating 2 out of 5]

A great book with a lot of information on the basic resources needed for the Era of batteries. But to long and to much information, to much focus on the politics, and no enough on the resources and the combination of them in batteries. So tediously to read. A more concise version would have made it easier. And speedy to read ;-)

[Thijs Van · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book offers brilliant insight into the flow of raw materials that will be fundamental in a decarbonized world. Even if raw materials are not within your interest, this books offers an interesting prelude into how international power dynamics may change in the near future, as the race to decarbonize intensifies.

[Oliver · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book about cobalt, nickel and copper suppliers and battery producers from the perspective of a British journalist from the Financial Times and Bloomberg.

Fresh off reading "The World for Sale: Money, Power, and the Traders Who Barter the Earth's Resources" by Jack Farchy and Javier Blas, this book felt like a disappointment. The "hidden figures" portrayed in this book were not all that hidden and/or especially impactful.

Unless you're explicitly interested in the increase of certain commodity demand due to battery production in the late 2010s, I would give it a miss.