The electric car market experienced spectacular growth in Europe last year (2021): 1.2 million 100% electric cars and 1 million plug-in hybrids were sold. But to make electric car batteries, rare earths, such as lithium, are needed, and the extraction of this mineral also has significant human and ecological costs.
In Germany, European automobile giant, the switch to electric motor worries professionals and politicians. Up to a third of the 613,000 jobs directly or indirectly linked to the production of combustion engine cars could disappear by 2030. A corresponding note report in Berlin, Julien Mechaussie.
To succeed in the digital revolution and build electric motors, or mobile phones, you need rare earths. It has become a real geostrategic and ecological issue. Guillaume Pitron, author of Digital Hell, journey at the end of a like, published by Les Liens Qui Libéré.
In the race for rare earths at the heart of the energy transition: the Rio Tinto lithium mine project in Serbia. The multinational would like to operate one of the largest lithium sites in the world, which is supposed to supply Europe with batteries for a million electric cars per year. A report from our correspondent, Louis Seiller, in the Jadar Valley.
The Balkans, undermined by massive emigration
Among the main reasons for this emigration, economic growth at half mast and a lack of investment. But behind that, too, there are political and security tensions. Lola’s testimony. She is 43 years old and lived in Serbia. But 7 years ago, she decided to move to Germany with her husband and two young children. Comments collected by Laurent Rouy.
In a nutshell: “Kolonya”
Kolonya, it is cologne, which any guest in a house Turkish has his hands sprayed by the master or mistress of the house, barely seated in an armchair. With the coronavirus pandemic, it has returned to all homes. Anne Andlauer.