Power Metal: The Race for the Resources That Will Shape the Future

關鍵礦物的開採對於國家與社會的影響無疑是雙面刃，我們有機會創造雙贏的局面嗎？

一位澳洲百萬富翁計劃在海底開採稀礦。
尼日利亞的垃圾撿拾者冒著生命危險回收電子廢物。
一位比爾·蓋茲長期贊助的企業家利用人工智慧在北極尋找關鍵礦產。

這些人以及數百萬其他人都是為了尋找和提取對兩項關鍵技術至關重要的礦物而進行日益激烈競爭的一部分：互聯網和可再生能源。

在本書中，文斯·貝瑟探討了「綠色能源」和數位技術的致命弱點——製造電腦、手機、電動車和其他技術需要驚人數量的鋰、銅、鈷和其他材料。
全球各地的企業和政府正在急於尋找新的開採地點和新方法來獲取這些金屬，但人類和地球卻正在為這樣大規模的開採付出巨大的成本。

貝瑟走遍世界，與相關人士交談，報導這場競賽對環境所造成的傷害、未來可預見更重大的危害以及我們該如何將開採稀礦過程中對地球的損害降至最低。

The powerful ways the metals we need to fuel technology and energy are spawning environmental havoc, political upheaval, and rising violence — and how we can do better.

An Australian millionaire’s plan to mine the ocean floor. Nigerian garbage pickers risking their lives to salvage e-waste. A Bill Gates-backed entrepreneur harnessing AI to find metals in the Arctic.

These people and millions more are part of the intensifying competition to find and extract the minerals essential for two crucial technologies: the internet and renewable energy. In Power Metal, Vince Beiser explores the Achilles’ heel of “green power” and digital technology – that manufacturing computers, cell phones, electric cars, and other technologies demand skyrocketing amounts of lithium, copper, cobalt, and other materials. Around the world, businesses and governments are scrambling for new places and new ways to get those metals, at enormous cost to people and the planet.

Beiser crisscrossed the world to talk to the people involved and report on the damage this race is inflicting, the ways it could get worse, and how we can minimize the damage. Power Metal is a compelling glimpse into this disturbing yet potentially promising new world.