The world does need to clean up its act, both human rights and...

The world does need to clean up its act, both human rights and environment but is cobalt from the congo necessary for li batteries. I can not get my head around all the technical info but it does seem that whilst probably most batteries for the foreseeable future contain li not all will necessarily contain cobalt. There seems to be a number of battery configurations that at present don't have cobalt. Further cobalt is a by product of nickel production and some of the big players seem to be gearing up to produce cobalt in aust. The downside of not getting cobalt from the congo is that people who are desperately poor are deprived of their livelihood. The best answer may be to somehow improve the appalling conditions of those in the congo who mine cobalt. The fossil fuel lobby will use any pretext to slag off new energy so there is an economic as well as an ethical reason for getting the congo to clean up its act.