Batteries are dirty. Geothermal power can help.

A better future can’t just be green, it must also be fair.

Lithium-ion batteries are a transformative technology in the fight against climate change. Most notably, they power electric vehicles, which have the potential to replace emissions produced by road transportation.

But there’s a problem. These batteries require nickel. And in Indonesia, where the majority of nickel is produced, the production process emits large amounts of carbon and pollution. It’s impacting the people who live by the production centers, who are registering an increase in respiratory illnesses. The US is essentially outsourcing carbon emissions and pollution in exchange for green energy.

It doesn’t have to be this way. Indonesia sits along the Ring of Fire, one of the most geologically active regions in the world, making it an ideal place to produce geothermal energy.

Geothermal energy taps into the heat beneath the ground mostly found in volcanic regions. To use the heat beneath the earth’s surface, we need to drill into the ground, draw up the hot water, and use it to turn turbines that produce electricity. After, the water is funneled back underground, making geothermal a mostly clean and renewable energy source.

While the exploration and development process of geothermal energy can be expensive, Indonesia already has more than 30 active geothermal facilities.

As the world’s need for lithium-ion batteries increases, Indonesia and the companies invested in the region have the opportunity to make their processes greener from start to finish — and protect the people that live next to nickel production centers.

To understand the repercussions of nickel production in Indonesia and how geothermal energy could help fix the air pollution and emissions it produces, watch our video.

This video was made possible by a grant from the BEMC Foundation.

[Vox]

Thanks for watching! Future Perfect is a team at Vox that explores big problems and the big ideas to solve them. Vox producer Christina Thornell has been examining solutions to climate change in a warming world. Last year, producer Laura Bult dove into the human cost of meat production in the US.

[agungwatanabe]

I'm glad that here in my village we're using electricity from one of the biggest renewable geothermal energy plant (generating at 235MW) in Indonesia

[bryan.w.t]

I hate that it takes a foreign channel to explain something happening in my country. I appreciate the video, and hopefully this can increase the conversations about other green energy sources

[TLDnoR]

I am all for electric vehicles and drive one myself but you really shouldn't claim they are CO2 free. You have to factor in the emissions tied to the electricity used to charge the car. It's better but not CO2 free. For that much still needs to be done in advancing green energy production outside of the battery production as well.

[Megan-ntdm]

I don't think EVs should be emphasized so heavily as a 'solution' to climate change. We need to move away from car centric infrastructure and towards electrified public transit, with EVs as a supplement for purposes where transit can't reach

[bondthefifth]

There's a geothermal plant about 50km where I live. I've driven past it a couple times and I can vouch that it's the future of green energy in Indonesia. The plant looks clean and futuristic. It also doesn't really bother the environment, trees can (and do) grow around the plant, it practically surrounded by a forest. The only downside is that the plant needs a massive clearance because when a geothermal pipe bursts, it's proper scary and poses a safety hazard to the surrounding area.

[robertshelton]

Finally someone acknowledging that lithium batteries have their own environmental cost. Doesn't mean fossil is cleaner, just that batteries aren't perfect.

[davestagner]

I recently caught an episode of the Volt podcast about “enhanced geothermal” that really got my attention. Doing geothermal requires three things - heat, water, and permeable rock. That’s easy enough to find in seismic hotspots like Indonesia or Iceland, but most of the world isn’t like that, so much of the readily available geothermal has already been developed (kind of like hydro that way). Enhanced geothermal uses the fracking (fracturing) techniques developed for natural gas wells to create permeable rock where it doesn’t currently exist. Water can then be extracted from stranded aquifers deep underground, or pumped from a ground source into the hot, permeable rock. This makes geothermal possible in many places where it can’t be used today.

[FinancialShinanigan]

Time to invest in public transportation & electrify them but we've been saying the same thing for decades but politicians are in bed with big oil and auto manufacturers smh

[austinreed]

Iceland does this very well with it’s rich volcanic hot springs and mountainous geography.

[Basta]

Cars are not the answer. The way cities are designed/developed also makes a massive impact. For example, the start of the video fails to take into account all the infrastructure and maintenance that went into making car travel possible. These costs are enormous in terms of land, materials, expertise, and other resources in a per traveler basis compared to the Amtrak train.

[obinator]

In Germany they have a geothermal power plant which could also be used for extracting lithium from the water they’re pumping up.

[chokeeweebee]

That Paracetamol sirup shown in 2:06 is currently being recalled in Indonesia for ethylene glycol contamination. The reporters should contact Mrs asfina again and ask if her daughter's still healthy.

[ganaspin]

Also good to mention that nuclear power plants, especially High Temperature Gas Cooled Reactors, are suitable and very attractive for direct replacement of existing coal-powered plants while retaining people's jobs.

[Vonebor]

When I first saw this video, I thought they were going to discuss the rapidly developing technology around producing lithium from geothermal brines, which essentially creates lithium without any mining beyond the initial bore shaft and with green geothermal energy to boot! Highly recommend they make a follow up video on the subject. The DoE here in the US is actively studying it and there's a company in Germany aiming for commercial scale production by 2025.

[just_in_key]

2:06 that's the cough syrup that cause acute kidney failure 😭

[CalrissianRain]

Conventional geothermal is not going to matter in the long run. I would suggest looking into advanced closed loop geothermal systems that are currently being developed in Canada, US and Europe. Real gamechanger if they manage to lower drilling costs

[aromaticsnail]

Cars are NEVER the solution, including electric. Accessible cities and a good public transport infrastructure is the way forward

[ForkTech]

Deep geothermal drilling w plasmabit tech is my hope for the future. No dangerous fault lines to drill
Keeping an eye on Quaise and other such companies for their test drills attempting to reach 10+ km deep

[neolithictransitrevolution]

Geothermal is great, particularly closed loop which is not covered here. Closed loop offers a great way to continue to use Oil and Gas assets, in almost any geology, which are otherwise potentially stranded. It also allows for peaking as working fluid is super heated when left underground, and that allows higher power production when turned on. And, if a super Critical CO2 loop is used, have negligible water requirements and offer a sequesteration site.

Kenya should alsi be covered in regards to conventional Geothermal.