Understand your cobalt emissions

Part 8 of CarbonChain’s ‘High-carbon Commodities’ blog series.

Cobalt, valued for its magnetic properties, high temperature resilience, and strength, is playing a critical role in the transition to electric vehicles and energy storage. Cobalt is a key component in the cathodes of Lithium-ion batteries, which power everything from smartphones, to laptops, to electric toothbrushes, to electric vehicles. Thanks to its strength, cobalt is also frequently used in superalloys for gas turbines, nuclear reactors, and space vehicles. Cobalt also acts as a catalyst to remove sulphur and nitrous oxide from crude oil, minimizing the greenhouse gas emissions associated with burning oil.

Compared to other metals like alumim, steel, and copper, cobalt’s contribution to global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is very small: approximately 1.6 million tonnes out of a total 3.4 billion tonnes annually. However, with demand rising rapidly, this may change.

Approximately 232,000 metric tonnes (232 kilotonnes, or kt) of mined cobalt entered the global supply chain in 2023. Yet demand is rising rapidly. In the last two decades, global demand for cobalt has multiplied by a factor of five. The IEA expects cobalt demand to roughly double by 2040, largely driven by clean tech, including battery technologies and electric vehicles.

With increased regulation on cobalt emissions and reporting requirements coming into play, industry scrutiny is set to grow at pace with demand. Read on to understand how cobalt’s carbon footprint is impacted at each stage of production.

What is cobalt’s carbon footprint?

In 2021, cobalt mining was responsible for approximately 1.6 million tons of CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalent) emissions. Globally, this is a tiny figure, especially when compared to other metals such as nickel (produces 120 million tonnes CO2e annually), aluminum (produces 1.1 billion tonnes of CO2e annually), and steel (produces 2.6 billion tonnes of CO2e annually).

However, these emissions are expected to rise over the following decades, keeping pace with surging demand.

Understanding cobalt emissions requires up-to-date data

Calculating your cobalt emissions requires accurate, up-to-date data. For an opaque industry like cobalt, this can be a challenge. For example, the Cobalt Institute — the leading authority on the cobalt industry — puts the average carbon footprint of cobalt metal at 28 tCO2e/t (tonnes of CO2e per tonne of product), based on 2015 data.

Meanwhile, CarbonChain’s up-to-date emissions database puts cobalt metal at an average carbon footprint of ~24.4 tCO2e/t based on 2023 data. It’s necessary to know the specific pathway of your particular cobalt products in order to get accurate data. This is something CarbonChain can help with. For large cobalt buyers, such a discrepancy can add up significantly; particularly when carbon taxes, offsets, or company climate targets are involved.

What causes cobalt’s emissions?

By far the most significant cause of cobalt’s emissions are two key phases of production: primary extraction (mining and pre-processing), and refining.

‍Mining

Cobalt is extracted from the earth. It is a blue-pigmented rock, primarily obtained in parts of Africa, Asia, Australia, and Russia. Mining cobalt isn’t particularly carbon-intense; most of the carbon emissions at this stage come from waste water treatment.

‍Primary extraction

The majority of cobalt’s emissions comes from the primary extraction stage, where pure cobalt is extracted from cobalt ore. The biggest emissions contributors at this stage are onsite electricity generation and wastewater treatment.

‍Refining

Different refined cobalt products (see table below) require different downstream processing paths (refining methods). Data on carbon emissions during refining is scarce, but key emissions contributors during the refining process include electricity generation and waste water treatment.

Do different types of cobalt have different carbon footprints?

Different forms of cobalt have different carbon footprints and carbon intensities. For example, cobalt metal (cobalt in its purest form) has the highest carbon footprint, at 28.2 kg CO2e/kg of product. Tri-cobalt-tetraoxide follows close behind, at 24 kg CO2e/kg of product. Crude cobalt hydroxide carries a much lower carbon footprint, at 6.4 kg CO2e/kg, followed by cobalt sulphate heptahydrate, at 4 kg CO2e/kg.

Where is lower-carbon cobalt produced?

Different regions produce cobalt at different carbon intensities.

How are manufacturers and producers reducing cobalt’s carbon footprint?

Cobalt’s carbon footprint currently pales in comparison to other metals; however, as the footprints of these metals are reduced through various decarbonisation initiatives, and as demand for cobalt rises, cobalt buyers may see cobalt take up a larger share of their carbon footprint in years to come. Additionally, due to the reasons outlined in the next section, many cobalt buyers may move their procurement away from low-carbon-intensity (but high human rights concerns) like the DRC, and toward higher-carbon-intensity locations like Australia.

With this in mind, there are a few things that can be done to minimise cobalt’s carbon emissions. Firstly, moving to renewable energy for mining and processing can significantly reduce carbon emissions. Some cobalt mining facilities already benefit from clean energy sources like hydropower, however, switching to renewables may be particularly difficult for many places and stages of the cobalt value chain, particularly refineries in Asia.

What else should cobalt buyers be concerned about?

Compared to other metals and minerals, the carbon footprint of cobalt is unlikely to be a major concern for most buyers. Although regulation and customer demand will drive requirements for reporting on cobalt emissions, cobalt is unlikely to be the focus of decarbonization efforts, given its relatively low carbon footprint compared to other materials in global supply chains.

However, in the broader context of sustainability and ESG initiatives, cobalt is a major red flag in the realm of human rights. Cobalt mining — particularly from artisanal mines in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the country that produces 76% of the world’s cobalt supply — is rife with human trafficking, child labor, sexual abuse, exposure to highly toxic levels of chemicals, and devastatingly dangerous working conditions. Major cobalt buyers, including Apple and Tesla, have issued statements about their sustainable procurement policies, particularly as it relates to artisanally mined cobalt, but further investigation reveals that the early stages of the cobalt supply chain are so murky as to call into question the effectiveness of these due diligence processes.

Also of concern is the environmental degradation caused by cobalt mining, including poisoning local water supplies, degrading soil health, and affecting the health of local populations. Many of the countries where cobalt is mined are also critical carbon sinks, giving them a high conservation value. Because mining leads directly to deforestation, the true carbon impact of cobalt may be far higher than is typically calculated.

The complexity of the concerns surrounding cobalt illustrate the importance of traceability and transparency throughout supply chains. Cobalt buyers must know where their cobalt is coming from in order to make more informed procurement decisions.

Calculate your cobalt emissions

With regulations like the EU Battery Regulation coming into effect, it has never been more important to understand the emissions factors affecting your cobalt products at each step of production.

Cobalt emissions can vary significantly. To meet regulatory requirements and demand for lower-carbon products, you must understand the emissions intensity of your commodity. 

CarbonChain’s carbon accounting platform has the granularity of data you need. Unlike most datasets that combine upstream metal processes into one product lifecycle stage, our data represents the real-world assets and product movements along the supply chain. We provide comprehensive data on cobalt production emissions across more than 50 assets and 18 countries.

Cobalt supply chains are notoriously opaque, but CarbonChain’s platform has 91.4% coverage of cobalt mined globally and 97.4% coverage of global refined cobalt (cobalt metal and cobalt chemicals).

If you need help accurately measuring your cobalt emissions, get in touch today.hensive data on nickel production emissions across more than 101 assets and 22 countries.

If you need help accurately measuring your nickel emissions, get in touch today.

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CarbonChain’s carbon accounting platform can help you accurately and automatically track your nickel supply chain emissions.