Brazilian authorities reported this week that some 163 workers had been rescued from slave-like conditions at the BYD plant in Camaçari, a municipality in the metropolitan area of Salvador, in the state of Bahia.
The age of electrification across the transportation sector, the solar panel revolution, and Tesla's battery giga-factory are igniting a battle for the cheapest battery. That will transform lithium into a boom-time mineral and the hottest commodity on the energy investor's radar. It has been easy to take lithium for granted.