Additional reporting by Leo Galuh.ERNEST SCHEYDER: Nickel is a grayish metal commonly used as an alloy to make stainless steel.
As Ernest says, the nickel story is an Indonesian story. In 2022, global production of nickel hit approximately 3.3 million tons. And fully half of that came from Indonesia. Buduha is multi-talented. He’s made a living as a journalist, as a tour guide, and as a scriptwriter for Indonesian soap operas. But in 2009, Buduha found his true calling in marine protection. He’s founder of the Toli Toli Labengki Giant Clam Conservation project.
: Poor mining management causes soil and mining waste to enter the sea. It’s killing the clams. The sediment buries them. We found one area where the sediment exceeded one meter in the year 2021 alone. CHAKRABARTI: In fact, nickel is so valuable to Indonesia the government touts it, in television ads like this one, that air around the world. Or, as current president Joko Widodo told the Economist when Indonesia hosted the G-20 back in 2022:
BUDUHA : The seawater used to be clear. Now it’s like a river, especially during the rainy season. You can’t see anything in the water. It’s murky. Very murky. The color is reddish brown. CHAKRABARTI: There are few signs that Indonesia will veer away from its plans for national prosperity via nickel mining. When President Widodo says he wants to create an entire eco system for EV batteries, he has in mind things like this:
President Widodo is term-limited and will leave office this October. He is resolute in his belief that nickel and other elements essential for clean energy will pave the way to a new Indonesia. His own path may be evidence of that. Widodo is the nations’ first president who does not come from Indonesia’s political or military elite. He used to run a furniture factory.
HENDRIX: Okay, in that excellent overview that you provided earlier, you touched on the role that nickel has played in the industrial economy. For the last century or well over the last century now, in stainless steel. The reason we're talking about it now is this important role that nickel plays in the green energy transitions.