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The cover of The Elements of Power

The Elements of Power

Nicolas Niarchos, 2026

See what stands behind every rechargeable battery, from Congo's cobalt pits to Indonesian nickel smelters, and judge who really gains and who pays for the clean energy shift.

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10 parts, about 15 minutes to read.

Why read it

  • Follows the lithium ion battery from Congolese cobalt pits and Indonesian nickel plants to factories and phones
  • Lets you judge the clean energy transition by extraction, pollution and profit, not only at the point of use
  • Built on years of reporting in mining towns, with interviews ranging from child miners to executives

Who it is for

  • Electric car owners wondering where their battery comes from
  • Investors and managers exposed to battery mineral supply chains
  • Readers tracking how China came to lead battery making

What the summary covers

  1. The New Power2 min
  2. Katanga Before the Battery1 min
  3. Independence Without Control1 min
  4. Building the Lithium Ion Cell1 min
  5. China Builds the Industry1 min
  6. Congo's Minerals and Its Deals2 min
  7. The People at the Bottom2 min
  8. Dirty Nickel1 min
  9. Waking Up to Concentration2 min
  10. Power Dreams2 min

Recommended by

  • Patrick Radden KeefeAuthor of Empire of Pain
    Niarchos has produced an unflinching, landmark work on the nature of extractive capitalism.

About the author

  • Nicolas NiarchosJournalist whose work focuses on energy, war and migration; The Elements of Power author
    • His work has been published in The New Yorker, The Nation, and The New York Times.
    • His work on mining in Indonesia was shortlisted for a 2024 Livingston Award.
    • In 2023 he won an Edward R. Murrow Award for a radio report from Ukraine for The New Yorker and WNYC.
    • He is a former Nation intern.

Read it alongside

  • Goes deeperBreakneck

    Nicolas Niarchos says subsidies at the consumer end cannot quickly recreate decades of industrial capacity. Dan Wang explains that technology's most important element is process knowledge held in people and their relationships, and that American offshoring dispersed the workers and institutional memory that carried it.

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