The text:
Capacitors work on the same principle as a rechargable battery. In order to feed a photographic flash sufficient power, electricity has to colonize the capacitor, only to leave it again almost instantly.
A Tantalum-capacitor differs from an ordinary capacitor in having a greater capacity and taking up less space. This makes tantalum capacitors particularly suitable for cellphones, computers and game-consoles. Speculation in the global tantalum consumption during the .com boom made the price of tantalum go up several hundred percent around the turn of the millennium.
Eastern Congo holds huge deposits of tantalum in the form of the ore Coltan. In the late 1990’s, a bloody war escalated in Congo. At the hands of the Rwandan, Ugandan and Congolese military - as well as local militia - the conflict ravaged Eastern Congo and its people. As the millennium rolled in, the warlords had both war diamonds and the valuable coltan to finance their killings.
Many industry organizations, leading producers and governmental organizations publicly distance them selves from tantalum from Congolese ore. Unfortunately it is nearly impossible to see where the ore that was the origin of a manufactured capacitor comes from, and – in spite of official statements – a demand remains, for the production of bloody tantalum to produce data and communication technology.
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TANTALUM FLASH 2007
Photographic paper, Digitalt camera, Photographic flash driven by 5 Capacitors from a PS2 from 2000.
