• About
    • Which Energy Mix is this?
  • Climate News Network Archive
  • Contact
The climate news that makes a difference.
No Result
View All Result
The Energy Mix
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
SUBSCRIBE
DONATE
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
SUBSCRIBE
DONATE
No Result
View All Result
The Energy Mix
No Result
View All Result
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
  FEATURED
BP Predicts Faster Oil and Gas Decline as Clean Energy Spending Hits $1.1T in 2022 January 31, 2023
Canada Needs Oil and Gas Emissions Cap to Hit 2030 Goal: NZAB January 31, 2023
Ecuador’s Amazon Drilling Plan Shows Need for Fossil Non-Proliferation Treaty January 31, 2023
Rainforest Carbon Credits from World’s Biggest Provider are ‘Largely Worthless’, Investigation Finds January 31, 2023
Danske Bank Quits New Fossil Fuel Financing January 23, 2023
Next
Prev

Metal Extraction for Renewable Energy Boom Needn’t Trash the Environment

January 18, 2022
Reading time: 5 minutes
Full Story: The Conversation @ConversationEDU
Primary Author: W. Scott Dunbar, Davide Elmo, John Steen

Doc Searls/flickr

Doc Searls/flickr

12
SHARES
 

The use of renewable energy system, such as solar panels, wind turbines, electric cars, and hydrogen fuel cells will minimize greenhouse gas emissions and reduce global warming. But use of these systems has to increase—and they require a lot of metal.

The World Bank estimates that about three billion tonnes of metals like graphite, lithium, and cobalt will be needed by 2050 to supply enough systems to keep the global temperature rise below 2°C, a goal of the 2016 Paris Climate agreement. In comparison, only about one billion tonnes of metals would be needed by 2050 to satisfy current usage of renewable energy systems, write W. Scott Dunbar and two colleagues in a recent post for The Conversation.

  • The climate news you need. Subscribe now to our engaging new weekly digest.
  • You’ll receive exclusive, never-before-seen-content, distilled and delivered to your inbox every weekend.
  • The Weekender: Succinct, solutions-focused, and designed with the discerning reader in mind.
New!
Subscribe

Since Canada has abundant resources of most of the metals needed, can it become a global leader in the supply of materials needed for renewable energy systems?

It could, but the increase in the physical, energy, and water footprints associated with extraction of these metals to meet the metal demand could negate any gains made by the use of renewable energy systems.

Sustainability vs. Fossil Fuel Alternatives

Some say it’s not possible to reconcile these two goals and we must make difficult choices and unfair decisions. The alternative is to find ways to adapt to global warming.

But this ignores a few things, such as the technology developments that could reduce the carbon footprint of extraction, the potential of a reorganization of the metal supply chain, and the possibility of a closer relationship between society and the metals it uses.

Can we change mining technology to reduce its footprint? There is an active community of researchers that says yes. Here are some current avenues of investigation:

• Bacteria have been interacting with minerals for more than two billion years, decomposing the minerals and allowing the metals to dissolve into water. As a result, a mineral microbiome has evolved that could be used to develop natural ways of extracting metals and to clean up mine waste.

• Greenhouse gas emissions at mining operations currently account for about 10% of global emissions. That percentage will increase if we try to meet metals demands using current methods. Some operations are implementing renewable energy systems in efforts to reduce this emission level.

• Autonomous systems, some electrified, are in use at some mines, but there is more potential. One possibility is a large number of small machines—a swarm that behaves like an ant colony. This could enable targeted metal extraction with a far smaller footprint.

• Metal extraction generates enormous amounts of information on the actual behaviour of a mining operation. Machine learning algorithms could find patterns in these data and use them to guide improvements to the operations and increase the recovery of mineral resources.

These are big ideas that will take time to fully develop. But a reorganization of the metal supply chain and better connections between society and the metals it uses can more quickly lead to sustainable metal supply.

The first step is to unwrap the mineral resources industry to make it more transparent, visible and available to anyone.

Metal Supply Chains

The links in the metal value chain are suppliers who perform different services.

A mining company is one collection of suppliers. But an interesting alternative is a network consisting of several sources of metals such as mines, scrap metal, electronic waste, mine tailings, and wastewater—all connected to processing plants, refineries, manufacturers, and the related suppliers of materials and services.

Networks within networks are possible, and flexibility is required. One network might specialize in processing tailings to extract metals, another on processing mineral concentrates, and another may be solely focused on recycling metals from scrap. Ownership and operation of any part of a network would be open to a company, group, or community that has the knowledge and expertise.

Most innovation in the mining industry takes place among suppliers, and the presence of different suppliers in a network would be advantageous. A combination of competition among suppliers to take part in a network, and collaboration among suppliers in those networks, would promote innovation.

Many opportunities exist for the public to contribute to a flexible open metal supply network. Barriers to entry do exist, but they aren’t insurmountable, and there are advantages to removing them.

For example, in Canada, many mineral deposits are located on Indigenous lands. Parts of a network related to these mineral deposits could be operated/financed by a mining company or group of companies owned by an Indigenous community.

Some of the metals needed for renewable energy systems reside in small deposits that are geographically dispersed. Rare earth metals used in the magnets of motors in electric cars are one example. It’s too expensive to develop a mine for these deposits, but a flexible open network that uses services only as needed might be able to do it economically.

Tough to Separate Metals

Recycling is another source of metals, but the combinations of materials in some products makes it difficult to separate the metals in them.

This calls for some innovation in processing. But the logistics of recycling are cumbersome, especially for clunky items containing metals such as an aircraft engine, an electric car, or a few thousand disk drives. An open network that includes communities and logistics specialists in partnership with advanced recycling operations could be a sustainable source of metals.

Reuse or refurbishment of devices that contain metals is also possible as part of the circular economy. Coordination between device users and manufacturers would be required. But an open network of partnerships can accomplish this.

If we want to use renewable energy to keep the atmosphere cool, then mining processes and our current relationship with metals must change. Governments should implement policies that encourage those changes. Industry can also contribute by encouraging business partnerships and engagement with communities and other interested parties.

Prof. W. Scott Dunbar is head of the Department of Mining Engineering, University of British Columbia. Davide Elmo is Associate Professor, Rock Mechanics, and John Steen is the EY Distinguished Scholar in Global Mining Futures, both at UBC.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons licence. Disclosure information is available on the original site. Read the original article here.



in Auto & Alternative Vehicles, Batteries / Storage, Canada, Ending Emissions, First Peoples, Hydrogen, Solar, Supply Chains & Consumption, Wind

The latest climate news and analysis, direct to your inbox

Subscribe

Related Posts

Mike Mozart/Flickr
Ending Emissions

BP Predicts Faster Oil and Gas Decline as Clean Energy Spending Hits $1.1T in 2022

February 4, 2023
332
Gina Dittmer/PublicDomainPictures
Canada

Canada Needs Oil and Gas Emissions Cap to Hit 2030 Goal: NZAB

January 31, 2023
196
CONFENIAE
Ending Emissions

Ecuador’s Amazon Drilling Plan Shows Need for Fossil Non-Proliferation Treaty

January 31, 2023
61

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

I agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.

Trending Stories

Mike Mozart/Flickr

BP Predicts Faster Oil and Gas Decline as Clean Energy Spending Hits $1.1T in 2022

February 4, 2023
332
Sam Balto/YouTube

Elementary School’s Bike Bus Brings ‘Sheer Joy’ to Portland Neighbourhood

February 5, 2023
262
Kenuoene/pixabay

$50B Opportunity Means ‘Go Time’ for Canadian Renewables: CanREA CEO

December 19, 2022
574
EcoAnalytics

Albertans Want a Just Transition, Despite Premier’s Grumbling

January 23, 2023
326
RL0919/wikimedia commons

Danske Bank Quits New Fossil Fuel Financing

January 23, 2023
2.4k
United Nations

Salvage of $20B ‘Floating Time Bomb’ Delayed by Rising Cost of Oil Tankers

January 27, 2023
123

Recent Posts

Gina Dittmer/PublicDomainPictures

Canada Needs Oil and Gas Emissions Cap to Hit 2030 Goal: NZAB

January 31, 2023
196
CONFENIAE

Ecuador’s Amazon Drilling Plan Shows Need for Fossil Non-Proliferation Treaty

January 31, 2023
61
Ken Teegardin www.SeniorLiving.Org/flickr

Virtual Power Plants Hit an ‘Inflection Point’

January 31, 2023
125
/snappy goat

Rainforest Carbon Credits from World’s Biggest Provider are ‘Largely Worthless’, Investigation Finds

January 31, 2023
94
Victorgrigas/wikimedia commons

World Bank Climate Reforms Too ‘Timid and Slow,’ Critics Warn

January 31, 2023
42
Doc Searls/Twitter

Guilbeault Could Intervene on Ontario Greenbelt Development

January 31, 2023
132
Next Post
Cars for sale

EV Supply Chain Emissions Far Lower than Fossil-Fuelled Cars

The Energy Mix - The climate news you need

Copyright 2023 © Energy Mix Productions Inc. All rights reserved.

  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy and Copyright
  • Cookie Policy

Proudly partnering with…

scf_withtagline
No Result
View All Result
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities

Copyright 2022 © Smarter Shift Inc. and Energy Mix Productions Inc. All rights reserved.

Manage Cookie Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behaviour or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}