tag:theconversation.com,2011:/au/topics/green-technology-8082/articles
Green technology – The Conversation
2023-09-06T19:11:25Z
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/211474
2023-09-06T19:11:25Z
2023-09-06T19:11:25Z
How recycling could solve the shortage of minerals essential to clean energy
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/544662/original/file-20230824-21082-9pxfgr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=530%2C0%2C4895%2C2651&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">An ambitious clean energy transition requires more of the metals and minerals used to build clean energy technologies.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>What do silver, silicon and gallium have in common? These expensive raw materials are essential components of our various solar energy technologies. What about neodymium, praseodymium and dysprosium? These rare earth metals are used to <a href="https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/2ea6ecb2-40e2-11eb-b27b-01aa75ed71a1/language-en">build the powerful magnets in wind turbines</a>. </p>
<p>Keeping our planet liveable requires <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/syr/">accelerated clean energy transitions</a> by governments — <a href="https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/net-zero-coalition">global carbon emissions must</a> halve by 2030 and achieve net-zero by 2050. </p>
<p>But a more ambitious clean energy transition requires more of the metals and minerals used to build clean energy technologies. As the global energy sector <a href="https://www.energyinst.org/statistical-review">shifts from fossil fuels to clean energy</a>, the demand of <a href="https://www.iea.org/topics/critical-minerals">precious metals</a> — known as critical minerals — is increasing.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/critical-minerals-are-vital-for-renewable-energy-we-must-learn-to-mine-them-responsibly-131547">Critical minerals are vital for renewable energy. We must learn to mine them responsibly</a>
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<p>A striking example is lithium, a metal used in electric vehicle batteries. Between 2018 and 2022, <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/metals-and-mining/our-insights/australias-potential-in-the-lithium-market">the demand for lithium increased by 25 per cent per year</a>. Under a net-zero scenario, lithium demand by 2040 could be <a href="https://www.iea.org/reports/the-role-of-critical-minerals-in-clean-energy-transitions/executive-summary">over 40 times what it was in 2020</a>.</p>
<h2>Supply and demand</h2>
<p>The current challenge lies in a supply and demand mismatch. The projected demand for critical minerals exceeds the available supply. Basic principles of economics dictate higher prices for these minerals. </p>
<p>In addition, critical minerals have a geographically concentrated supply. These metals are only extracted from <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/docsroom/documents/42881">a handful of countries and are overwhelmingly processed in China</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A graph showing the demand for important metals is outpacing supply" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/544654/original/file-20230824-21-w1aau4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/544654/original/file-20230824-21-w1aau4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544654/original/file-20230824-21-w1aau4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544654/original/file-20230824-21-w1aau4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544654/original/file-20230824-21-w1aau4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=532&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544654/original/file-20230824-21-w1aau4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=532&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544654/original/file-20230824-21-w1aau4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=532&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">The current production rates of critical metals are likely to be inadequate to satisfy future demand.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(International Monetary Fund)</span></span>
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<p>China, for example, <a href="https://www.iea.org/reports/energy-technology-perspectives-2023/clean-energy-supply-chains-vulnerabilities">extracts 60 per cent and processes 90 per cent</a> of all rare earth elements. In comparison, the top oil-producing country — the United States — accounts for only <a href="https://iea.blob.core.windows.net/assets/ffd2a83b-8c30-4e9d-980a-52b6d9a86fdc/TheRoleofCriticalMineralsinCleanEnergyTransitions.pdf">18 per cent of the extraction and 20 per cent of the processing of the whole industry</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A bar graph that illustrates a select few countries are responsible for the extraction of selected minerals and fossil fuels" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/544829/original/file-20230825-15-3y1uy1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/544829/original/file-20230825-15-3y1uy1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=269&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544829/original/file-20230825-15-3y1uy1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=269&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544829/original/file-20230825-15-3y1uy1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=269&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544829/original/file-20230825-15-3y1uy1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544829/original/file-20230825-15-3y1uy1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544829/original/file-20230825-15-3y1uy1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Share of top producing countries in the extraction of selected minerals and fossil fuels.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(IEA)</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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<p>The geographical concentration may result in additional supply constraints. Indonesia, the world’s first nickel producer, has progressively <a href="https://www.iea.org/policies/16084-prohibition-of-the-export-of-nickel-ore">banned the export of nickel ore overseas</a> in an attempt to strengthen domestic processing.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A bar graph that illustrates a select few countries are responsible for the processing of selected minerals and fossil fuels" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/544830/original/file-20230825-28-735aa.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/544830/original/file-20230825-28-735aa.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=264&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544830/original/file-20230825-28-735aa.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=264&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544830/original/file-20230825-28-735aa.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=264&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544830/original/file-20230825-28-735aa.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=331&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544830/original/file-20230825-28-735aa.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=331&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544830/original/file-20230825-28-735aa.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=331&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Share of top producing countries in total processing of selected minerals and fossil fuels.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(IEA)</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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<p>The lack of geographical diversity in supply can increase price volatility. Lithium prices <a href="https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/lithium-slump-puts-chinas-spot-price-under-spotlight-andy-home-2023-05-19/">rose more than 400 per cent in 2022, before dropping again by 65 per cent in 2023</a>. Copper prices soared in Peru following <a href="https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/disruptions-raise-chance-copper-supply-tightness-2023-02-03/">social unrest and mine blockades</a>.</p>
<p>China, which controls 98 per cent of the gallium supply, created a 40 per cent spike in 2023 on gallium prices by setting <a href="https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/chinas-controls-take-effect-wait-gallium-germanium-export-permits-begins-2023-08-01/">severe restriction on exports</a> due to “national security reasons.”</p>
<p>If supply constraints continue, the prices of critical minerals could become too high. Installing clean energy could become too expensive, and governments may find it hard to reach their clean energy targets. </p>
<p>The demand and supply balance must be restored by one of two ways: either by decreasing the demand for critical materials or increasing their supply.</p>
<h2>Restoring balance</h2>
<p>The most obvious way to restore the balance between supply and demand — more mining — is tricky. Mining is environmentally destructive and <a href="https://climate.mit.edu/ask-mit/will-mining-resources-needed-clean-energy-cause-problems-environment">damages ecosystems and communities</a>. Plans for opening new mines in <a href="https://www.francetvinfo.fr/economie/energie/mines-de-lithium-en-france-des-projets-mais-encore-beaucoup-d-interrogations_5546643.html">France</a>, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/serbian-pm-sees-no-chance-reviving-rio-tinto-lithium-project-2022-12-13/">Serbia</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2022.102912">Portugal</a> have seen massive social opposition, leaving their future uncertain. </p>
<p>Opening a new mine can take <a href="https://www.spglobal.com/marketintelligence/en/news-insights/research/discovery-to-production-averages-15-7-years-for-127-mines">more than 15 years on average</a>, so projects started today might arrive too late. While some capacity can be built quicker by reopening old mines, and <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/europe-is-embarking-on-a-mining-renaissance-winning-over-locals-is-proving-a-challenge-b7d14f5f">some projects are already underway</a>, supply imbalances are expected to be <a href="https://iea.blob.core.windows.net/assets/afc35261-41b2-47d4-86d6-d5d77fc259be/CriticalMineralsMarketReview2023.pdf">inevitable by 2030</a>. </p>
<p>Beyond mining, two alternative practical approaches exist. The first is to reduce the demand for critical minerals by clean energy technologies. With innovation and research and development, clean energy products can be redesigned to use less material in each generation. </p>
<p>The silver content in solar cells <a href="https://www.spglobal.com/marketintelligence/en/news-insights/latest-news-headlines/solar-driven-silver-demand-set-to-dim-as-sector-innovates-60533352">dropped by 80 per cent in one decade</a>. Likewise, the cathodes in new electric vehicle batteries <a href="https://www.spglobal.com/marketintelligence/en/news-insights/latest-news-headlines/battery-makers-slash-cobalt-intensity-in-the-face-of-accelerating-demand-71813202">contain up to six times less cobalt</a> than older models.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A block of a silvery mineral is held in gloved hands" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/544661/original/file-20230824-27-8645j8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/544661/original/file-20230824-27-8645j8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544661/original/file-20230824-27-8645j8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544661/original/file-20230824-27-8645j8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544661/original/file-20230824-27-8645j8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544661/original/file-20230824-27-8645j8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544661/original/file-20230824-27-8645j8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Refined tellurium, a rare mineral used in solar panels, is shown at the Rio Tinto Kennecott refinery in May 2022 in Magna, Utah.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The second alternative is to increase the supply of critical minerals by recovering them from older and used clean technology products via advanced recycling. Decommissioned solar panels might no longer produce energy but can be a valuable source of silver or silicon. </p>
<p>Our past research has shown that <a href="https://hbr.org/2021/06/the-dark-side-of-solar-power">discarded solar panels could outweigh new installations by the next decade</a> as installers <a href="https://news.mit.edu/2019/short-lived-solar-panels-economic-0919">seek to replace older panels with newer, more efficient ones</a>.</p>
<p>By recovering critical minerals from this waste <a href="https://hillnotes.ca/2023/04/21/electrical-and-electronic-equipment-waste-an-urban-mine-with-great-potential/">in a process known as urban mining</a>, we could cover the demand for the materials needed for future energy installations.</p>
<h2>Recycling is the way forward</h2>
<p>Our <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4424516">recent research with our colleague Luk Van Wassenhove</a> compares the economic consequences of these two alternative approaches. If the scarcity of critical minerals is not extreme, reducing the critical material content of clean energy products would be the way to go. </p>
<p>However, unintended consequences can be expected akin to the <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fenrg.2018.00026">rebound effect or Jevon’s paradox</a>: by improving the efficiency of usage of critical minerals, producers can end up consuming more of it. </p>
<p>As clean energy products use less critical material, their improved profitability could increase production even more. As a result, decreasing the material usage per product won’t necessarily lead to a decrease in critical material demand overall.</p>
<p>In contrast, our research suggests that recycling decommissioned products is not subject to such a rebound effect. A steady stream of recycled materials from end-of-life products protects producers from volatile commodity prices and better facilitates the critical energy transition.</p>
<p>Setting up a recycling ecosystem requires greater effort than marginally changing a product’s design. Firms need a cost-efficient reverse logistics system, recycling plants and infrastructure to get enough end-of-use products back and to process them. Sizeable initial capital investments will take time to recover and require firms and policymakers to adopt a long-term mindset.</p>
<p>But there’s room for optimism. The start-up ROSI Solar opened its first recycling plant in 2023, making France a pioneer in <a href="https://recyclinginternational.com/business/mega-solar-recycling-plant-not-a-dream-of-the-future/53692/">recovering high-purity silicon, silver and copper from end-of-use solar panels</a>. </p>
<p>Likewise, the U.S.-based <a href="https://www.solarcycle.us/">SOLARCYCLE can recycle 95 per cent of valuable materials in solar panels</a>. Many electric vehicle makers, like <a href="https://www.autoblog.com/2023/07/04/nissan-takes-the-long-complex-approach-to-recycling-old-ev-batteries/">Tesla, Renault and Nissan</a>, have started projects to recycle batteries and ensure a riskless cobalt, nickel and lithium supply. Recycling may indeed be the path to affordable clean energy.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/211474/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
The demand for the minerals needed to build clean energy technology currently exceeds the available supply. If this issue continues, governments may find it hard to reach their clean energy targets.
Serasu Duran, Assistant Professor, Operations and Supply Chain Management at Haskayne School of Business, University of Calgary
Atalay Atasu, Professor of Technology and Operations Management, INSEAD
Clara Carrera, PhD Candidate in Technology and Operations Management, INSEAD
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/169784
2023-02-17T16:33:10Z
2023-02-17T16:33:10Z
How the west is finally hitting back against China’s dominance of cleantech
<p>Climate change policy has entered a new era. The <a href="https://www.reuters.com/markets/why-us-inflation-reduction-act-has-rattled-europe-2023-02-01/">growing row</a> between the United States and the European Union over <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2023/02/14/biden-ira-germany-rules-out-spending-as-europe-aims-to-avoid-us-subsidy-race.html">the impacts</a> of the new American green subsidy regime makes that all too clear. Yet in many ways, this story is ultimately about China. </p>
<p>For the last 20 years, developed countries have used three main types of policy to cut their greenhouse gas emissions. Renewable energy mandates have required electricity generators to invest in solar, wind, hydro and geothermal power. Emissions trading schemes for energy and industrial businesses put a price on carbon. And energy efficiency standards have been progressively improved on a whole range of products from vehicles and white goods to homes. </p>
<p>Applied across Europe and North America, this policy toolkit brought notable success. <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/co2-and-greenhouse-gas-emissions">Developed countries’ emissions</a> fell sharply, even with economic growth. Green technologies – from wind and solar to electric vehicles – fell in cost and improved in performance as demand for them rose. </p>
<p>A virtuous circle followed: climate policy increased demand for green technologies, which reduced costs, which allowed policy to be tightened, which stimulated demand and innovation further. </p>
<h2>The rub</h2>
<p>There were two problems, however. First, much of the economic benefit went to China. From 2010 onwards China rapidly became the world’s primary supplier of wind and solar technology, along with underpinning minerals like lithium, cobalt and rare earths. </p>
<p>China’s dominance reduced everyone’s costs. But it also meant that, as industrial jobs were lost in developed countries, they were not replaced by equivalents in the new energy sectors. </p>
<p>Second, climate policy began to create political opposition. As emissions targets tightened, countries started to see the costs reflected in consumer prices. </p>
<p>The most dramatic response emerged in France in 2018, when a relatively small increase in fuel duty led the so-called <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/gilets-jaunes-why-the-french-working-poor-are-demanding-emmanuel-macrons-resignation-107742">gilets jaunes</a></em> (yellow jacket) protestors to block roads across the country for over a year, even after President Emmanuel Macron withdrew the tax. In the US, congressional opposition stymied President Barack Obama’s plans for a climate bill – including a modest carbon pricing scheme – for the whole of his presidency. </p>
<p>Joe Biden has learned the lesson. His <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/public-and-social-sector/our-insights/the-inflation-reduction-act-heres-whats-in-it">Inflation Reduction Act (IRA)</a>, passed in 2022, offers climate carrots instead of sticks – and lots of them. </p>
<p>The act – which despite its name is almost entirely about climate change – offers a mammoth US$369 billion (£306 billion) of tax credits and other subsidies to companies making low-carbon investments and to consumers buying green products. Critically, to take advantage of subsidies, a significant proportion of materials and equipment used must be produced in North America. </p>
<h2>The EU position</h2>
<p>Orthodox economists deplore the IRA. Subsidies are <a href="https://www.aier.org/article/protectionism-in-bidens-inflation-reduction-act-harms-consumers-and-domestic-industries/">much less efficient</a> than taxes (not to say more expensive), and protectionism raises costs to consumers. </p>
<p>Yet to any politician, Biden’s approach looks like a no-brainer. Don’t penalise businesses with carbon levies: reward them with tax credits. Don’t allow the employment benefits of climate policy to leak overseas to China: ensure they stay at home. <a href="https://www.dataforprogress.org/blog/2022/8/3/voters-support-the-inflation-reduction-act">Nearly three-quarters</a> of Americans backed the act, including over half of Republicans. </p>
<p>The EU is alarmed at the likely effects. There are <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/85b55126-e1e6-4b2c-8bb2-753d3cafcbe5">al ready reports</a> of European cleantech companies planning to transfer production to the US, while others may be kept out of US markets. The European Commission <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/56cc482b-1847-4234-8781-b52ccf9ee1fa">has threatened</a> the US with legal action at the World Trade Organization for breaking free trade rules, and has already secured US concessions, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/us-treasury-says-consumer-leases-can-qualify-ev-tax-credits-2022-12-29/">including extending</a> tax credits to foreign-made electric vehicles. </p>
<p>Even more significantly, the commission president Ursula von der Leyen has announced a “<a href="https://www.edie.net/green-deal-industrial-plan-eu-pressed-for-clarity-and-swift-delivery-by-europes-green-economy/">green deal industrial plan</a>” for the EU. The core will be a Net Zero Industry Act relaxing rules on state aid and providing subsidies for cleantech investment. Meanwhile, a Critical Raw Materials Act will build partnerships with like-minded suppliers to reduce dependence on Chinese imports, mirroring what the <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/techstream/how-europe-aims-to-achieve-strategic-autonomy-for-semiconductors/">recent EU</a> and <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/public-and-social-sector/our-insights/the-chips-and-science-act-heres-whats-in-it">US chips acts</a> do with semiconductors. </p>
<h2>The broader context</h2>
<p>Both the EU and US are therefore turning climate policy into industrial and trade strategy. One might ask what took them so long. China’s <a href="https://kraneshares.com/resources/2013_10_kfyp_fan_gang_white_paper.pdf">twelfth five year plan</a> in 2010 first identified seven environmental “strategic industries” on which to focus economic development. It is not a coincidence that China rapidly came to dominate the new low carbon sectors: it was literally the plan. </p>
<p>The EU and US moves are a desperate attempt to catch up, with <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/media-reaction-us-inflation-reduction-act-and-the-global-clean-energy-arms-race/">Japan and South Korea</a> not far behind. And the strategy extends beyond their own continents. The new kids on this block are multi-billion dollar <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/3cd95e2d-4458-4d5c-aa09-1e82c06773b5">just energy transition partnerships</a> which the EU, US and other western powers have recently negotiated with South Africa, Indonesia and Vietnam.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/510866/original/file-20230217-409-yppifg.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Ursula von der Leyen in mid-flow at a podium" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/510866/original/file-20230217-409-yppifg.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/510866/original/file-20230217-409-yppifg.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510866/original/file-20230217-409-yppifg.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510866/original/file-20230217-409-yppifg.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510866/original/file-20230217-409-yppifg.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510866/original/file-20230217-409-yppifg.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510866/original/file-20230217-409-yppifg.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Ursula von der Leyen is spearheading the EU’s catch-up plan.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/brussels-08-2020-ursula-von-der-1891580344">martinbertrand.fr</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>These “JET-Ps” aim to stimulate investment, not just in the renewables transition but also in domestic industrial capacity. Loans and guarantees provided by western governments aim to leverage much larger flows of private finance. The goal is for these countries to manufacture and export their own green technologies, charting a new path for economic development. </p>
<p>More such partnerships will likely be announced over the coming year. This is not altruism on western countries’ part, but an attempt to offer an alternative to China’s huge investments in the developing world.</p>
<p>What about the UK? These developments leave the British economy in a badly weakened position. The EU was the obvious partner in green industrial policy. On its own the UK is not nearly large enough to compete. </p>
<p>It creates a compelling case for a future UK government to do a green trade deal with the EU. In return for a financial contribution to the EU’s green innovation funds, the UK could rejoin the single market for environment goods and services. </p>
<p>Just a few years ago, climate change was a subset of environmental policy. Today it is a key dimension of both economic strategy and geopolitics. Given the extent of the economic transformation it demands, no-one should be surprised.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/169784/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael Jacobs is a Senior Visiting Fellow at the ODI global affairs think tank (formerly the Overseas Development Institute). In a personal capacity he is a member of the Labour Party.</span></em></p>
Green technologies like wind turbines and electric vehicles are moving centre stage in geopolitics.
Michael Jacobs, Professor of Political Economy, University of Sheffield
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/196336
2023-01-08T13:26:22Z
2023-01-08T13:26:22Z
What you need to know for your next hybrid or electric vehicle purchase
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503340/original/file-20230105-24-7b0ybo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=44%2C0%2C7304%2C4902&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The sheer number of available options can make the idea of switching to a hybrid or electric vehicle daunting for many people.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>As part of its goal to achieve <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/services/environment/weather/climatechange/climate-plan/net-zero-emissions-2050.html">net-zero emissions by 2050</a>, Canada has introduced new regulations to mandate <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/autos/canada-moves-to-mandate-electric-vehicle-sales-starting-in-2026-1.6203478">one-fifth of all vehicles sold in Canada be electric</a> by 2026.</p>
<p>With the <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/9328746/canada-gas-prices-winter/">price of gasoline being projected to rise again</a>, and consumers worrying about the legacy of fossil fuel emissions, now is the perfect time for Canadians to shift toward hybrid and battery-powered electric vehicles.</p>
<p>But making an informed choice can be daunting. There are many different new forms of propulsion systems and energy-storage methods among hybrid and battery-powered electric vehicles — all of them different from conventional gas-burning cars.</p>
<p>The sheer number of hybrid and electric vehicle options can make the idea of switching to a hybrid or electric vehicle daunting for many. Here’s a guide to understanding hybrid and electric vehicles and deciding which is most suitable for your lifestyle.</p>
<h2>What makes hybrid and electric cars different?</h2>
<p>Traditional gas-powered cars use a type of engine called <a href="https://www.energy.gov/eere/vehicles/articles/internal-combustion-engine-basics">internal combustion engines</a> that use fuel to propel themselves. However, even high-performance gasoline engines are <a href="https://hdl.handle.net/2027.42/57640">only 20 to 35 per cent efficient</a>.</p>
<p>In other words, a gas-powered car loses two-thirds of its energy in the form of heat, rather than useful work. Electric and hybrid vehicles, on the other hand, <a href="https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/atv-ev.shtml">are much more efficient</a>.</p>
<p>This is because in hybrid and electric vehicles, unlike gas-powered cars, only part of — or none of — the propelling force is generated by engines. They use <a href="https://electrovolt.ir/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Electric-Machines-Kothari-Nagrath-4th-ElectroVolt.ir_.pdf">electric machines</a>, featuring a high-efficiency energy conversion process at around <a href="https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2020.2993235">90 per cent</a> to propel the vehicle. Electric machines improve <a href="https://www.nhtsa.gov/sites/nhtsa.gov/files/effect_of_electric_drive_vehicle_technologies-811668.pdf">fuel economy and drivability</a>.</p>
<h2>Hybrid electric vehicles</h2>
<p>Before deciding which type of electric vehicle to purchase, it’s important for buyers to know whether electric vehicle chargers are available in areas where they live and drive. If charging stations are difficult to access and buyers do a lot of long-distance driving, the hybrid electric vehicle is a good option to invest in. </p>
<p>Hybrid electric vehicles straddle the line between fully electric vehicles and conventional cars by pairing an internal combustion engine with an electric machine. Hybrid vehicles store <a href="https://afdc.energy.gov/vehicles/electric_basics_hev.html">energy in both the fuel tank and battery pack</a>.</p>
<p>One distinct difference among hybrid vehicles is how the vehicle turns the engine’s power into movement, <a href="https://www.wiley.com/en-ca/Vehicle+Powertrain+Systems-p-9780470666029">known as the powertrain</a>. Powertrains are important because they affect a vehicle’s fuel economy, drivability and purchasing price. There are three main types of hybrid vehicle classifications based on this.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A woman digging through her purse as she stands beside a parked red car and an electric vehicle charging station" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501630/original/file-20221216-11129-qagdj1.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501630/original/file-20221216-11129-qagdj1.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=382&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501630/original/file-20221216-11129-qagdj1.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=382&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501630/original/file-20221216-11129-qagdj1.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=382&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501630/original/file-20221216-11129-qagdj1.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501630/original/file-20221216-11129-qagdj1.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501630/original/file-20221216-11129-qagdj1.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A woman prepares to plug in her electric vehicle in Markham, Ont. in April 2020.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Series hybrid system</h2>
<p>Series hybrid vehicles, like the <a href="https://cars.usnews.com/cars-trucks/bmw/i3">BMW i3 extended range</a> and <a href="https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/a15123329/2012-fisker-karma-review/">Fisker Karma</a>, only use the motor to provide the driving force. The power flows from the engine to the generator to the battery, then to the motor, the axle and finally the wheels.</p>
<p>The engine works at its narrow optimal region with high efficiency and delivers mechanical energy to the coupled generator, which later converts the mechanical energy to electric power and charges the battery.</p>
<p>Because the generator and motor normally have an efficiency around <a href="https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2020.2993235">90 per cent</a>, the conversion process delivers <a href="https://afdc.energy.gov/fuels/electricity_benefits.html">improved fuel economy</a>.</p>
<p>In addition, part of the mechanical energy is converted back to electric power during the braking process and stored in the battery pack, resulting in better fuel economy. This makes it a good choice for stop-and-go driving caused by heavy traffic or traffic signals.</p>
<h2>Parallel hybrid vehicles</h2>
<p>Parallel hybrid vehicles couple both the engine and electric machine to the transmission. Compared to the series hybrid architecture of using one generator and one propulsion motor, the parallel hybrid system uses one electric machine, <a href="https://escholarship.org/uc/item/37z105pr">but the engine does not always work optimally</a>.</p>
<p>This configuration is less suitable for the stop-and-go scenario, but has better performance at high-speed driving since both propulsion sources operate with high efficiency. Examples of parallel hybrid vehicles include the <a href="https://afdc.energy.gov/files/pdfs/insight_snapshot.pdf">Honda Insight</a>, <a href="https://insideevs.com/news/543548/new-range-rover-phev-models/">Land Rover Range Rover P400e</a>, <a href="https://www.hyundai.com/eu/models/tucson-hybrid.html">Hyundai Tucson Hybrid</a>, <a href="https://www.hyundai.com/eu/models/ioniq-hybrid.html">Hyundai Ioniq</a> and <a href="https://www.bmw.ca/en/all-models/phev/530e/2021-PHEV/5-series-phev-overview.html">BMW X5 530e</a>.</p>
<h2>Series-parallel hybrid vehicles</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/all-about-drivetrains">Series-parallel hybrids</a> combine the advantages of the series and parallel configurations. The drawback of these hybrids is the price — because these vehicles consist of both series and parallel systems, they are more complex, resulting in a higher price.</p>
<p>Examples of series-parallel hybrid vehicles are the <a href="https://global.toyota/en/newsroom/toyota/38225618.html">Toyota Prius</a>, <a href="https://www.greencarcongress.com/2010/09/more-details-on-the-lexus-ct-200h-hybrid-powertrain-42-mpg-us-combinedct200h-20100913.html">Lexus CT 200h</a>, <a href="https://www.theautochannel.com/news/2016/11/24/310242-2017-ford-fusion-hybrid-titanium-review-by-carey-russ-video.html">Ford Fusion Hybrid</a> and <a href="https://www.carsguide.com.au/urban/toyota-rav4-hybrid-xse-86477">Toyota RAV4</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A line of electric cars plugged into curbside electrical charging stations" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503315/original/file-20230105-20-cm3bdx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503315/original/file-20230105-20-cm3bdx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503315/original/file-20230105-20-cm3bdx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503315/original/file-20230105-20-cm3bdx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503315/original/file-20230105-20-cm3bdx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503315/original/file-20230105-20-cm3bdx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503315/original/file-20230105-20-cm3bdx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">It’s important for buyers to know whether electric vehicle chargers are available in areas where they live and drive before deciding on which type of vehicle to purchase.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Fully electric vehicles</h2>
<p>If charging stations are easily accessible and long-distance driving is not a concern, battery-powered electric vehicles are a good option for buyers to consider. Fully electric vehicles rely solely on an electric machine and have no combustion engine. They obtain energy <a href="https://afdc.energy.gov/vehicles/how-do-all-electric-cars-work">from the electric grid and store it in its battery pack</a>. </p>
<p>Electric vehicles <a href="https://www.nrcan.gc.ca/energy-efficiency/transportation-alternative-fuels/personal-vehicles/choosing-right-vehicle/buying-electric-vehicle/21034">are very efficient because of the energy conversion process</a> of electric machines. Apart from the size and type of the battery pack, different electric vehicles use electric machines in different ways.</p>
<p>Most electric vehicles use one electric machine as the propulsion source — either front-wheel-drive or rear-wheel-drive. One drawback of this configuration is the electric machine does <a href="https://doi.org/10.1109/ITEC48692.2020.9161542">not always operate at its optimal efficiency</a>. This affects how far the electric vehicle can be driven between charges.</p>
<p>To improve their efficiency and drivability, some electric vehicles use multiple electric machines. Some vehicles split vehicle power between two motors, which results in higher efficiency and a broader speed range. The <a href="https://www.tesla.com/en_ca/model3">Model 3</a>, <a href="https://www.tesla.com/en_ca/modely">Model Y</a> and <a href="https://www.tesla.com/models">Model S</a> Tesla cars have this configuration, allowing all-wheel-drive and better traction control. </p>
<p>Another way electric vehicles improve drivability is by using three electric machines. This allows vehicles to control the torque in rear wheels separately in a process known as <a href="https://www.carexpert.com.au/car-news/torque-vectoring-explained">torque vectoring control</a>. Typical examples of this configuration are the <a href="https://www.tesla.com/models">Model S Plaid</a> and <a href="https://www.tesla.com/modelx">Model X Plaid</a>.</p>
<p>There has never been a better time to switch to an electric vehicle. To help Canadians transition to this greener vehicle option, the Canadian government has financial supports available. The <a href="https://tc.canada.ca/en/road-transportation/innovative-technologies/zero-emission-vehicles/light-duty-zero-emission-vehicles/incentives-purchasing-zero-emission-vehicles">Incentives for Zero-Emission Vehicles</a> program provides cash rebates for battery electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. Some provinces, like <a href="https://goelectricbc.gov.bc.ca/personal-rebate-offers/passenger-vehicle-rebates/">British Columbia</a> and <a href="https://vehiculeselectriques.gouv.qc.ca/english/rabais/ve-neuf/programme-rabais-vehicule-neuf.asp">Québec</a>, also offer their own provincial rebates.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/196336/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gaoliang Fang works for McMaster University. </span></em></p>
A guide to understanding hybrid and electric vehicles and deciding which is most suitable for your lifestyle.
Gaoliang Fang, Postdoctoral Fellow, McMaster Automotive Resource Centre, McMaster University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/186765
2022-08-23T16:11:19Z
2022-08-23T16:11:19Z
Sulfuric acid: the next resource crisis that could stifle green tech and threaten food security
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/478322/original/file-20220809-24-iuxmf1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4214%2C2800&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/sulfur-factory-yellow-pile-produced-industrial-333705221">SIAATH/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Without <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nchem.301">sulfur</a> in the form of sulfuric acid, industries would struggle to produce the phosphorus fertilisers that raise farm yields or extract the <a href="https://www.iea.org/reports/the-role-of-critical-minerals-in-clean-energy-transitions">essential metals</a> used in everything from solar panels to electric car batteries. </p>
<p>Yet a problem looms, which has gone largely unnoticed. <a href="https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/mcs2022">More than 80%</a> of the global sulfur supply is a waste product, extracted from fossil fuels like oil and natural gas (which typically contain between 1% and 3% sulfur by weight) to reduce emissions of sulfur dioxide, the gas that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-019-01244-4">causes acid rain</a>.</p>
<p>Eliminating fossil fuels to rein in climate change will slash the annual supply of sulfuric acid just as demand is increasing. The world already uses over <a href="https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/mcs2022">246 million tonnes</a> of sulfuric acid annually. Rapid growth in the green economy and intensive agriculture could see demand rise to over 400 million tonnes by 2040.</p>
<p>According to <a href="https://rgs-ibg.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/geoj.12475">our latest study</a>, a rapid reduction in fossil fuel use required to achieve <a href="https://www.iea.org/reports/net-zero-by-2050">net zero emissions by 2050</a> could create a shortfall of sulfuric acid as large as 320 million tonnes by 2040, or 130% of present day production. </p>
<p>Sulfuric acid prices would rise, stoking competition in which more profitable green technology industries are likely to outbid fertiliser producers. This would increase the cost of food production and make food more expensive for consumers, especially in developing countries where farmers are least able to afford the higher costs.</p>
<h2>An essential industrial chemical</h2>
<p>Sulfur is found in <a href="https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2002/of02-298/">a wide range of products</a>, including tyres, sulfur fertiliser, paper, soap and detergent. But its most important application is in industrial chemistry, decomposing a wide range of materials.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/480335/original/file-20220822-70347-e3lzru.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A graph comparing the supply of sulfur and its cost per tonne." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/480335/original/file-20220822-70347-e3lzru.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/480335/original/file-20220822-70347-e3lzru.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=448&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480335/original/file-20220822-70347-e3lzru.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=448&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480335/original/file-20220822-70347-e3lzru.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=448&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480335/original/file-20220822-70347-e3lzru.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=563&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480335/original/file-20220822-70347-e3lzru.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=563&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480335/original/file-20220822-70347-e3lzru.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=563&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Since 2008 especially, the price of sulfur has been closely linked to fossil fuel production.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://rgs-ibg.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/geoj.12475">Maslin et al. (2022)</a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The rapidly expanding use of low-carbon technologies, such as high-performance batteries, light-weight motors for vehicles, and solar panels, will <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41578-021-00325-9">significantly increase</a> mining of mineral deposits, particularly laterite ores that are increasingly important sources of cobalt and nickel. Cobalt demand could increase by 460%, nickel by 99%, and neodymium by 37% by 2050. All of these are currently extracted using large quantities of sulfuric acid. </p>
<p>At the same time, projected population growth and dietary trends will also drive an increase in demand for sulfuric acid from its single most important consumer: the phosphate fertiliser production industry. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/479610/original/file-20220817-12-oh4jry.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A graph depicting predicted sulfuric acid demand and supply up to 2040." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/479610/original/file-20220817-12-oh4jry.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/479610/original/file-20220817-12-oh4jry.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=457&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479610/original/file-20220817-12-oh4jry.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=457&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479610/original/file-20220817-12-oh4jry.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=457&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479610/original/file-20220817-12-oh4jry.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=574&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479610/original/file-20220817-12-oh4jry.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=574&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479610/original/file-20220817-12-oh4jry.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=574&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sulfuric acid demand is set to soar just as sources are likely to shrink.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://rgs-ibg.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/geoj.12475">Maslin et al. (2022)</a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The <a href="https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/mcs2022">US Geological Survey</a> estimates that there is an almost limitless supply of sulfate minerals in <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/earth-and-planetary-sciences/evaporite">evaporites</a> (rocks laid down by the natural evaporation of shallow, salty seas or lakes) and large resources of iron sulfides and elemental sulfur in <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12301421">volcanic deposits</a>, but accessing these would require expanding mining and mineral processing.</p>
<p>Converting sulfates to sulfur using current methods consumes a lot of energy and emits a lot of carbon. Sulfur mining and sulfide ore processing can pollute the <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/min9070397">air, soil and water</a>, acidifying surface pools and aquifers and emitting toxins including arsenic, thallium and mercury. And there are always <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/jun/27/mining-holds-the-key-to-a-green-future-no-wonder-human-rights-activists-are-worried">human rights issues</a> associated with intensive mining. </p>
<h2>Recycle and innovate</h2>
<p>In addition to finding new, non-fossil fuel sources of sulfur, demand for sulfur could be reduced by recycling and alternative industrial technologies that avoid intensive use of sulfuric acid.</p>
<p>Recycling phosphate from sewage and turning it into fertiliser would reduce the need for sulfuric acid to process phosphate rock for <a href="https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2015/gc/c4gc02445a">fertilisers</a>. This would also help to address <a href="https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/jsustf/v2y2012i3-4p222-239.html">concerns</a> that, in the long term, the world will run out of phosphate rock. It would also reduce the amount of phosphorus entering <a href="https://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/eutrophication-causes-consequences-and-controls-in-aquatic-102364466/">freshwater and coastal habitats</a>, which causes massive algal blooms that can suffocate other plants and fish.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-019-1682-5">Recycling more lithium batteries</a> from electric vehicles could also help. Developing new batteries and motors that rely less on rare metals would reduce demand for sulfuric acid to extract metals from their ores. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.enelgreenpower.com/learning-hub/renewable-energies/storage">Wasting less renewable energy</a> (such as solar and wind) and storing more of it without the use of batteries that need these metals would cut sulfuric acid demand at the same time as it cuts demand for fossil fuels and speeds up decarbonisation. In the future, it may also be possible to produce large quantities of sulfur from sulfates by <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1369703X08004087#:%7E:text=Sulphur%20disproportionation%2C%20carried%20out%20by,electron%20donor%20and%20electron%20acceptor.">culturing certain bacteria</a>.</p>
<p>By anticipating future sulfur shortages, national and international policies can manage future demand, increase recycling and develop alternative, cheap supplies which have minimal environmental and social costs.</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Imagine weekly climate newsletter" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong><em>Don’t have time to read about climate change as much as you’d like?</em></strong>
<br><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/newsletters/imagine-57?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=Imagine&utm_content=DontHaveTimeTop">Get a weekly roundup in your inbox instead.</a> Every Wednesday, The Conversation’s environment editor writes Imagine, a short email that goes a little deeper into just one climate issue. <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/newsletters/imagine-57?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=Imagine&utm_content=DontHaveTimeBottom">Join the 10,000+ readers who’ve subscribed so far.</a></em></p>
<hr><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/186765/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mark Maslin is a Professor of Earth System Science at UCL and the Natural History Museum of Denmark. He is a Founding Director of Rezatec Ltd, Co-Director of The London NERC Doctoral Training Partnership, a member of Cheltenham Science Festival Advisory Committee and a member of the Climate Crisis Advisory Group. He is an unpaid member of the Sopra-Steria CSR Board, Sheep Included Ltd and NetZeroNow Advisory Boards. He has received grant funding in the past from the NERC, EPSRC, ESRC, DFG, Royal Society, DIFD, BEIS, DECC, FCO, Innovate UK, Carbon Trust, UK Space Agency, European Space Agency, Research England, Wellcome Trust, Leverhulme Trust, The Children's Investment Fund Foundation, Sprint2020, and British Council. He has received research funding in the past from The Lancet, Laithwaites, Seventh Generation, Channel 4, JLT Re, WWF, Hermes, CAFOD, HP, and Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Simon Day does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
A key ingredient for a green future is currently derived from fossil fuels.
Mark Maslin, Professor of Earth System Science, UCL
Simon Day, Senior Research Associate, Institute for Risk & Disaster Reduction, UCL
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/182331
2022-05-11T05:28:07Z
2022-05-11T05:28:07Z
Australia has rich deposits of critical minerals for green technology. But we are not making the most of them … yet
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/462375/original/file-20220511-20-ab94st.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C0%2C2713%2C1520&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>As the transition to clean energy accelerates, we will need huge quantities of critical minerals – the minerals needed to electrify transport, build batteries, manufacture solar panels, wind turbines, consumer electronics and defence technologies. </p>
<p>That’s where Australia can help. We have the world’s largest supply of four critical minerals: nickel, rutile, tantalum and zircon. We’re also in the top five for cobalt, lithium, copper, antimony, niobium and vanadium. Even better, many of these minerals can be produced as a side benefit of mining copper, aluminium-containing bauxite, zinc and iron ores.</p>
<p>But to date, we are not making the most of this opportunity. Many of these vital minerals end up on the pile of discarded tailings. The question is, why are we not mining them? Compared to other major critical mineral suppliers such as China, we are lagging behind. </p>
<p>While the federal government’s <a href="https://www.industry.gov.au/sites/default/files/March%202022/document/2022-critical-minerals-strategy.pdf">new strategy</a> for the sector is a step in the right direction, small-scale miners will need sustained support to help our critical mineral sector grow. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/462379/original/file-20220511-18-xp0ykc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Iron ore piles" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/462379/original/file-20220511-18-xp0ykc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/462379/original/file-20220511-18-xp0ykc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462379/original/file-20220511-18-xp0ykc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462379/original/file-20220511-18-xp0ykc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462379/original/file-20220511-18-xp0ykc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462379/original/file-20220511-18-xp0ykc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462379/original/file-20220511-18-xp0ykc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Iron ore can also contain critical minerals.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Why are these minerals so important?</h2>
<p>Critical minerals are well-named. Lithium, nickel, cobalt and rare earth elements are critical for modern life as well as the industries of the future. But critical also refers to the fact that supply can be hard to secure. </p>
<p>In a time of huge geopolitical uncertainty, securing these minerals has become an ever more critical issue. Soaring demand for these minerals has led to price volatility, commercial risks, geopolitical manoeuvring and disruptions to supply. </p>
<p>As geopolitical tensions grow, many countries are urgently seeking reliable and secure supplies of critical minerals. When China <a href="https://qz.com/1998773/japans-rare-earths-strategy-has-lessons-for-us-europe/">cut off exports</a> of rare earth elements to Japan in 2010 during a dispute, it threatened many of Japan’s high tech companies. </p>
<p>While cobalt, nickel and copper are perhaps the best known, there are dozens of lesser known minerals vital to the modern world. </p>
<p>Different countries and regions require different minerals, with a total of 73 minerals <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S258900422100777X">considered critical</a> across 25 separate assessments as of 2020. Some countries are almost entirely dependent on imports of their critical minerals. </p>
<h2>Australia could be a world leader in this area. Why aren’t we?</h2>
<p>Critical minerals represent an enormous opportunity for Australia, given our wealth of these minerals and the soaring demand for green technology minerals like cobalt, lithium and nickel. </p>
<p>To date, however, our production of many critical minerals is well behind other countries when compared to our resources base.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/imagine-its-2030-and-australia-is-a-renewable-energy-superpower-in-southeast-asia-177646">Imagine it's 2030 and Australia is a renewable energy superpower in Southeast Asia</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Our large resources of the minerals coupled with high environmental, social and governance standards mean the sector is well placed to respond to demand, especially where we could replace supplies from areas where mining is more destructive or dangerous. Think of the “blood cobalt” often <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-02-24/cobalt-mining-in-the-congo-green-energy/100802588#:%7E:text=Beneath%20Congo's%20rich%20red%20earth,closest%20competitors%2C%20Australia%20and%20Russia.">mined by children</a> in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. </p>
<p>In March, the federal government <a href="https://www.industry.gov.au/sites/default/files/March%202022/document/2022-critical-minerals-strategy.pdf">released its plan</a> to grow the sector through boosting onshore processing to create high-wage, high-skill jobs and to offer our trading partners secure supplies of these sought-after minerals. This is a worthwhile goal, particularly the aim to make Australia the “major powerhouse of the world in critical minerals by 2030”. </p>
<p>A plan, however, is one thing and delivery is another. We will need to tackle some key challenges for the mining sector to make us a powerhouse. </p>
<h2>Bottlenecks, tailings and major miners</h2>
<p>While the demand for critical minerals is growing, there are challenges in production. </p>
<p>Around the world, critical minerals such as cobalt, gallium, molybdenum and germanium are produced as by-products of major commodities such as bauxite, zinc, copper and iron ore. </p>
<p>So why are we discarding most of these critical minerals by dumping them in tailings storage? We can, of course, recover these minerals later, but only if the value exceeds the costs of extraction and processing.</p>
<p>If we were smart about this, we would encourage the extraction of these minerals as a way to add value to existing commodities. </p>
<p>One issue is that while the demand is rising, the overall market size for many of these minerals is small relative to our export giants, iron ore and coal. That’s one reason our major miners have not shown much interest in these minerals. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/critical-minerals-are-vital-for-renewable-energy-we-must-learn-to-mine-them-responsibly-131547">Critical minerals are vital for renewable energy. We must learn to mine them responsibly</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>If the majors aren’t interested, that leaves the door open for small and mid-tier mining and exploration companies such as Cobalt Blue, Iluka, VHM, Australian Vanadium, Australian Strategic Minerals and Critical Minerals Group which have seen the opportunity. </p>
<p>For many smaller miners, however, it can be very difficult to raise capital. That’s where the government’s <a href="https://www.exportfinance.gov.au/criticalminerals">A$2 billion fund</a> should help, by allowing small and medium miners access to capital to scale up domestic production. </p>
<h2>What else do we need to do?</h2>
<p>If we get this right, Australia could play a major role in stabilising the markets for several critical mineral supply chains such as rare earth elements, lithium and cobalt. </p>
<p>For us to create this future-focussed industry, we have to plan ahead. The government should look to policies and programs such as: </p>
<p>● stronger domestic processing and refining sectors for metals like cobalt where our high environmental, social and governance reputation would give us an edge </p>
<p>● introducing incentive schemes to encourage mining companies and smelters to retrofit their facilities so they can produce critical minerals as well as process their main ores </p>
<p>● expand the sector’s proposed $50 million <a href="https://www.ga.gov.au/news-events/news/latest-news/virtual-national-critical-minerals-research-and-development-centre">research and development centre</a> and regional hubs to include universities, especially the critical mineral research groups. </p>
<hr>
<p><em>Acknowledgements: David Whittle contributed to the research base, and Stuart Walsh, Sue Smethurst and Lilian Khaw reviewed the article.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/182331/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mohan Yellishetty receives funding from
Australian Government
He is affiliated with the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy
</span></em></p>
Critical minerals like cobalt, lithium and rare earth elements abound in Australia. But we’re not making the most of these in-demand resources.
Mohan Yellishetty, Associate Professor, Resources Engineering, Monash University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/176352
2022-03-27T12:55:23Z
2022-03-27T12:55:23Z
Here’s how food waste can generate clean energy
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/452612/original/file-20220316-8303-13ku9pd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">In an effort to reduce the growing problem of food waste disposal, researchers are focusing on developing new green technologies that use food waste to generate clean energy.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Food waste is a growing problem in Canada and many other parts of the world — and it is only expected to get worse in the coming years. The <a href="https://www.un.org/development/desa/en/news/population/world-population-prospects-2019.html">world population is expected to grow to 9.7 billion by 2050</a>, alongside <a href="https://hbr.org/2016/04/global-demand-for-food-is-rising-can-we-meet-it">global food demand</a>. </p>
<p>Not only will this create large amounts of food and municipal organic waste, but there will also be increasing amounts of agricultural waste as the global demand of vegetables, fruits and grains increases. An estimated 60 per cent of food produced in Canada — <a href="https://www.rcinet.ca/en/2019/01/22/canada-the-incredible-amount-of-food-wasted/">over 35 million tonnes per year</a> — ends up in landfills. However, Canadian <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/landfill-ontario-garbage-environment-1.5772608">cities have also run out of land to dispose this accumulating waste</a>.</p>
<p>Food waste comes with its own set of issues, including <a href="https://www.canadiangeographic.ca/article/canadas-dirty-secret">greenhouse gas emissions</a>, unpleasant odours, pests and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/wat2.1264">toxic fluids that can infiltrate water sources</a>. In addition, every year, municipal dumps take over more land, reaching the edges of communities, which can lead to <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16122125">health issues</a> for those who are living nearby. </p>
<p>In an effort to reduce the growing problem of food waste disposal, researchers like myself are focusing on developing new technologies that use food waste to generate clean energy. My team and I are studying a process known as biomass gasification.</p>
<h2>Biomass gasification</h2>
<p>Biomass gasification uses heat, oxygen, steam, or a mixture of those, to convert biomass — food and agricultural waste or other biological materials — into a mixture of gases that can be used as fuel.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/446304/original/file-20220214-17-1pj1r68.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A diagram of the process of biomass gasification where food waste is mixed with heat, steam and oxygen to produce synthetic fuel or gasses called Syngas." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/446304/original/file-20220214-17-1pj1r68.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/446304/original/file-20220214-17-1pj1r68.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446304/original/file-20220214-17-1pj1r68.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446304/original/file-20220214-17-1pj1r68.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446304/original/file-20220214-17-1pj1r68.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446304/original/file-20220214-17-1pj1r68.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446304/original/file-20220214-17-1pj1r68.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Biomass gasification uses heat, oxygen, steam, or a mixture of those, to convert biomass — food or agricultural waste, or other biological materials — into a mixture of fuel gases.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Salvador Escobedo Salas)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Biomass gasification works by feeding semi-dry food waste into a unit that looks a bit like a cooking pot, where it passes through a hot, bubbling substance that converts it to fuel gas. This process, known as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ces.2020.116291">fluidization</a> is very efficient at converting food waste into high-valuable sources of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1021/cr200024w">energy-rich synthesis gas, a mixture of hydrogen, methane, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide, also called syngas</a>. Syngas can be used to generate heat and power. This process is sustainable because is considered to be <a href="https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/biomass/biomass-and-the-environment.php">carbon-neutral</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fuproc.2014.11.003">Farms, cities and municipalities could implement</a> this sustainable technology to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fuproc.2014.11.003">cut utility expenses</a> for heating or electricity. They could also significantly reduce <a href="https://www.torontoenvironment.org/zerowaste_organics">dependency on landfills</a> and lower <a href="https://www.toronto.ca/news/2020-rate-supported-budget-for-solid-waste-management-services/#:%7E:text=Budget%20overview,million%20in%202020%3B%20and%20a">the operating budget for solid waste management services</a> which can reach near $380 million per year for a city the size of Toronto.</p>
<h2>Replacing fossil fuels</h2>
<p>The consumption of fossil fuels and their derivatives has created an environmental crisis, mainly due to <a href="https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/global-greenhouse-gas-emissions-data">greenhouse gas emissions</a> in the atmosphere, which has led to climate change. As governments around the world implement <a href="https://www.imperial.ac.uk/grantham/publications/climate-change-faqs/what-are-the-worlds-countries-doing-about-climate-change/">climate policies</a> that restrict greenhouse gas emissions or <a href="https://www.canadadrives.ca/blog/news/carbon-taxes-and-carbon-tax-rebates-in-canada-explained">tax them</a>, it is important to replace fossil fuels with alternative renewable sources of energy such as agricultural and food waste.</p>
<p>Although <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2017.08.001">syngas</a> can be used like a conventional natural gas, which is a methane-based fossil fuel, it is different from it because of its higher composition of carbon monoxide and hydrogen.</p>
<p>These gases can be further converted into <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6431-0_28-2">high-value bio-based chemicals such as methanol and ammonia</a>. Biomass gasification also generates <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jece.2019.103391">biochar, which can be used to improve soil fertility</a>.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/zm0jslIE1kk?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">The gasification process turns trash into gas in an economical and eco-friendly way.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While the production of syngas depends on the type of biomass and technology used. The Canadian Atikokan Generating Station, for instance, produced 205 megawatts of clean electricity. This is enough energy to <a href="https://www.opg.com/story/atikokan-gs-gets-a-boost-from-lemon-juice/">power about 70, 000 residential and commercial buildings</a>.</p>
<h2>Global projects</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.ieabioenergy.com/blog/publications/iea-bioenergy-countries-report-update-2021/">Countries such as Finland, Brazil, Italy, Denmark and the United States are leading the way</a> in developing sustainable and cost-efficient biomass gasification projects and using food waste to support their domestic production of heat, power and bio-based chemicals. Canada has a few companies <a href="https://www.stormfisher.com/">supplying energy</a> and <a href="https://enerkem.com/company/about-us/">bio-based chemicals from municipal waste</a>. In this case, Canada produces <a href="https://www.nrcan.gc.ca/our-natural-resources/energy-sources-distribution/renewable-energy/about-renewable-energy/7295">1.4 per cent of its electricity with Biomass</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A man shoveling coffee beans and keeping them to dry in a farm in Costa Rica." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/452624/original/file-20220316-9660-pjnfig.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/452624/original/file-20220316-9660-pjnfig.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=376&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452624/original/file-20220316-9660-pjnfig.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=376&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452624/original/file-20220316-9660-pjnfig.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=376&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452624/original/file-20220316-9660-pjnfig.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=472&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452624/original/file-20220316-9660-pjnfig.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=472&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452624/original/file-20220316-9660-pjnfig.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=472&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Coffee cultivations in Costa Rica generate high amounts of waste that is being used to produce heat and power using biomass gasification.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Costa Rica is another example. As one of the top 20 coffee producers in the world, Costa Rica generates a significant amount of agricultural waste from coffee production and its disposal presents serious environmental problems. Its present solution is biomass gasification technologies to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biombioe.2019.01.025">convert coffee pulp into heat and power</a>.</p>
<p>Small and marginal communities could also take full advantage of biomass gasification technologies by reducing the amount of food waste that accumulates in landfills, producing their own energy and power and significantly lowering their utilities expenses.</p>
<h2>A sustainable and circular economy</h2>
<p>Biomass gasification is a sustainable and technological strategy that turns food waste to a value-added product. It is a step along the path to a <a href="https://sites.google.com/view/cienciaespress/articles-press/circular-economy">circular economy </a> culture of zero waste. </p>
<p>Policy leaders and governments need to support sustainable programs by providing financial aid, subsidies and tax incentives. These programs may also encourage individuals and companies to invest in biomass gasification technologies and develop them on a commercial scale.</p>
<p>Biomass gasification brings cities and municipalities one step closer to putting an end to concerns about food waste. It also helps meet energy demands and displace fossil fuel use and will help us transition towards a sustainable and circular economy.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/176352/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Salvador Escobedo Salas is affiliated with Recat Technologies Inc. and the Chemical Reactor Engineering Centre (CREC) at Western University.</span></em></p>
Technologies like biomass gasification can help tackle the growing global problem of food waste.
Salvador Escobedo Salas, Research Associate | Faculty of Engineering | Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Department, Western University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/179138
2022-03-14T14:56:20Z
2022-03-14T14:56:20Z
War in Ukraine could cut global supply of essential elements for making green technology
<p><a href="https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/cache/infographs/energy/bloc-2c.html">The EU imports</a> 40% of its natural gas from Russia, and nearly half of the five million barrels of crude oil Russia exports daily go to Europe. Fossil fuel revenue <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-russia-still-has-europe-over-a-barrel-when-it-comes-to-oil-supply-179031">funds Putin’s aggression</a> in Ukraine, and for this reason, the European Commission recently announced plans to eliminate Russian fuel imports <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/speech_22_1483">this decade</a>.</p>
<p>Decisive action by major economies to reduce coal, oil and gas imports from one of the world’s largest sources could <a href="https://theconversation.com/will-russias-invasion-of-ukraine-push-europe-towards-energy-independence-and-faster-decarbonisation-177914">accelerate</a> the transition to green energy globally. But there’s a catch. Disruption to the supply of critical metals and other materials caused by <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/feb/28/ipcc-issues-bleakest-warning-yet-impacts-climate-breakdown">the war in Ukraine</a> could stall the roll-out of alternative technologies.</p>
<p>For example, decarbonisation will require <a href="https://www.theccc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Sector-summary-Electricity-generation.pdf">vast quantities of renewable electricity</a> and new ways of moving and storing it. Countries which imported a lot of Russian fuel will need to replace pipelines and fuel depots with new transmission networks and batteries. The technologies involved tend to be made using an array of scarce metals and materials. Unfortunately, Russia and Ukraine both play significant roles in their supply.</p>
<p>Platinum and palladium are precious metals which are used to make catalytic converters – devices which reduce the concentration of air pollutants in the emissions of vehicles with internal combustion engines. In coming years, these metals will also be used to produce <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1369702111701432">fuel cells</a> in <a href="https://www.tyseleyenergy.co.uk/birminghams-first-hydrogen-bus/">cars and buses</a> which run on clean-burning hydrogen.</p>
<p>Injecting hydrogen into <a href="https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/documents/college-eps/energy/publications/20200722-heat-policy-commission-final-report.pdf">gas networks</a> could displace some of the natural gas which is currently burned to heat homes and generate electricity as part of a wider strategy to phase out the fossil fuel. Machines which can produce hydrogen fuel by splitting water molecules with electricity are called electrolysers and are also <a href="https://www.miningreview.com/energy/hydrogens-rise-materially-increases-pgm-relevance/">made with platinum and palladium</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.z2data.com/insights/critical-materials-affected-by-russia-ukraine-conflict">More than 35%</a> of the world’s palladium comes from Russia. Nornickel, the largest producer, is headquartered in Moscow and responsible for 40% of <a href="https://www.z2data.com/insights/critical-materials-affected-by-russia-ukraine-conflict">palladium mine production</a> globally. Meanwhile, <a href="https://www.chemistryworld.com/news/ukraine-invasion-rattles-global-supply-chains/4015314.article">12% of the global platinum supply</a> comes from Russia. </p>
<p>Lithium, nickel and cobalt are metals used in electric vehicle (EV) batteries. Ukraine’s breakaway regions of Donbas possess <a href="https://eandt.theiet.org/content/articles/2022/03/rare-earth-metal-prices-will-skyrocket-as-ukraine-russia-tensions-continue/">abundant lithium reserves</a>. Ukraine is not a big producer of lithium currently, but the country attracted <a href="https://thred.com/change/russias-invasion-could-hinder-a-global-lithium-drive/">attention for its own reserves</a> prior to the invasion. Production in the region has stalled as a result of the war.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Engineers stand around a large battery." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/451882/original/file-20220314-21-1auwunw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/451882/original/file-20220314-21-1auwunw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451882/original/file-20220314-21-1auwunw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451882/original/file-20220314-21-1auwunw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451882/original/file-20220314-21-1auwunw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=487&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451882/original/file-20220314-21-1auwunw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=487&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451882/original/file-20220314-21-1auwunw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=487&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">EV sales are rising globally.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/charging-batteries-elecric-motor-disassembling-battery-748953112">Roman Zaiets/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The majority of the world’s cobalt comes from mines in <a href="https://americanaffairsjournal.org/2021/11/the-geopolitics-of-cobalt/">the Democratic Republic of Congo</a>, where human rights abuses are rampant. Russia is the <a href="https://www.z2data.com/insights/critical-materials-affected-by-russia-ukraine-conflict">second-largest producer</a>, responsible for <a href="https://www.chemistryworld.com/news/ukraine-invasion-rattles-global-supply-chains/4015314.article">4% of the global supply</a>. While EV battery manufacturers race to substitute cobalt for ever greater quantities of high-quality nickel, <a href="https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/documents/college-eps/energy/policy/policy-comission-securing-technology-critical-metals-for-britain.pdf">10%</a> of the global supply of nickel comes from Russia.</p>
<p>Disruption to this supply as a result of the war recently forced the London Metal Exchange to suspend trading for the first time <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/nickel-market-crisis-sends-london-metal-exchange-scrambling-to-prevent-damage-11646858558">since 1985</a>, as the price of nickel topped <a href="https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/russia-ukraine-latest-news-2022-03-08/card/nickel-market-sent-on-wild-ride-by-russia-concerns-oepHo6J9PSoxNNoOCbZf?mod=article_inline">US$100,000 (£76,000) a ton</a>. According to the investment bank Morgan Stanley, nickel’s price surge could add up to US$1,000 to the <a href="https://qz.com/2139399/surging-nickel-prices-are-bad-news-for-electric-car-manufacturers/">price of an EV</a>.</p>
<h2>What are the alternatives?</h2>
<p>There is some hope that <a href="https://www.mining.com/cobalt-nickel-free-electric-car-batteries-are-a-runaway-success/">alternative battery designs</a> will do away with dependence on cobalt and nickel. But success isn’t guaranteed here either, as <a href="https://investingnews.com/daily/resource-investing/agriculture-investing/phosphate-investing/top-phosphate-countries-by-production/">Russia is the fourth-biggest producer</a> of phosphate rock, a raw material used in lithium iron phosphate batteries (a leading alternative design).</p>
<p><a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-019-1682-5">Recycling of EV batteries</a> could in the future yield an alternate source of critical materials. But these won’t arrive in sufficient quantities until many EV batteries start reaching the end of their lives. Lithium-ion batteries last <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214629620301572">between eight and ten years</a>, but some will last longer or enjoy a second life in other applications. </p>
<p>Global demand for <a href="https://www.parliament.uk/globalassets/documents/post/postpn368rare_earth_metals.pdf">rare-earth minerals</a> will be insatiable in the years to come. These include neodymium and dysprosium, which <a href="https://theconversation.com/boris-johnson-promises-a-uk-offshore-wind-revolution-but-china-holds-the-monopoly-on-vital-rare-earth-metals-147645">can be used</a> to make the very strong magnets of wind turbine generators and the efficient motors of EVs. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A dumper truck loaded with black ore on an empty road surrounded by snow." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/451878/original/file-20220314-21-gp95gl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/451878/original/file-20220314-21-gp95gl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451878/original/file-20220314-21-gp95gl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451878/original/file-20220314-21-gp95gl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451878/original/file-20220314-21-gp95gl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451878/original/file-20220314-21-gp95gl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451878/original/file-20220314-21-gp95gl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Russia has a largely resource-based economy.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/dump-truck-loaded-ore-driving-through-1039870042">Emil O/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Russia only accounts for around <a href="https://miningworld.ru/Articles/how-is-russia-developing-rare-earth-metals">2% of global production</a> of rare-earth minerals, so the immediate impact of the war is likely to be small. But the country holds significant <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/15/1/387">undeveloped reserves</a>. In 2020, the country announced investment of US$1.5 billion to grow its <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/russia-rareearths-idUSL8N2F73F4">rare earth industry</a>. At the moment, Russia lacks the industry and technological base necessary to refine these materials and bring them to market. But with ambitions to grow in this sector, Russia could close the door to countries hoping to access these materials.</p>
<p>The human toll of Putin’s war on Ukraine is incalculable, but the costs of climate change will be felt on <a href="https://theconversation.com/climate-change-how-bad-could-the-future-be-if-we-do-nothing-159665">a global scale</a> if carbon emissions continue to rise. New supply chains take years, in some cases decades, to develop, and with a burning imperative to decarbonise quickly, the world faces no easy options to power its green transition.</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Imagine weekly climate newsletter" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong><em>Don’t have time to read about climate change as much as you’d like?</em></strong>
<br><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/newsletters/imagine-57?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=Imagine&utm_content=DontHaveTimeTop">Get a weekly roundup in your inbox instead.</a> Every Wednesday, The Conversation’s environment editor writes Imagine, a short email that goes a little deeper into just one climate issue. <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/newsletters/imagine-57?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=Imagine&utm_content=DontHaveTimeBottom">Join the 10,000+ readers who’ve subscribed so far.</a></em></p>
<hr><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/179138/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gavin Harper is a research fellow on the UKRI Interdisciplinary Circular Economy Centre for Technology Metals (Met4Tech), EPSRC Grant No. EP/V011855/1.</span></em></p>
Electric vehicle batteries, wind turbine generators and hydrogen fuel cells are among technologies likely to be affected by the conflict.
Gavin D. J. Harper, Research Fellow, Birmingham Centre for Strategic Elements & Critical Materials, University of Birmingham
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/173988
2022-02-20T19:15:54Z
2022-02-20T19:15:54Z
How Australia’s geology gave us an abundance of coal – and a wealth of greentech minerals to switch to
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/447230/original/file-20220218-23-168m8vj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C8%2C5463%2C3628&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Two recent announcements hint at a seismic shift about to hit Australia’s coal industry.</p>
<p>Australian tech billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes and Canada’s Brookfield <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/feb/20/mike-cannon-brookes-and-brookfield-in-bid-to-takeover-agl-and-shut-down-coal-plants-earlier">put forward</a> an extraordinary joint bid to takeover AGL Energy, Australia’s <a href="https://reneweconomy.com.au/coal-giant-agl-again-tops-list-of-australias-biggest-emitters/">biggest emitting company</a>, over the weekend. If successful, it would see AGL’s coal-fired power stations shut down early. And last week, Origin Energy announced that the country’s largest coal plant, Eraring, <a href="https://theconversation.com/australias-largest-coal-plant-will-close-7-years-early-but-theres-still-no-national-plan-for-coals-inevitable-demise-177317">will close</a> seven years early. </p>
<p>These developments have confirmed what many already knew: the death of the coal industry is now inevitable.</p>
<p>Australia’s coal industry directly and indirectly supports <a href="https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/theausinstitute/pages/3406/attachments/original/1607711892/Fossil_Fuel_Employment_Transitions_Final.pdf?1607711892">less than 1%</a> of the Australian workforce, with these jobs heavily concentrated in a handful of small regions in Queensland, Victoria, New South Wales and Western Australia. </p>
<p>Coal is the reason some of these communities exist. If we don’t transition carefully, these communities will break apart, as <a href="https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/topics/history-culture/2016/06/australias-top-10-ghost-towns">so many mining towns</a> have before.</p>
<p>But Australia is also abundant in many of the minerals and rare earth elements our society will run on in the future, including lithium, cobalt and copper. If government and industry pivot from coal to green energy, Australian jobs in energy and the minerals industry will still exist. <a href="https://reneweconomy.com.au/stop-pretending-governments-urged-to-come-clean-on-early-coal-closures">All we need is a plan</a>. </p>
<p>But why did coal end up in these dense deposits in a small number of places? And how can we ensure the end of the coal industry happens in a way that doesn’t decimate people’s livelihoods? The answers to those questions can be found in Australia’s ancient past – let’s take a trip back 299 million years. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/447216/original/file-20220218-23-14jyfdb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Lithium in hands" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/447216/original/file-20220218-23-14jyfdb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/447216/original/file-20220218-23-14jyfdb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/447216/original/file-20220218-23-14jyfdb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/447216/original/file-20220218-23-14jyfdb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/447216/original/file-20220218-23-14jyfdb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/447216/original/file-20220218-23-14jyfdb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/447216/original/file-20220218-23-14jyfdb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An Australian mining worker holds a handful of processed lithium.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Getty Images</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The past shapes the present</h2>
<p>Our destination: eastern Australia, 299 million years ago during the Permian age. In this period, Australia was much further south, close to where Antarctica is now. </p>
<p>Australia was slowly emerging from a long, cold period which had lasted for millions of years. Ice sheets still covered parts of southern and western Australia and glaciers were common in the mountains of the eastern states. </p>
<p>As the world warmed and ice sheets melted, high rainfall saw dense forests grow in eastern Australia. Swamps and extensive river systems covered swathes of land. </p>
<p>In these <a href="https://www.sciencephoto.com/media/1152685/view/permian-glossopteris-forest-illustration">dense, swampy forests</a>, the most abundant trees were from a now-extinct group called Glossopteris. These trees, known as seed ferns, reached heights of 40 metres with long, bare trunks giving way to a dense canopy of branches bearing broad, tongue-shaped leaves. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-epic-550-million-year-story-of-ulu-u-and-the-spectacular-forces-that-led-to-its-formation-167040">The epic, 550-million-year story of Uluṟu, and the spectacular forces that led to its formation</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Australia’s animal life was vastly different to today. Our oceans were full of trilobites, which looked a little like slaters with a hard mineral exoskeleton. They lived underwater and had incredible vision with <a href="https://www.amnh.org/research/paleontology/collections/fossil-invertebrate-collection/trilobite-website/the-trilobite-files/trilobite-eyes">eyes made of calcite</a> – the same mineral that makes up stalactites and stalagmites in caves. </p>
<p>On land, the vertebrate fossil record from this time is intriguingly sparse, but we suspect animals such as the Labyrinthodont wandered the swamps (think of a salamander but the size of a crocodile and with razor-sharp teeth). </p>
<p>It was in this glorious, terrifying swampy wonderland that eastern Australia’s coal deposits formed. When the towering Glossopteris died, they toppled into the swamps and rivers. High rainfall meant dead trees were completely covered by water so deep it contained little oxygen. </p>
<p>The lack of oxygen meant the trees didn’t break down like they normally would, instead retaining some of the energy they accumulated when alive. More and more plant matter was deposited, and the swamps and rivers deepened. </p>
<p>Under the weight from above, the lowest layers compacted and became more dense, eventually forming peat. When peat is buried deeper, compacted and heated it eventually forms a carbonaceous black rock: coal.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/447184/original/file-20220218-19-74jmk5.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="fossil leaves from a coal deposit" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/447184/original/file-20220218-19-74jmk5.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/447184/original/file-20220218-19-74jmk5.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=441&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/447184/original/file-20220218-19-74jmk5.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=441&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/447184/original/file-20220218-19-74jmk5.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=441&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/447184/original/file-20220218-19-74jmk5.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=554&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/447184/original/file-20220218-19-74jmk5.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=554&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/447184/original/file-20220218-19-74jmk5.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=554&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The fossil leaf of a Glossopteris seed fern found in coal deposits in New South Wales.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Glossopteris_fossil_seed_fern_leaves_in_claystone_(Illawarra_Coal_Measures,_Upper_Permian;_Dunedoo_area,_New_South_Wales,_Australia)_(15448560516).jpg">James St John, Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Coal is remarkably rare</h2>
<p>Coal deposits are extraordinarily rare on Earth and require very specific circumstances to form. You need enormous volumes of woody plant matter being deposited into a swamp, river or shallow marine environment. Australia’s Glossopteris trees were uniquely adapted to grow prolifically in swamps and rivers, so they were the perfect coal ingredient. </p>
<p>But the coal checklist doesn’t stop there. The watery graveyard for the trees had to deepen over time to make room for more trees on top, while keeping the whole system covered in water. This environment had to exist for a very long time. To make a 1m-thick black coal deposit, you need a 10m-thick layer of trees. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/plant-fossils-have-a-lot-to-teach-us-about-earths-history-91014">Plant fossils have a lot to teach us about Earth's history</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>After the coal deposit forms, it needs to be preserved. That usually means no major tectonic activity after the deposit forms.</p>
<p>Australia’s deposits formed close to the coast. If the sea level had risen just a little, many coal deposits would be submerged and inaccessible. </p>
<p>In short, several environmental and geological processes have to occur at the same time for coal deposits to form. Australia’s eastern margin proved to be the perfect setting.</p>
<h2>Using our geology for a just transition</h2>
<p>Today, Australia is a <a href="https://publications.industry.gov.au/publications/resourcesandenergyquarterlyseptember2021/index.html#:%7E:text=Australian%20thermal%20coal%20exports%20declined,economies%20return%20to%20normal%20conditions">coal giant</a>, the world’s largest exporter of coking coal and second-largest of thermal coal. While this might be lucrative for the companies involved, coal is not compatible with a liveable climate. Every year, burning coal <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/emissions-by-fuel">causes 40%</a> of global greenhouse gas emissions. </p>
<p>Governments often hold up coal jobs as a reason Australia can’t part ways with coal mining. <a href="https://cpd.org.au/2022/01/whos-buying-centre-for-policy-development/">Recent modelling</a> of a <a href="https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/net-zero-coalition">net-zero emissions by 2050 scenario</a> shows between 100,000 and 300,000 jobs will be lost in Australia’s coal-mining communities. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-end-of-coal-is-coming-3-times-faster-than-expected-governments-must-accept-it-and-urgently-support-a-just-transition-173591">The end of coal is coming 3 times faster than expected. Governments must accept it and urgently support a 'just transition'</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>This would be <a href="https://www.afr.com/companies/energy/plan-needed-for-exit-of-thousands-of-coal-workers-unions-20220217-p59xcl">devastating for coal towns</a> if it happened suddenly. But we don’t have to do it like that. If new industries are brought into these towns over the next 20 years, it may have minimal impact.</p>
<p>Not only that, but Australia will need mining workers for the foreseeable future – just not in coal. </p>
<p>Coal, gas and oil are quickly getting replaced with renewables, electric cars and battery storage, among other technologies. That means mining. To build wind turbines, solar panels and battery storage we need minerals such as copper, cobalt, lithium and rare earth elements. </p>
<p>Luckily, Australia’s geology means we have rich deposits of many of these minerals, too. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/447212/original/file-20220218-19-1yjc8j8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="cobalt" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/447212/original/file-20220218-19-1yjc8j8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/447212/original/file-20220218-19-1yjc8j8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/447212/original/file-20220218-19-1yjc8j8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/447212/original/file-20220218-19-1yjc8j8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/447212/original/file-20220218-19-1yjc8j8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/447212/original/file-20220218-19-1yjc8j8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/447212/original/file-20220218-19-1yjc8j8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Could we switch from coal to cobalt?</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Like coal, these minerals are concentrated in particular regions. And like coal, they have been millions of years in the making. Mount Isa’s copper and rare earth element deposits formed when hot, salty fluids acted like a magnet for metals, bringing them up to the surface and depositing them in little pockets we can find by understanding the geology. </p>
<p>Much of this happened 1.5 billion years ago, but the deposits are still there, just under the surface.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/5-rocks-any-great-australian-rock-collection-should-have-and-where-to-find-them-163578">5 rocks any great Australian rock collection should have, and where to find them</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Indeed, <a href="https://www.wwf.org.au/news/news/2021/clean-exports-could-deliver-395-000-new-jobs#gs.pwwo8o">modelling</a> suggests Australia’s switch to export clean energy and green technology minerals could generate 395,000 jobs in locations likely to be affected by global decarbonisation.</p>
<p>On a wider scale, the <a href="https://bze.org.au/research_release/million-jobs-plan/">million jobs plan</a>, proposed by the Beyond Zero Emissions thinktank, details how 1.8 million new jobs could be created in Australia in renewables and low-emissions technology. </p>
<p>We have the potential to be a global leader in climate action through our mining prowess and human capital coupled with our geological wealth of minerals vital to the decarbonisation push now under way. No one need be left behind in the coal towns – as long as our leaders plan for this now.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/173988/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Melanie Finch is the President of the Women in Earth and Environmental Sciences Australasia (WOMEESA) Network. She is a 2021-2022 Science and Technology Australia Superstar of STEM.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Emily Finch has previously received funding from an Australian Postgraduate Award and a Society of Economic Geologists Graduate Student Fellowship.</span></em></p>
Quirks of our geology made Australia unusually abundant in coal. But as the world goes green, we can switch to vital clean mineral resources so coalminers aren’t left behind.
Melanie Finch, Lecturer in Structural Geology and Metamorphism, James Cook University
Emily Finch, Beamline Scientist at ANSTO, and Research Affiliate, Monash University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/176725
2022-02-10T16:05:26Z
2022-02-10T16:05:26Z
Toilet taboo: we need to stop being squeamish about recycling human waste
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/445712/original/file-20220210-45987-tw5pl0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=1%2C1%2C997%2C559&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-illustration/wc-toilet-restroom-icon-illustration-logo-1607925307">merearts/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When it comes to the humble toilet, most of us embrace a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/apr/19/sewage-island-how-britain-spews-untreated-waste-rivers-sea">flush and forget</a> approach that considers human excreta a <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15528014.2019.1638126?journalCode=rffc20">waste product</a>. But in a world experiencing climate change, this ignores the fact that organic waste can and must be recycled back into ecosystems. Despite their <a href="https://www.oursoil.org/ecological-sanitation/">efficiency</a>, toilets that <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S014362281000086X">recycle human waste</a> are uncommon because most cultures consider them too unsavoury.</p>
<p>Clearly, toilets remain <a href="https://www.rosegeorge.com/the-big-necessity">taboo</a>. This has left many without toilets that can <a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/sanitation">contain and treat waste safely</a> or use <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2008/oct/05/ethical.dilemma">large amounts of water</a> to flush waste to energy-intensive, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/apr/19/sewage-island-how-britain-spews-untreated-waste-rivers-sea">overloaded</a> sewage networks and treatment works.</p>
<p>Many of the solutions to environmental challenges centre around <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/technology/tech-alone-cannot-solve-climate-crisis/">new innovations and technologies</a>. But what if it’s about more than that? What if it’s more to do with culture, behaviour, learned taboos and prejudices? </p>
<p>In our <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214629621005351?via%3Dihub">research</a> we wanted to look at the idea of <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214629620304217?via%3Dihub">taboos</a> around the subject and find out what might change people’s minds about technology that recycles human waste. As people seek greener ways to live and reduce their impact on the natural environment, the way we think about what is waste and what has value <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/01/innovative-sewage-solutions-tackling-the-global-human-waste-problem/">has to change</a>.</p>
<h2>Greener toilet technologies</h2>
<p>Those in authority often make assumptions about what people will or won’t accept – without properly exploring how some technologies could be embraced. There has always been community resistance to wind farms, for example. This resistance is often dismissed by developers, when <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421513006186">engagement</a> with these communities can in fact lead to <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264837715004056?via=ihub">acceptance over time</a>. <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264837709000039">Community ownership</a>, where local people are <a href="https://communityenergyengland.org/pages/state-of-the-sector">involved and benefiting</a> from the financial returns, can also increase acceptance.</p>
<p>Toilets which recycle human waste could significantly cut down on the amount of sewage that is currently overloading treatment works and convert the waste to an organic <a href="https://edepot.wur.nl/307735">fertiliser</a> and a clean fuel <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0973082611000780?via=ihub">biogas</a>. This can replace or reduce the use of traditional wood fuels, which cause <a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/household-air-pollution-and-health">indoor air pollution and related illnesses</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.homebiogas.com/product/bio-toilet-kit/">Domestic biogas technology</a> enables toilets to be connected to an anaerobic digester – airless units in which bacteria break down organic waste materials into clean renewable biogas. This technology is more common in low and middle-income countries but has the potential to be used <a href="https://www.madleap.co.uk/about">more widely</a> around the world.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hKIQq_Fd70s?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<h2>Overcoming resistance</h2>
<p>Toilet-linked anaerobic digesters (TLADs) have been met with a lot of <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214629620304217?via=ihub">resistance</a> but there is surprisingly little information on how to allay fears and reservations or feelings of squeamishness about the technology.</p>
<p>In Nepal, despite <a href="https://energypedia.info/images/9/91/The_Nepal_Biogas_Support_Program_-_A_Successful_Model_of_Public_Private_Partnerships_for_Rural_Household_Energy_Supply.pdf">cultural taboos</a> that oppose the use of human waste products, there are reports of <a href="https://www.atmosfair.de/wp-content/uploads/anlage-6-monitoring-report-biogas-nepal.pdf">high numbers of TLADs</a>. We wanted to see if we could learn something about how people came to accept them. Conducting in-depth interviews with rural householders we questioned them about cultural and religious objections around purity and pollution and how they were renegotiated to allow <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214629621005351?via=ihub">adoption of TLADs</a>.</p>
<p>Most importantly, we found that time was needed for social norms to change and for initial feelings of resistance to be overcome. In some instances, households only installed TLADs after the older generations, who were more opposed to the technology, had passed away.</p>
<p>Community leaders – or as we called them “risk takers” – played an important role in catalysing uptake of the anerobic digester toilets. Risk-takers were people who installed TLADs even when the rest of the community did not approve. Some worried TLADs would make their home smell, or be unhygienic, but once they were able to see one at work, they realised that wasn’t the case.</p>
<p>Further benefits, such as free cooking fuel which dispensed with the need to find firewood, and the absence of smoke inside the home, plus better toilet design and fewer disposal issues convinced people of the technology’s usefulness. Demonstrations by neighbours and opportunities to learn how TLADs worked were successful in encouraging people to install their own.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A graphic showing how fuel and fertiliser are created from human, animal and vegetable waste products." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/445668/original/file-20220210-1970-1walvn2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/445668/original/file-20220210-1970-1walvn2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/445668/original/file-20220210-1970-1walvn2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/445668/original/file-20220210-1970-1walvn2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/445668/original/file-20220210-1970-1walvn2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/445668/original/file-20220210-1970-1walvn2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/445668/original/file-20220210-1970-1walvn2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">How biogas and fertiliser are produced in a Nepali household with an anaerobic digester.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Natalie Boyd Williams/University of Stirling</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Embracing the future</h2>
<p>From our findings it is clear that policymakers should not base decisions on the public’s initial perceptions about recycling toilets. They need to win people over by demonstrating the technologies and explaining the benefits to themselves and the environment. And they must allow some time for people to get used to the idea and get beyond their discomfort with practices they find challenging.</p>
<p>In the community we studied in Nepal, most people adopted TLADs when it was more socially acceptable to do so. In Singapore where drinking water from <a href="https://www.pub.gov.sg/watersupply/fournationaltaps/newater">recycled sewage</a> is <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/07900627.2015.1120188">widely accepted</a>, authorities promoted <a href="http://www.jwwa.or.jp/english/kaigai_shiryou/IWA_workshop_6th_2-5.pdf">positive media campaigns</a> that communicated the science and environmental value, but more importantly, made consuming recycled water <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/19443994.2016.1141325?journalCode=tdwt20">utterly normal</a>. Policymakers should recognise the power of <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959652619330665?via=ihub">social norms</a> and the positive as well as <a href="https://reporter.rit.edu/news/sensationalism-media">negative</a> role the media can play in communicating information.</p>
<p>This study can also teach us something about our own resistance towards recycling. In the UK, sewage and food waste is converted into biogas and agricultural fertiliser using anaerobic digestion on an industrial scale – but smaller scale biogas units remain futuristic. We need to go beyond initial reactions of reluctance and squeamishness to understand how change can happen when we have the proper information, when we can see demonstrable benefits and when we can contribute to improving the environment.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/176725/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Natalie Boyd Williams receives funding from UKRI IAPETUS PhD programme. </span></em></p>
There are myriad benefits to recycling human waste but our reluctance seems to be based on distaste.
Natalie Boyd Williams, PhD candidate Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Stirling
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/162345
2021-06-14T15:05:49Z
2021-06-14T15:05:49Z
Ghana’s farmers aren’t all seeing the fruits of a Green Revolution
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/405891/original/file-20210611-17-1wg4uxe.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Ghana's Green Revolution has not been as successful as portrayed.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/cta-eu/48742492442/">Wikimedia Commons/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Global businesses, donors and governments have each pursued a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305750X15002302">Green Revolution agenda</a> in Africa, Asia and South America since the 1960s. Its aim was, in theory, to produce more food, reducing food insecurity and poverty. This was done via improved seed varieties, chemical fertilisers and other agrochemicals. </p>
<p>However, rates of hunger continued to increase alongside the uptake of these <a href="https://civileats.com/2008/07/20/seeking-global-food-justice-an-interview-with-raj-patel/">agricultural technologies</a>. They have also been <a href="https://www.nathab.com/blog/when-going-green-isnt-good-climate-change-and-the-green-revolution/">criticised</a> for the carbon they produce and the amount of water they use.</p>
<p>Despite the failings of the first Green Revolution, a second wave emerged in the early 21st century, this time primarily targeting the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305750X15002302">African continent</a>. National policies across a number of African countries have supported this agenda. In Ghana, for example, the government worked with <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/00219096211019063?journalCode=jasa">donor organisations and the private sector</a> to extend the Green Revolution throughout its major food producing areas. </p>
<p>The Brong Ahafo region, now divided into Bono, Bono East and Ahafo regions, is one such area. This <a href="https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1480&context=abe_eng_conf">zone</a> is often referred to as the “food basket” of Ghana. It <a href="https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1480&context=abe_eng_conf">leads</a> the production of maize and other major staple crops. It is also a favoured location for experiments with agricultural modernisation, because its ecological conditions suit food crop cultivation.</p>
<p>We designed a <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/00219096211019063">study</a> to analyse drivers of this second Green Revolution in the Brong Ahafo region. It included key champions of this agricultural transformation agenda. We also aimed to assess its impacts at the local level and on different categories of farmers. </p>
<p>Our study found that international donors and philanthropic organisations were central in driving Green Revolution technologies in this region. Despite the hopes – and hype – pinned on this second Green Revolution, it has failed to address the needs of poor farmers. It hasn’t reduced poverty. Rather, it has increased farm input costs, farmer indebtedness and inequalities among farmers. </p>
<p>Given these outcomes, there is an urgent need to re-imagine agricultural transformation. It is farmers – not donors and philanthropists - who are best placed to lead a socially just and environmentally responsible farming future in Ghana. </p>
<h2>Drivers of farming technologies</h2>
<p>A <a href="http://www.fao.org/3/i6583e/i6583e.pdf">dominant view</a> among government and industry stakeholders is that the current Green Revolution is vital to make smallholder farming more productive. They call for access to farm inputs and innovations, financial and agricultural services and support, and access to markets.</p>
<p>Our study found many actors in farming communities also shared this view. For instance, representatives from donor organisations such as the Alliance for the Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) championed the uptake of external inputs for increasing agricultural production. </p>
<p>Similarly, agricultural extension officers and representatives from local NGOs encouraged farmers to adopt these technologies. Pressure also came from commercial providers of “improved” seeds, chemical fertilisers and other agrochemicals. </p>
<p>Through the uptake of these commercial inputs, farmers have become integrated within global agro-input chains. This is unlike the first Green Revolution, when farm inputs were most commonly freely exchanged among farmers. </p>
<p>Our study shows that farmers in the Brong Ahafo region are reluctantly adopting these inputs. They are being told that doing so will help them adapt to <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/00219096211019063">changing ecological</a> conditions – including shortened rainfall periods and diminished soil fertility. Such claims are not necessarily matched by farmers’ experiences. </p>
<h2>Different outcomes</h2>
<p>The first Green Revolution has been widely <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/146499341101200308">criticised</a> on the basis of its adverse social and environmental impacts at the local level. Our study of the second Green Revolution in the Brong Ahafo region demonstrates similar trends. These practices of farming have increased the costs of production and put farmers further in debt. Poor and landless migrant farmers are hit hardest. </p>
<p>Although new technologies may have increased yields, they have also raised costs of production – and there are no assured markets for produce. The region has no structured market systems that can ensure farmers generate an income from crops. With bargaining power skewed in favour of buyers, the prices of produce often disadvantage farmers – especially when farm produce is abundant. </p>
<p>But the outcomes are not the same for all farmers. </p>
<p>Commercial farmers who are able to produce in large quantities are often linked to markets through contract buyers who purchase direct from their farms. Their financial and social capital puts these large scale farmers in the best position to benefit from any Green Revolution interventions. Poor and small scale farmers are unable to reap the same rewards. </p>
<p>The high costs of production – through dependence on costly off-farm inputs – and lack of access to ready markets are driving farmers away from food crops and towards <a href="https://theconversation.com/ghana-wants-to-grow-more-cashews-but-what-about-unintended-consequences-93162">cash crops for export</a>. Such conditions have already threatened local food systems and will continue to do so. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-ghanas-smallholders-arent-excited-by-the-latest-green-revolution-134804">Why Ghana's smallholders aren't excited by the latest 'Green Revolution'</a>
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<h2>Way forward</h2>
<p>Champions of the second Green Revolution in Africa – including national governments, donors and philanthropists – promise its technologies are the answer for feeding the world, even in an era of climate constraint. Yet the reality on the ground – as borne out in our study with farmers in the Brong Ahafo region in Ghana – tells a different story. </p>
<p>Faced with the challenges of land shortages and changing ecological conditions, alongside insecure and unfair markets, technological interventions alone will not ensure a socially just and environmentally responsible food system. </p>
<p>The many diverse challenges facing farmers in Ghana – and many other parts of Africa – must be met by taking local approaches. These consider the lived experiences and expertise of farmers themselves, and are supported by national agricultural policies and planning. Farmers need space to shape their own livelihoods and to innovate in response to changing ecological conditions.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/162345/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kristen Lyons is a senior research fellow with the Oakland Institute and member of the Australian Greens</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>James Boafo does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Realities on the ground tell a different story from the claim that a Green Revolution ensures food security and increased income for smallholder farmers in Ghana.
James Boafo, Lecturer in Geography and Sustainable Development, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST)
Kristen Lyons, Professor Environment and Development Sociology, The University of Queensland
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/161118
2021-05-21T10:16:59Z
2021-05-21T10:16:59Z
How robots could limit the environmental impact of offshore windfarms
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/401868/original/file-20210520-17-36u5w9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=1%2C0%2C1276%2C647&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Wind turbines require frequent maintenance - a job that can pose dangers for human operators and produces a significant carbon footprint.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://pixabay.com/photos/windmill-sky-moon-turbine-50512/">Peter Dargatz/Pixabay</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Spending on global offshore renewable energy infrastructure over the next ten years is expected to reach over US$16 billion (£11.3bn). This involves creating an extra <a href="https://www.visiongain.com/report/global-submarine-power-cable-market-report-2019-2029/">2.5 million kilometres</a> of global submarine cables by 2030. </p>
<p>To lay and secure these cables against ocean currents involves ploughing the seabed and dumping rocks and concrete <a href="http://www.emec.org.uk/press-release-study-on-subsea-cable-lifecycle-published/">“mattresses”</a> to serve as a base for the cables – procedures which are highly disruptive to the marine ecosystem that so many creatures call home.</p>
<p>Installing windfarms offshore requires many such high-impact procedures, which are often undertaken with little consideration of their effects on the delicately balanced ocean environment – which over 3 billion people rely on for their <a href="https://theconversation.com/seaspiracy-how-to-make-fishing-more-sustainable-by-tackling-bycatch-new-research-158315">food and livelihoods</a>. </p>
<p>Human activities, including building renewable energy infrastructure, have affected <a href="https://en.unesco.org/ocean-decade">over 40%</a> of the ocean’s surface, creating <a href="https://theconversation.com/dead-zones-are-a-global-water-pollution-challenge-but-with-sustained-effort-they-can-come-back-to-life-96077#:%7E:text=Dead%20zones%20form%20when%20aquatic,is%20less%20dense%20and%20floats.">dead ocean zones</a> devoid of oxygen, algae blooms that harm marine species and a devastating loss of biodiversity. </p>
<p>If we continue down this path, the predicted <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-digital-revolution-could-unlock-a-green-transformation-of-the-global-economy-123645">green-tech revolution</a> risks causing an unprecedented level of damage to the world’s oceans. The new generation of <a href="https://www.iea.org/reports/global-energy-review-2020/renewables">renewable energy producers</a> must assess their long-term impact on the ocean environment to evaluate how sustainable their supply chains and practices really are. </p>
<p>As the UN begins its decade of <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-un-ocean-decade-can-a-un-resolution-turn-into-a-scientific-revolution-160809">Ocean Resilience</a> this year, the role that <a href="https://theconversation.com/finding-trust-and-understanding-in-autonomous-technologies-70245">autonomous technologies</a> can play in supporting the marine environment continues to gain recognition. We can’t expect to implement sustainable technology without first instilling environmentally conscious practices within the renewable energy sector itself. That’s where robotics comes in.</p>
<h2>The cost of maintenance</h2>
<p>About <a href="https://researchportal.hw.ac.uk/en/publications/technology-drivers-in-windfarm-asset-management">80%</a> of the cost of maintaining offshore windfarms is spent on sending people to carry out inspections and repairs via helicopter, maintaining support vehicles, such as boats, and building offshore platforms to house turbine workers. All of these rack up <a href="https://theconversation.com/covid-19-caused-the-biggest-drop-in-carbon-emissions-ever-how-can-we-make-it-last-podcast-157348">carbon emissions</a>. Not only that, offshore inspectors also need to work at risky heights and in confined spaces, both of which are dangerous.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A red boat approaches a wind turbine at sea" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/401927/original/file-20210520-13-1o31ikw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/401927/original/file-20210520-13-1o31ikw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401927/original/file-20210520-13-1o31ikw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401927/original/file-20210520-13-1o31ikw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401927/original/file-20210520-13-1o31ikw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401927/original/file-20210520-13-1o31ikw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401927/original/file-20210520-13-1o31ikw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Turbine maintenance is costly, dangerous and not friendly to the environment.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://pixabay.com/photos/turbine-till-wind-farm-anholt-3058419/">Anette Bjerg/Pixabay</a></span>
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<p>However, a unified team of humans, robots and AI working together could maintain this infrastructure with significantly less impact on the environment and better safety for humans. These teams might include humans working remotely with multi-robot teams of autonomous aerial and underwater vehicles, as well as with crawling or land-based robots. </p>
<h2>Transformative tech</h2>
<p>Robotics can help humans interact with complex, vulnerable environments without harming them. Robots that use non-contact methods of sensing, such as <a href="https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9284941">radar</a> and <a href="https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8962840">sonar</a>, can interact with ocean infrastructure and its surrounding environment without causing any <a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/2101.09491">disruption</a> or damage.</p>
<p>Even more advanced sensing technology known as <a href="https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8962840">low-frequency sonar</a> – sound-based technology inspired by the signals <a href="https://theconversation.com/like-humans-apes-and-crows-dolphins-use-tools-to-explore-the-parts-others-cannot-reach-25847">used by dolphins</a> to communicate – makes it possible to inspect structures such as subsea infrastructure and submarine cables in the ocean without damaging the surrounding environment. </p>
<p>By deploying low-frequency sonar technology using autonomous underwater vehicles (<a href="https://www.mbari.org/at-sea/vehicles/autonomous-underwater-vehicles/">AUVs</a>) – robots that drive themselves – we can better understand how structures such as underwater cables are interacting with the environment. We can also help avoid issues like biofouling, where microorganisms, plants, algae or small animals accumulate on surfaces of cables. A bio-fouled cable can grow heavy, potentially distorting its outer protective layers and decreasing its useful life span. AUVs can monitor and clean these cables safely.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A yellow submarine vehicle is mounted on a stand on land" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/401898/original/file-20210520-17-lwg2ec.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/401898/original/file-20210520-17-lwg2ec.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401898/original/file-20210520-17-lwg2ec.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401898/original/file-20210520-17-lwg2ec.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401898/original/file-20210520-17-lwg2ec.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401898/original/file-20210520-17-lwg2ec.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401898/original/file-20210520-17-lwg2ec.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) have numerous applications when it comes to maintaining and repairing turbines out at sea.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Autonomous_Underwater_Vehicule_Alistar_3000_-_Eca_2.jpg">Zil/Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
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<h2>Above the surface</h2>
<p>Robots can provide help above the water, too. When wind turbine blades reach the end of their useful lives, they are often burned or thrown into landfill. This directly counteracts the <a href="https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/circular-economy/concept">“circular economy”</a> approach – advocating for waste prevention and reuse of as many materials as possible – that’s central to achieving technological sustainability. Instead, we can use robots to repair, repurpose or recycle degrading blades, reducing unnecessary waste. </p>
<p>Using drones fitted with advanced radar sensing technology, we can now see defects in the turbines as they begin to develop. Instead of using field support vessels to transport turbine inspectors offshore – costing around £250,000 a day – using robot assistants to keep updated on turbine maintenance saves time, money and risk.</p>
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<img alt="A drone is silhouetted against a sunset, with the sea beneath" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/401930/original/file-20210520-19-111hwlw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/401930/original/file-20210520-19-111hwlw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=433&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401930/original/file-20210520-19-111hwlw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=433&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401930/original/file-20210520-19-111hwlw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=433&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401930/original/file-20210520-19-111hwlw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=544&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401930/original/file-20210520-19-111hwlw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=544&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401930/original/file-20210520-19-111hwlw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=544&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Drones can provide a low-energy stand-in for humans when turbines need assessing for damage.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/0fA3gVTGwjQ">Aaron Burden/Unsplash</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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<p>As well as cutting the financial and carbon cost of turbine maintenance, robots can minimise the inherent risks to humans working in these unpredictable environments while also working more symbiotically with the environment. By deploying resident robots to inspect and maintain offshore renewable infrastructure, energy companies could initially reduce the number of people working in dangerous offshore roles. In time, we could even reach a point of autonomous operation – where human operators remain onshore and connect remotely to offshore robotics systems.</p>
<p>AI is another key component in building sustainable energy systems. For example, artificially intelligent programs can help energy companies plan how to safely disassemble turbines and bring them safely back to shore. Following their arrival onshore, turbines can be taken to <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s43154-020-00006-5#:%7E:text=use%20%5B19%5D.-,Robots%20in%20Smart%20Factories,compared%20with%20traditional%20industrial%20robots.">“smart” factories</a> that use a combination of robotics and AI to identify which of its parts can be reused. </p>
<p>Working in these teams, we can develop a robust, sustainable <a href="https://ore.catapult.org.uk/blog/circular-economy-strategies-for-more-sustainable-wind-energy/">circular economy</a> for the offshore renewable energy sector.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/161118/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Flynn receives funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and Innovate UK in a number of research grants. He is affiliated with Heriot-Watt University and the Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET). </span></em></p>
The maintenance required for renewable tech like windfarms can harm the environment. Robots are helping solve that.
David Flynn, Professor, Embedded Intelligence in Energy Systems, Heriot-Watt University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/141360
2021-04-16T01:13:54Z
2021-04-16T01:13:54Z
Demand for rare-earth metals is skyrocketing, so we’re creating a safer, cleaner way to recover them from old phones and laptops
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381271/original/file-20210129-13-15piy4d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C1000%2C666&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Rare-earth metals are critical to the high-tech society we live in as an essential component of mobile phones, computers and many other everyday devices. But increasing demand and limited global supply means we must urgently find a way to recover these metals efficiently from discarded products. </p>
<p>Rare-earth metals are currently mined or recovered via traditional e-waste recycling. But there are drawbacks, including high cost, environmental damage, pollution and risks to human safety. This is where our <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acssuschemeng.0c04288">ongoing research</a> comes in. </p>
<p><a href="https://ifm.deakin.edu.au/">Our team</a> in collaboration with the <a href="https://www.tecnalia.com/en/">research centre Tecnalia</a> in Spain has developed a way to use environmentally friendly chemicals to recover rare-earth metals. It involves a process called “electrodeposition”, in which a low electric current causes the metals to deposit on a desired surface.</p>
<p>This is important because if we roll out our process to scale, we can alleviate the pressure on global supply, and reduce our reliance on mining. </p>
<h2>The increasing demand for rare-earth metals</h2>
<p>Rare-earth metals is the collective name for a group of 17 elements: 15 from the “lanthanides series” in the periodic table, along with the elements scandium and yttrium. These elements have unique catalytic, metallurgical, nuclear, electrical, magnetic and luminescent properties. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/renewables-need-land-and-lots-of-it-that-poses-tricky-questions-for-regional-australia-156031">Renewables need land – and lots of it. That poses tricky questions for regional Australia</a>
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<p>The term “rare” refers to their even, but scarce, distribution around the world, noted after they were <a href="https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/education/whatischemistry/landmarks/earthelements.html">first discovered</a> in the late 18th century.</p>
<p>These minerals are critical components of electronic devices, and <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2075-163X/7/11/203">vital</a> for many green technologies; they’re in magnets for wind power turbines and in batteries for hybrid-electric vehicles. In fact, up to 600 kilograms of rare-earth metals are required <a href="https://www.ga.gov.au/scientific-topics/minerals/mineral-resources-and-advice/australian-resource-reviews/rare-earth-elements">to operate</a> just one wind turbine. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381272/original/file-20210129-19-1bom2yw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="White electric car plugged into a charger" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381272/original/file-20210129-19-1bom2yw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381272/original/file-20210129-19-1bom2yw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381272/original/file-20210129-19-1bom2yw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381272/original/file-20210129-19-1bom2yw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381272/original/file-20210129-19-1bom2yw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381272/original/file-20210129-19-1bom2yw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381272/original/file-20210129-19-1bom2yw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Rare-earth metals are essential components of electric vehicles.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The annual demand for rare-earth metals <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/es203518d">doubled</a> to 125,000 tonnes in 15 years, and the demand <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2075-163X/7/11/203">is projected to reach</a> 315,000 tonnes in 2030, driven by increasing uptake in green technologies and advancing electronics. This is creating enormous pressure on global production.</p>
<h2>Can’t we just mine for more rare metals?</h2>
<p>Rare-earth metals are <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2075-163X/7/11/203">currently extracted</a> through mining, which comes with a number of downsides.</p>
<p>First, it’s costly and inefficient because extracting even a very small amount of rare earth metals requires large areas to be mined.</p>
<p>Second, the process can have enormous environmental impacts. Mining for rare earth minerals generates large volumes of toxic and radioactive material, due to the co-extraction of thorium and uranium — radioactive metals which can cause problems for the environment and human health.</p>
<p>Third, most mining for rare-earth metals occurs in China, which produces <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-11-19/australian-critical-mineral-supply-to-be-guaranteed-by-us/11716726">more than 70%</a> of global supply. This raises concerns about long-term availability, particularly after China <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-06-06/rare-earth-what-happens-if-china-cuts-global-supplies/11167100">threatened to restrict</a> its supply in 2019 during its trade war with the US. </p>
<h2>E-waste recycling is not the complete answer</h2>
<p>Through e-waste recycling, rare-earth metals can be recovered from electronic products such as mobile phones, laptops and electric vehicles batteries, once they reach the end of their life.</p>
<p>For example, recovering them from electric vehicle batteries involves traditional hydrometallurgical (corrosive media treatment) and pyrometallurgical (heat treatment) processes. But these have several drawbacks. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/clean-energy-the-worlds-demand-for-copper-could-be-catastrophic-for-communities-and-environments-157872">Clean energy? The world’s demand for copper could be catastrophic for communities and environments</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Pyrometallurgy is energy-intensive, involving multiple stages that require high working temperatures, around 1,000°C. It also emits pollutants such as carbon dioxide, dioxins and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Furan#:%7E:text=Furan%20is%20a%20heterocyclic%20organic,point%20close%20to%20room%20temperature">furans</a> into the atmosphere. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, hydrometallurgy generates large volumes of corrosive waste, such as highly alkaline or acidic substances like sodium hydroxide or sulfuric acid. </p>
<p>Similar recovery processes are also applied to other energy storage technologies, such as lithium ion batteries. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381275/original/file-20210129-21-xmq4uj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381275/original/file-20210129-21-xmq4uj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381275/original/file-20210129-21-xmq4uj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381275/original/file-20210129-21-xmq4uj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381275/original/file-20210129-21-xmq4uj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381275/original/file-20210129-21-xmq4uj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381275/original/file-20210129-21-xmq4uj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381275/original/file-20210129-21-xmq4uj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">It’s vital to develop safer, more efficient ways to recycle e-waste and avoid mining, as demand for rare-earth metals increases.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Why our research is different</h2>
<p>Given these challenges, we set out to find a sustainable method to recover rare-earth metals, using electrodeposition.</p>
<p>Electrodeposition is already used to recover other metals. In our case, we have designed an environmentally friendly composition based on <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acssuschemeng.0c04288">ionic liquid (salt-based) systems</a>. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/want-more-jobs-in-australia-cut-our-ore-exports-and-make-more-metals-at-home-124592">Want more jobs in Australia? Cut our ore exports and make more metals at home</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>We focused on recovering neodymium, an important rare-earth metal due to its outstanding magnetic properties, and in <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2075-163X/7/11/203">extremely high demand</a> compared to other rare-earth metals. It’s used in electric motors in cars, mobile phones, wind turbines, hard disk drives and audio devices. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nmat2448">Ionic liquids</a> are highly stable, which means it’s possible to recover neodymium without generating side products, which can affect the neodymium purity. </p>
<p>The novelty of our <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.jpclett.8b03203">research</a> using ionic liquids for electrodeposition is the presence of water in the mix, which improves the quantity of the final recovered neodymium metal.</p>
<p>Unlike previously reported methods, we can recover neodymium metal without using controlled atmosphere, and at working temperature lower than 100°C. These are key considerations to industrialising such a technology.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/rare-metals-play-a-strategic-and-essential-role-in-health-156358">Rare metals play a strategic and essential role in health</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>At this stage we have proof of concept at lab scale using a solution of ionic liquid with water, recovering neodymium in its most expensive metallic form in a few hours. We are currently looking at scaling up the process.</p>
<h2>An important early step</h2>
<p>In time, our method could avoid the need to mine for rare earth metals and minimises the generation of toxic and harmful waste. It also promises to help increase economic returns from e-waste. </p>
<p>Importantly, this method could be adapted to recover metals in other end-of-life applications, such as lithium ion batteries, as a <a href="https://www.pveurope.eu/energy-storage/lithium-ion-battery-market-expected-grow-strongly-2025">2019 report</a> projected an 11% growth per annum in production in Europe. </p>
<p>Our research is an important early step towards establishing a clean and sustainable processing route for rare-earth metals, and alleviating the pressures on these critical elements.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/141360/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Cristina Pozo-Gonzalo does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Rare-earth metals are currently mined or recovered via e-waste recycling — methods with drawbacks including high cost, environmental damage, and risks to human safety. This is where we come in.
Cristina Pozo-Gonzalo, Senior Research Fellow, Deakin University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/149038
2020-11-16T13:22:30Z
2020-11-16T13:22:30Z
Regulators can help clear the way for entrepreneurial energy companies to innovate
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/367840/original/file-20201105-19-140tpoc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=22%2C40%2C1475%2C1082&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Distributed power generation, such as this fuel cell installation, requires new ventures to work with energy regulators.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://mms.businesswire.com/media/20200902005860/en/818015/5/Paju.jpg?download=1">Business Wire</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/research-brief-83231">Research Brief</a> is a short take about interesting academic work.</em></p>
<h2>The big idea</h2>
<p>How regulatory policies are implemented can make a huge difference for entrepreneurs in clean technology. In a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0001839220911022">study</a>, we found that giving state-level regulators more discretion in approving hydropower facilities in the United States led to faster adoption of this clean energy source. </p>
<p>We reviewed regulatory approvals of entrepreneurial hydroelectric power facilities from 1978 to 2014 and found that, on average, when regulators had a relatively high level of discretion, entrepreneurs received a license 22.5% sooner. We calculated hydropower ventures that use innovative <a href="https://www.energy.gov/eere/water/types-hydropower-plants">run-of-the-river</a>, <a href="https://www.hydro.org/policy/technology/pumped-storage/">pumped storage</a> and <a href="https://www.energy.gov/eere/water/marine-hydrokinetic-program">marine technologies</a> can generate up to US$7,740 per day in renewable energy – $2.8 million annually – from faster licensing. </p>
<h2>Why it matters</h2>
<p>Government regulation can pose a significant barrier for <a href="https://doi.org/10.5465/256737">new ventures</a> seeking to enter regulated markets, such as electric power, because they typically lack the resources and experience to meet requirements posed by regulations. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/367950/original/file-20201106-19-ezk30v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Chief Joseph Dam" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/367950/original/file-20201106-19-ezk30v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/367950/original/file-20201106-19-ezk30v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/367950/original/file-20201106-19-ezk30v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/367950/original/file-20201106-19-ezk30v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/367950/original/file-20201106-19-ezk30v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/367950/original/file-20201106-19-ezk30v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/367950/original/file-20201106-19-ezk30v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A run-of-the-river hydroelectric plant, such as the Chief Joseph Dam in Washington, is a type of generator that uses little or no stored water. This type of plant is considered to have fewer environmental impacts than conventional hydro plants with large dams or reservoirs.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Run-of-the-river_hydroelectricity#/media/File:Chief_Joseph_Dam.jpg">U.S. Army Corps of Engineers</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For large established companies, by contrast, operating in regulated markets can be beneficial because they have the resources and experience to overcome regulatory hurdles, while smaller competitors don’t. Large incumbents can also set the rules of the game in their favor by <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-018-2241-z">influencing lawmakers</a> to create cumbersome legislation that makes it harder for new ventures to establish themselves. </p>
<p>Our findings suggest entrepreneurs using novel clean technologies should seek to enter jurisdictions where regulators have greater discretion from legislators who craft laws. </p>
<p>There are also important implications for policymakers. Instead of focusing on policy prescriptions, they should examine how those policies are actually implemented by regulators. The degree of regulatory discretion may be one of the reasons policies with good intentions <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11187-016-9712-2">fail to make a measurable difference</a>. </p>
<h2>How we did our work</h2>
<p>We sought to discover the conditions under which clean-tech entrepreneurs were able to enter regulated markets in the absence of a formal policy change. To do this, we examined the role of the regulatory agencies that are responsible for implementing the laws created by legislators. </p>
<p>We looked specifically at regulatory discretion – the flexibility that agencies have to interpret and implement public policy – and its role in influencing market entry of new ventures. To measure discretion, we looked at the number of laws, known as administrative procedures acts, that limit the freedom of regulatory agencies to interpret and implement policies. </p>
<p>We found that when regulators have low discretion, their decision-making is directed by legislators, who are often lobbied by existing companies in efforts to prevent new ventures from entering their markets. However, when regulators have high discretion, they are more insulated from pressure from legislators and can make decisions based on their mission to serve the public interest. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="An offshore wind turbine in Portugal." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/367846/original/file-20201105-21-vt6iqo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/367846/original/file-20201105-21-vt6iqo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/367846/original/file-20201105-21-vt6iqo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/367846/original/file-20201105-21-vt6iqo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/367846/original/file-20201105-21-vt6iqo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/367846/original/file-20201105-21-vt6iqo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/367846/original/file-20201105-21-vt6iqo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Entering an emerging renewable energy market, such as offshore wind, requires substantial capital as well as understanding of many regulations.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/departmentofenergy/29566439002/in/photolist-M3FJeG-DRGvGC-G1TiWY-nQxYtF-pn3Kp3-DA1HFW-fpLfpc-HLzrte-schFp4-fjNrEB-fvdrZd-cSRFbq-fvfrmL-27mursY-cSRF5j-cSRF2S-DTSWpF-fjMXGR-nNDvCH-26a3oMq-nQxYsP-Xn4fgt-JjsSuZ-dgYdSU-wXN8Wk-nLS3F4-fvdrTs-pVi3kT-fgcRRh-rnHRut-e3hHDq-rA5rwG-rAb5Pk-dpZT2C-wotQ5q-e3c2Qr-2e43z23-suSDB2-g9hWVe-ktcFp8-n1n3Nv-2e8H8TK-fNTa6d-sgBYNw-uetGYN-eQ3BLT-fApLyw-Lgic3P-rcr8Je-M6jUFr">U.S. Department of Energy</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What’s next</h2>
<p>We are delving deeper into understanding how the implementation of policies can influence the development of new renewable energy technologies in the U.S. and globally. One of our projects explores the role of business stakeholders, such as environmental activists, in influencing regulators’ decision-making. </p>
<p>Our <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3725852">research</a> suggests that activists may have a greater impact on entrepreneurial energy innovation when regulators have more discretion. Because discretion places more responsibility for regulatory decision-making on the regulatory agency than on legislators, it allows activists to influence regulators by challenging their legitimacy and reputation. </p>
<p>Future research should explore how variation in policy implementation affects the development of other emergent renewable energy technologies, such as wave and tidal power, biomass, biogas, hydrogen and geothermal. In regulated markets, although entrepreneurs may be able to develop feasible technologies, commercializing them is dependent upon regulators who can be influenced by established companies, legislators and stakeholder activists. </p>
<p>[<em>Understand new developments in science, health and technology, each week.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/science-editors-picks-71/?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=science-understand">Subscribe to The Conversation’s science newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/149038/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jake Grandy receives funding from Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Shon Hiatt receives funding from Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.</span></em></p>
A study points to one way to speed up adoption of innovations in clean energy technology – more flexibility among state regulators.
Jake Grandy, Assistant Professor Entrepreneurship and Venture Innovation, University of Arkansas
Shon Hiatt, Associate Professor of Management and Organization, University of Southern California
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/148189
2020-10-16T06:32:25Z
2020-10-16T06:32:25Z
Apple’s iPhone 12 comes without a charger: a smart waste-reduction move, or clever cash grab?
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/363875/original/file-20201016-15-xi755k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=2%2C25%2C995%2C624&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Apple has released its new smartphone, the iPhone 12, without an accompanying <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2020/10/14/21516121/apple-iphone-earpods-wired-headphones-wall-charger-prices-cut-10-dollars">charger or earbuds</a>. Users have <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-8840611/Apple-customers-outraged-learning-799-iPhone-12-NOT-include-charger-EarPods.html">harshly criticised</a> the company for this move and will have to purchase these accessories separately, if needed.</p>
<p>While some see it as cost-cutting, or a way for Apple to profit further by forcing customers to buy the products separately, the technology giant said the goal was to <a href="https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2020/10/apple-introduces-iphone-12-pro-and-iphone-12-pro-max-with-5g/">reduce its carbon footprint</a>.</p>
<p>This is the first time a major smartphone manufacturer has released a mobile without a charger. Earlier this year, reports emerged of <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2020/7/8/21317304/samsung-smartphone-chargers-2021-cost-environment">Samsung</a> considering a similar move, but it has yet to follow through.</p>
<p>But even if abandoning chargers is a way for Apple to save money, the action could have a significant, positive impact on the environment. </p>
<p>Australians, on average, buy a new mobile phone every <a href="https://theconversation.com/dont-chuck-that-old-mobile-phone-theres-gold-in-there-52074">18-24 months</a>. In Australia, there are about 23 million phones <a href="https://recyclingnearyou.com.au/phones/">sitting unused</a> — and therefore likely a similar number of accompanying chargers.</p>
<p>Just as single-use shopping bags contribute to plastic waste, unused and discarded electronic appliances contribute to electronic waste (e-waste).</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/dont-chuck-that-old-mobile-phone-theres-gold-in-there-52074">Don't chuck that old mobile phone, there's gold in there</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>You can reuse a shopping bag, so why not your phone charger?</h2>
<p>Just over a decade ago, Australia started to ban single-use plastic bags, starting with South Australia. Today, <a href="https://www.environmentlawinsights.com/2020/04/30/moves-towards-banning-single-use-plastics-in-australia/">every</a> state and territory in Australia has enforced the ban except New South Wales — which intends to do so by the <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/nsw-to-join-all-other-states-in-banning-single-use-plastic-bags-20200308-p5480b.html">end of 2021</a>. </p>
<p>Since South Australia implemented its ban in 2008, state government estimates <a href="https://www.greenindustries.sa.gov.au/_literature_165559/Life_cycle_analysis_of_plastic_bag_alternatives_(2009)">suggest</a> it has avoided 8,000kg of marine litter each year — and abated more than 4,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions.</p>
<p>The benefits for the environment have been clear. So, why are we so hesitant to do the same for e-waste? </p>
<h2>E-waste is a real, but fixable, environmental issue</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0195925505000466">E-waste</a> includes different forms of discarded electric and electronic appliances that are no longer of value to their owners. This can include mobile phones, televisions, computers, chargers, keyboards, printers and earphones.</p>
<p>Currently there are about 4.78 billion mobile phone users globally (61.2% of the world’s <a href="https://www.bankmycell.com/blog/how-many-phones-are-in-the-world">population</a>). And mobile phone chargers alone generate more than <a href="https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20140307IPR38122/meps-push-for-common-charger-for-all-mobile-phones">51,000 tonnes</a> of e-waste per year. </p>
<p>On this basis, the environment would greatly benefit if more users reused phone chargers and if tech companies encouraged a shift to standardised charging that works across different mobile phone brands. </p>
<p>This would eventually lead to a reduction in the manufacturing of chargers and, potentially, less exploitation of natural resources.</p>
<h2>Who needs a charger with an Apple logo anyway?</h2>
<p>Citing an increase in e-waste and consumer frustration with multiple chargers, the <a href="https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/RC-9-2020-0070_EN.html">European Parliament</a> has been pushing for standardised chargers for mobile phones, tablets, e-book readers, smart cameras, wearable electronics and other small or medium-sized electronic devices. </p>
<p>This would negate the need for users to buy different chargers for various devices. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/363893/original/file-20201016-21-1jg67wf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Electronics 'sprout' from the ground." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/363893/original/file-20201016-21-1jg67wf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/363893/original/file-20201016-21-1jg67wf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363893/original/file-20201016-21-1jg67wf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363893/original/file-20201016-21-1jg67wf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363893/original/file-20201016-21-1jg67wf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363893/original/file-20201016-21-1jg67wf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363893/original/file-20201016-21-1jg67wf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Digital consumption is on the rise and unlikely to slow down any time soon. Recycling is one option, but how else can tech companies innovate to reduce environmental harm?</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Of course, there’s no doubt phone companies want people to regularly buy new phones. Apple themselves have <a href="https://www.vox.com/2017/12/22/16807056/apple-slow-iphone-batteries">been</a> <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2020/03/02/apple-agrees-to-settlement-of-up-to-500-million-from-lawsuit-alleging-it-throttled-older-phones/">accused</a> of building a feature into phones that slows them down as they get older. Apple responded by saying this was simply to keep devices running as their batteries became worn down. </p>
<p>But even if this is the case, Apple’s decision to ship phones without chargers would still reduce the use of precious materials. A smaller product box would let Apple fit up to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KR0g-1hnQPA">70%</a> more products onto shipping pallets — reducing carbon emissions from shipping. </p>
<p>However, it remains to be seen exactly how much this would assist in Apple’s environmental goals, especially if many consumers end up buying a charger separately anyway. </p>
<p>Apple equates its recent “climate conscious” changes to the iPhone 12 with removing <a href="https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2020/10/apple-introduces-iphone-12-pro-and-iphone-12-pro-max-with-5g/">450,000 cars</a> from the road annually. The company has a target of becoming <a href="https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2020/07/apple-commits-to-be-100-percent-carbon-neutral-for-its-supply-chain-and-products-by-2030/">carbon-neutral</a> by 2030. </p>
<h2>Are wireless chargers the answer?</h2>
<p>It’s worth considering whether Apple’s main incentive is simply to cut costs, or perhaps push people towards its own wireless charging devices.</p>
<p>These concerns are not without merit. Apple is one of the <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/08/19/apple-reaches-2-trillion-market-cap.html">richest companies in the world</a>, with most of its market capital made with <a href="https://sixcolors.com/post/2020/07/apple-q3-2020-results-everything-up/">hardware sales</a>. </p>
<p>Without a shift to a standardised plug-in charger, a wireless charging boom could be an environmental disaster (even though it’s perhaps <a href="https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2020/05/15/2034383/0/en/The-Global-Wireless-Charging-Market-size-is-expected-to-reach-25-6-billion-by-2026-rising-at-a-market-growth-of-28-4-CAGR-during-the-forecast-period.html">inevitable</a> due to its convenience). Wireless charging consumes around <a href="https://debugger.medium.com/wireless-charging-is-a-disaster-waiting-to-happen-48afdde70ed9">47%</a> more power than a regular cable. </p>
<p>This may be a concern, as the sustainability advantages of not including a charger could come alongside increased energy consumption. Currently, the Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) sector is responsible for about <a href="https://www.natureworldnews.com/articles/467/20130107/ict-sector-account-2-percent-global-carbon.htm">2% of the world’s energy consumption</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/363889/original/file-20201016-21-9a8omy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Unused electronic devices in a pile." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/363889/original/file-20201016-21-9a8omy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/363889/original/file-20201016-21-9a8omy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363889/original/file-20201016-21-9a8omy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363889/original/file-20201016-21-9a8omy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363889/original/file-20201016-21-9a8omy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363889/original/file-20201016-21-9a8omy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363889/original/file-20201016-21-9a8omy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">How many unused devices do you have lying around the house?</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The case for a universal plug-in charger</h2>
<p>Perhaps one solution to the dilemma is device trade-in services, which many companies already offer, including Apple and <a href="https://www.samsung.com/au/tradeup/">Samsung</a>.</p>
<p>Apple gives customers a discount on a new device if they <a href="https://www.apple.com/au/trade-in/">trade in their older model</a>, instead of throwing it out. Similar services are offered by third parties such as <a href="https://www.optus.com.au/shop/mobile/deals/trade-in">Optus</a>, <a href="https://www.telstra.com.au/plans-devices/trade-in">Telstra</a>, <a href="https://mobilemonster.com.au/">MobileMonster</a> and <a href="https://www.boomerangbuyback.com.au/">Boomerang Buy Back</a>.</p>
<p>Ultimately, however, the best solution would be for tech giants to agree on a universal plug-in charger for all small or medium-sized electronic devices, including mobile phones. </p>
<p>And hopefully, just as we all now take reusable bags to the grocer with us, in a few years we’ll be able to use a common charger for all our devices — and we’ll wonder what all the fuss was about.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/apple-releases-fast-5g-iphones-but-not-for-australia-and-were-lagging-behind-in-getting-there-148102">Apple releases fast 5G iPhones, but not for Australia. And we're lagging behind in getting there</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/148189/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Apple’s newest release comes without a wall charger and earpods. While the shift could reduce the company’s carbon footprint, users shifting to wireless charging will use more energy.
Michael Cowling, Associate Professor - Information & Communication Technology (ICT), CQUniversity Australia
Ritesh Chugh, Senior Lecturer/Discipline Lead – Information Systems and Analysis, CQUniversity Australia
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/134804
2020-04-13T07:41:15Z
2020-04-13T07:41:15Z
Why Ghana’s smallholders aren’t excited by the latest ‘Green Revolution’
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/325723/original/file-20200406-74220-fb7sv2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A Ghanaian vegetable farmer sits on his land</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ghanaian_Vegetable_Farmer.jpg">Vrinda Khushu/Wikimedia Commons</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Green Revolution – the introduction of new higher yielding seed varieties, increased use of fertiliser, irrigation and other mechanisation introduced since the 1960s – brought about a great <a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/300/5620/758">increase in crop yields</a> in some countries in the Global South. Hybridised seeds produced more grains per plant and were more responsive to fertiliser and irrigation.</p>
<p>But the effects of this “<a href="https://www.routledge.com/Africas-Green-Revolution-Critical-Perspectives-on-New-Agricultural-Technologies/Moseley-Schnurr-Bezner-Kerr/p/book/9781138185951">revolution</a>” were famously uneven, both between and within countries. The farming environment in sub-Saharan Africa wasn’t as well suited to the technologies as Asia and Latin America. </p>
<p>In the past 20 years, a newer model of the Green Revolution has emerged predominantly in sub-Saharan Africa. Domestic and international agribusinesses have a much more prominent place. The Green Revolution of the past was more heavily supported by public and quasi-public institutions. Now the private sector is encouraged to take the lead role in distributing agricultural inputs and getting outputs to market. The idea is to commercialise production and integrate farmers into global markets. </p>
<p>The contemporary version of the Green Revolution is promoted largely by the <a href="https://agra.org/">Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa</a>, the G7/G8’s <a href="https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/STUD/2015/535010/EXPO_STU(2015)535010_EN.pdf">New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition in Africa</a>, the World Bank, USAID, the African Union among others. These donors generally take the view that African agriculture must be transformed to use land more efficiently and catch up with the productivity levels of other regions.</p>
<p>But there are many questions about whether this newer Green Revolution can increase production in a way that will reduce poverty and food insecurity. </p>
<p>Our <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/11287462.2014.1002294">previous research</a> analysed whether this approach is likely to succeed. We looked at the assumptions it’s based on and the possible consequences, particularly for smallholder farmers. Focusing on northern Ghana, we then completed a <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13504509.2020.1733702">case study</a> of how the strategy is playing out. </p>
<p>We found that the vast majority of smallholder farmers were reluctantly adopting the new varieties of seed, chemical fertilisers, agrochemicals and farm contracts promoted as part of the Green Revolution. Farmers adopted these inputs and <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01436597.2018.1552076">business arrangements</a> to address the immediate challenges of erratic rainfall, shortened growing seasons, drier soils with diminished fertility and increasing land competition. But many described this decision as a short-term trade-off to maintain the yields required to survive. They did not have the hope of increasing yields.</p>
<p>They also identified serious negative consequences of these newer farming practices. </p>
<h2>Reluctant adoption</h2>
<p>In our <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13504509.2020.1733702">case study</a> we found that many farmers expressed deep concern about the long-term consequences of the Green Revolution prescriptions. These included damage to soils from herbicides and fertilisers, the narrowing of crop varieties planted and foods consumed, rising levels of indebtedness, and heightened risks of land dispossession, particularly for women. </p>
<p>Most smallholders used new varieties of seed when planting soy, rice, maize and groundnuts. These matured and could be harvested in a shorter time than “non-improved” varieties. This helped in a shortened growing season associated with a changing climate. </p>
<p>But some farmers insisted that the new seed does not actually increase yields. </p>
<p>The improved varieties were also “open pollinating” – the plants produce seeds for the next season. But only a limited number of crops have been improved and could grow within shorter time periods (such as 90 days for maize). This was reducing the diversity of crops planted and the variety of foods consumed. Crops that required longer growing periods, such as millet and sorghum (120-150 days), were once common but are grown by fewer farmers. This could have shifted diets to maize instead of more nutritious staples such as sorghum or millet.</p>
<p>Many smallholders said they were more frequently turning to herbicides to deal with weeds – a growing problem which they blamed on soil degradation. They said chemical fertilisers were becoming necessary just to maintain production levels, and this put them further into debt. Their increasing dependence on pesticides and chemical fertilisers was becoming a vicious dependency spiral. </p>
<p>Community members pointed out that farming was becoming polarised between those who could afford to finance the promoted package of inputs and those who couldn’t. </p>
<p>Another major concern for many smallholders was the growing presence of newcomers to their communities who have access to finance to farm, including direct payments from development projects. Their presence stoked competition for land. One smallholder described his sense of the newcomers: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Big people, MPs and the educated who are all into farming. I think it is a way of investment. That is why more of such people are rushing into it.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Land was regularly described as being in short supply, as more people moved into farming in response to new incentives and environmental changes. Some were trying to increase their acreage planted to compensate for lower yields stemming from drying conditions. </p>
<p>The majority of farmers felt they had to continuously cultivate all of their fields. Many knew this contributed to soil degradation and reliance on chemical inputs but they are trying to minimise the risk of dispossession. As one smallholder put it: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>We know of the benefit of fallowing, but the moment you even leave it, somebody is hungry for land, he will even come and say, ‘you are satisfied and left some’, so he will be begging to farm on it. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Our case study shows that even though many smallholders have adhered to the newer Green Revolution model, they are worried about its long-term implications. It is also clear that wealth and gender disparities affect the ability of farmers to access and benefit from new technologies and markets. Female farmers are especially disadvantaged and at risk of dispossession. </p>
<p>In developing more sustainable agriculture, the first step should be to listen to what smallholder farmers say about their particular environments and constraints. And not funding technologies and business arrangements that exacerbate environmental changes and socioeconomic inequalities.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/134804/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Siera Vercillo has received funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the International Development Research Centre and Western University in Ontario, Canada.</span></em></p>
And why development funders should listen to smallholder farmers
Siera Vercillo, Postdoctoral Fellow, School of Environment, Enterprise and Development, University of Waterloo
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/130401
2020-01-24T13:44:31Z
2020-01-24T13:44:31Z
How behavioural science could help us reach zero emissions
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/311602/original/file-20200123-162199-zahvl5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/eco-house-icon-concept-128870053">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When we talk about <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/01/tech-innovations-save-us-from-climate-change/">innovations to deal with the climate crisis</a>, we tend to think of new technologies developed by physical scientists. Although a real sense of climate emergency now seems to be permeating the global consciousness thanks to recent high-profile campaigning, many of us have been slow to actually make changes in the way we live ourselves. Finding out what it would take to motivate people to take practical steps to reduce emissions is where <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/behavioral-science">behavioural science</a> comes in. </p>
<p>As an example, Glasgow City Council recently <a href="https://www.glasgow.gov.uk/article/25066/Council-Sets-Target-Of-Carbon-Neutral-Glasgow-by-2030">announced</a> its aim to reduce <a href="https://friendsoftheearth.uk/climate-change/how-uk-government-can-tackle-climate-breakdown-our-6-point-climate-action-plan?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIufP_reKX5wIVDLDtCh0AjgQhEAAYASAAEgIMXvD_BwE">net carbon emissions</a> to zero by 2030. Some have <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-49851793">cast doubt</a> on the council’s capacity to achieve this ambitious target, not least because many sources of emissions are beyond its direct control. </p>
<p>Take the energy used by households in heating their homes. Glasgow is blessed and cursed by fine old buildings, but they require a lot of energy to heat. One challenge that the council faces is persuading owners of these buildings to retrofit them with efficient heating and insulation.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/aer.p20151011">Research suggests</a> that money alone isn’t enough of an incentive. In Michigan in the US, 7,000 households were randomly selected to receive a visit by a community worker who explained the benefits of retrofitting heating and cooling systems and offered to help complete the paperwork that would deliver free materials and installation. The campaign did increase retrofitting relative to a control group from the same population, but the uptake accounted for just 6% of eligible households, at a cost of around US$1,000 per home.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/311587/original/file-20200123-162216-bqt66d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/311587/original/file-20200123-162216-bqt66d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/311587/original/file-20200123-162216-bqt66d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/311587/original/file-20200123-162216-bqt66d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/311587/original/file-20200123-162216-bqt66d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=497&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/311587/original/file-20200123-162216-bqt66d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=497&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/311587/original/file-20200123-162216-bqt66d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=497&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Glasgow has some beautiful old buildings but they can be difficult to heat.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/tenements-glasgow-35967706">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>More hopeful research comes from the <a href="https://www.bi.team/about-us/">Behavioural Insights Team</a>, an organisation that seeks to generate and apply behavioural insights to inform policy. In an <a href="http://www.behaviouralinsights.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/behaviour-change-and-energy-use.pdf">experiment</a>, it offered low-cost loft insulation to homeowners in London. Some were offered additional help to clear out their lofts so that the new materials could be installed.</p>
<p>Again, the number of households taking up the offer was very small, but those offered help with clearing out their lofts showed higher uptake. Suffice to say, the hassle of retrofitting homes and buildings will be a big stumbling block to Glasgow City Council’s ambitious plan.</p>
<h2>Behavioural science and selling houses</h2>
<p>This is precisely where behavioural science can help. Behavioural scientists study how minor tweaks can tip the balance towards behavioural change. Our research review <a href="https://dspace.stir.ac.uk/bitstream/1893/26625/1/26.9.17%20Energy%20Label%20Retrofitting%20Energy%20Econ.pdf">recently discovered</a> that the colour-coded categories on the <a href="https://energysavingtrust.org.uk/home-energy-efficiency/energy-performance-certificates">energy efficiency labelling system</a> used in houses for sale in the UK are already nudging investment in energy efficiency.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/311578/original/file-20200123-162232-87ahf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/311578/original/file-20200123-162232-87ahf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=357&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/311578/original/file-20200123-162232-87ahf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=357&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/311578/original/file-20200123-162232-87ahf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=357&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/311578/original/file-20200123-162232-87ahf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/311578/original/file-20200123-162232-87ahf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/311578/original/file-20200123-162232-87ahf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Back in 2008, an <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/energy/en/topics/energy-efficiency/energy-performance-of-buildings/energy-performance-buildings-directive">EU-wide regulation</a> came into effect that required an <a href="https://www.uswitch.com/solar-panels/guides/energy-performance-certificate/">energy performance certificate</a> (EPC) to be made available when a building is constructed, sold or rented. We speculated that house sellers who find their home at the top of one of the letter-colour bands on the scale might try to boost their house into the next band by installing small, energy-saving appliances, such as LED lightbulbs. After all, it costs little to make these changes, and when selling a house most people have to clear it out to make it presentable anyway. Importantly, you could potentially make more money selling a D-rated home, for example, than an an E-rated home.</p>
<p>We looked to the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/announcements/english-housing-survey-2018-to-2019-headline-report">English Housing Survey</a> (EHS) to test our idea. In each wave of the EHS, the structural features of roughly 16,000 homes were recorded and entered into an algorithm, resulting in a rating for each home on a 1-100 standard assessment procedure (SAP) scale. With the introduction of the EPC in 2008, these SAP scores became the 1–100 numbers that we see on the right-hand side of the EPC efficiency label today. </p>
<p>When we analysed the EHS data, we found that, rather than the smooth distribution that would be expected, properties clustered at the lowest point in the D category, at 55 SAP points. When we focused in on homes that had recently been on the market, we found a pronounced spike at 55 SAP points and a shortfall of homes at 54 SAP points, the highest point in the E category. In other words, the data showed that sellers did indeed make the effort to boost their home across the arbitrary thresholds on the EPC label.</p>
<p>The authorities should take note of this result. We <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S014098831730405X">calculated</a> that the energy savings induced by the label in England scaled up to roughly 33,470 megawatt hours or, more intuitively, the <a href="https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/gas/retail-market/monitoring-data-and-statistics/typical-domestic-consumption-values">total electricity</a> consumed each year by a town of <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/families/bulletins/familiesandhouseholds/2016">27,702 people</a>.</p>
<h2>Valuable insights</h2>
<p>One insight our results suggest is that authorities should be selective in the timing of subsidies for retrofitting. The evidence suggests that established households are reluctant to alter their properties. But catch people moving into or out of a property and they seem more willing to invest in retrofitting.</p>
<p>A second insight concerns the design of the EPC label itself. As it stands, the thresholds from one category to the next are fixed at certain SAP points. As such, the label only affects a small proportion of properties – those that happen to score just shy of a threshold.</p>
<p>I suggest that the seven A-G categories should be indicators of relative energy efficiency. The top seventh of properties in terms of energy efficiency would receive an A label, the next seventh would receive a B, and so on. As the housing stock becomes more efficient, the thresholds would move to higher SAP points.</p>
<p>In time, properties that are currently distant from an SAP threshold might become close to moving up a category or, importantly, down a category. Since most people are averse to losing and concerned with rank and position, we would expect the prospect of dropping into a lower colour-letter band to be especially motivating.</p>
<p>Glasgow’s 2030 target may well be ambitious, but if the city council looks to the innovations of behavioural science, it could find effective ways of tipping its citizens into making changes that could actually make a difference in reducing carbon emissions.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/130401/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Comerford does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Finding out what would motivate people to reduce their carbon emissions can be determined by examining behaviour.
David Comerford, Program Director, MSc Behavioural Science, University of Stirling
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/129158
2020-01-08T15:50:12Z
2020-01-08T15:50:12Z
Climate change: COP26 Glasgow will provide world stage for Scotland’s green innovation
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/309052/original/file-20200108-107204-nhzmpo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-vector/glasgow-single-line-skyline-1200610456">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Every year since 1994, the UN has gathered together the world’s governments at its <a href="https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-convention/what-is-the-united-nations-framework-convention-on-climate-change">Framework Convention on Climate Change</a> (UNFCCC) conference of the parties (COP), held in a different country each time. The convention’s ultimate aim is to prevent “dangerous” human interference with the climate system. The onus is on developed countries to lead the way and the convention directs funds to developing countries to help them in their efforts.</p>
<p><a href="https://unfccc.int/cop25%5D(https://unfccc.int/cop25">COP25</a>, held in Madrid at the beginning of December 2019, did not end well. Swedish youth activist Greta Thunberg’s <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ml3f0KeZnsY&vl=en-GB">solemn speech</a> gave short shrift to countries neglecting their responsibilities, and the likes of the US President, Donald Trump, and Brazil’s President, Jair Bolsonaro, <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2019/12/11/americas/bolsonaro-thunberg-brat-intl-scli/index.html">responded with personal attacks</a>. </p>
<p>Tensions ran high when climate justice activists were <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-50752126(https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-50752126">barred</a> from entering the venue and <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/12/13/21020192/cop25-greta-thunberg-un-climate-change-meeting-madrid">talks stalled</a>, and negotiations ending two days late with a <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-50799905">compromise deal</a> on cutting global carbon emissions. Given the raised status of the world’s climate emergency, it was a disappointing end to a conference for which many had high hopes.</p>
<p>In the cold light of a new year, everyone from activists to world leaders are reflecting on COP25’s <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/2227541-cop25-climate-summit-ends-in-staggering-failure-of-leadership/">ultimate failure</a> to set down rules on creating a carbon market between countries. But already, behind the scenes, the UK is looking to the next summit – because this year COP26 will be pitching its tent in Glasgow.</p>
<p>More than 30,000 people are expected to descend on the city in November 2020. For those who live and work in Glasgow it will be a chance to experience being part of an important climate action event. People from around the country will be able to participate in hundreds of events that will be happening across the city. So why will COP26 be such a big occasion for Glasgow, and what will the city itself bring to the mix?</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VD2C_vSf4hM?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<h2>Why hosting COP26 is a big deal</h2>
<p>The world’s governments have met every year for nearly three decades to (try to) agree how to stop – or at least reduce the impacts of – climate change. But the fact that these nations have not been able to meet the overall <a href="https://unfccc.int/files/secretariat/budget/funding_at_the_unfccc/application/pdf/activities20170516fccc.pdf">UNFCCC objectives</a> is one of the reasons we now face a <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-emergency-scientists-emissions-letter-climate-change-a9185786.html">global climate emergency</a>.</p>
<p>As world summits go, they don’t get much more important than the UN’s climate change convention. In those three decades, this will be the <a href="https://unfccc.int/process/bodies/supreme-bodies/conference-of-the-parties-cop">first time</a> a COP summit has been held in the UK. From a policy perspective, COP26 will be important for at least four reasons:</p>
<p><strong>1.</strong> It will take place in the year when all countries are asked to submit their new long-term goals – so ambition to address the global climate emergency will be high on the agenda.</p>
<p><strong>2.</strong> It will have to finish the work that COP25 was unable able to conclude – setting out the rules for a carbon market between countries.</p>
<p><strong>3.</strong> From Glasgow onwards, the implementation of the <a href="https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement/the-paris-agreement">2015 Paris Agreement</a> will be the key driver of international climate action.</p>
<p><strong>4.</strong> COP26 will come just weeks after the US presidential election with the potential implications this will have for US climate policy and US participation in COP26.</p>
<p>Come November 2020, the eyes of the world will be firmly on Glasgow.</p>
<h2>Glasgow on show</h2>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/309049/original/file-20200108-107255-11hcwff.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/309049/original/file-20200108-107255-11hcwff.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=1045&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/309049/original/file-20200108-107255-11hcwff.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=1045&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/309049/original/file-20200108-107255-11hcwff.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=1045&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/309049/original/file-20200108-107255-11hcwff.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1313&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/309049/original/file-20200108-107255-11hcwff.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1313&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/309049/original/file-20200108-107255-11hcwff.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1313&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Scots have always been keen innovators.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Scotland has a long and rich history of discovery and innovation, including Glasgow’s past as a world-class centre of shipbuilding, trade and industrial production – a legacy that has contributed to greenhouse gas emissions but has also added much to the quality of human life. From pioneering work on the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/James-Watt">steam engine</a> and <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/245525608_James_Blyth_-_Britain%2527s_first_modern_wind_power_pioneer">wind turbines</a>, to the invention of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/technology/television-technology">television</a> and the life-saving introduction of <a href="http://broughttolife.sciencemuseum.org.uk/broughttolife/people/josephlister">sterile surgery</a>, <a href="https://www.gandtclub.co.uk/post/who-invented-the-gin-and-tonic">gin and tonic</a> and <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0175262/">Billy Connolly’s shipyard humour</a>, Glasgow has helped shape the modern world.</p>
<p>Glasgow and its history can also shed light on how cities, societies and people can reinvent themselves from a former industrial workhorse to a city of culture, services and new green technologies. Scotland’s collective commitment to <a href="https://www.gov.scot/policies/climate-change/">net-zero emissions</a> of all greenhouse gases by 2045 now puts the country at the forefront of real action on the climate emergency. During COP26, Glasgow’s research and innovation will be on show to the world. </p>
<p>Engineers are leading the development of renewable technologies such as <a href="https://ore.catapult.org.uk/stories/nova-innovation-case-study/">tidal energy</a> and floating <a href="https://www.strath.ac.uk/humanities/centreforenergypolicy/energyblog/offshorewindreadytofloat/">offshore wind turbines</a>. Scotland is at the forefront of establishing hydrogen as a viable <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/01/these-countries-are-pioneering-hydrogen-power-d941536b-4206-4fa1-8932-8596d7b856bd/">energy source</a>, providing hubs for related <a href="https://www.strath.ac.uk/engineering/electronicelectricalengineering/windmarineenergysystemsstructures/">skills</a> and <a href="https://ore.catapult.org.uk/about-us/">knowledge-sharing</a>, to ensure that new technologies can be integrated into the grid and controlled.</p>
<p>Scotland also leads the way not only on the science innovation, but on ways in which research and development can provide <a href="https://www.strath.ac.uk/research/strathclydecentreenvironmentallawgovernance/oneoceanhub/">community-informed solutions</a> to sea and climate change challenges, and on how climate change <a href="https://www.nature.scot/snh-commissioned-report-891-impacts-sea-level-rise-and-storm-surges-due-climate-change-firth-clyde">relates</a> to Scotland’s coastline and <a href="https://www.strath.ac.uk/research/strathclydecentreenvironmentallawgovernance/ourwork/research/labsincubators/eilean/islandsscotlandact/">islands</a>. </p>
<p>Researchers in Scotland are also at the forefront of the science-policy-practice interface, working with people in the field to deliver climate change <a href="https://www.dynamiccoast.com">risk</a> and <a href="https://www.adaptationscotland.org.uk/get-involved/our-projects/edinburgh-adapts">adaptation policies</a>. And with climate change already a reality, Glasgow is also <a href="https://theconversation.com/flash-flooding-is-a-serious-threat-in-the-uk-heres-how-scientists-are-tackling-its-prediction-128015">producing science</a> that helps communities become more prepared and resilient. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/309054/original/file-20200108-107224-19rf9e8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/309054/original/file-20200108-107224-19rf9e8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/309054/original/file-20200108-107224-19rf9e8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/309054/original/file-20200108-107224-19rf9e8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/309054/original/file-20200108-107224-19rf9e8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/309054/original/file-20200108-107224-19rf9e8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/309054/original/file-20200108-107224-19rf9e8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Scotland is at the forefront of offshore wind turbine technology.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/wind-farm-installation-aberdeen-scotland-united-1086502850">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>More than a political event</h2>
<p>Glasgow’s experts and innovators will have their moment to shine at COP26 – a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to connect with those deciding the direction and effectiveness of the global debate on climate change action. COP26 Glasgow can also be an inspirational event for Scotland’s young people, the generation which will inherit both the burden of climate change and the means to address it.</p>
<p>As we <a href="https://eciu.net/briefings/international-perspectives/road-to-glasgow-key-summit-asks">build up to COP26</a>, the Scottish government and Glasgow City Council, alongside the universities of Strathclyde, Glasgow and Glasgow Caledonian, will be planning <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-50558688">numerous events</a> that will run alongside the main COP26 activities.</p>
<p>The countdown has begun. Glasgow will seek to demonstrate to the world how Scottish research and innovation is playing an important role in tackling the global climate emergency.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/129158/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christopher White receives funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), the Low Carbon Power and Energy Program, various Australian/Tasmanian State Government research funding programs, and the Bushfire and Natural Hazard CRC.
Vicky Coy (Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult) and Larissa Naylor (School of Geographical & Earth Sciences, University of Glasgow) contributed to the writing of this article.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Francesco Sindico has received funding from the Royal Society of Edinburgh, the British Academy, the UKRI Global Challenges Research Fund and Scottish Government. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Keith Bell receives funding from the UKRI, Climate XChange, Scottish Power, SSE, Wood Group and National Grid ESO. He is affiliated with the University of Strathclyde and the UK Energy Research Centre. He is a member of the Committee on Climate Change but has contributed to this article in a personal capacity.</span></em></p>
The UN’s climate change conference is coming to the UK this year, and former industrial powerhouse Glasgow is just the city to demonstrate its environmental commitment.
Christopher J White, Senior Lecturer in Water & Environmental Engineering, University of Strathclyde
Francesco Sindico, Director of the Strathclyde Centre for Environmental Law and Governance, University of Strathclyde
Keith Bell, Professor of Smart Grids, University of Strathclyde
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/125159
2019-10-30T16:09:39Z
2019-10-30T16:09:39Z
How volcanoes recycle the Earth’s crust to uncover rare metals that are vital to green technology
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/299465/original/file-20191030-17914-hioyra.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Motzfeldt deposit in southern Greenland.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>To understand the resources of the near future, geologists need to understand the volcanoes of the distant past. Exploration of ancient magma chambers in places such as Greenland has the potential to provide new sources of the rare metals that underpin modern green technologies.</p>
<p>Many rare metals – such as <a href="https://www.rsc.org/periodic-table/element/60/neodymium">neodymium</a>, <a href="https://www.rsc.org/periodic-table/element/41/niobium">niobium</a> and <a href="https://www.rsc.org/periodic-table/element/66/dysprosium">dysprosium</a> – essential to the production of wind turbines and electric cars, are mined from fossil volcanoes.</p>
<p>Volcanoes are nature’s way of bringing material from deep within the earth up to the surface. Melting processes within the <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/mantle/">mantle</a> – the interior part of the Earth between the super-heated core and the thin outer crust – produce magma which rises up hundreds of kilometres and eventually erupts on to the surface as volcanoes.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/16zt7x1Z9Fs?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>The earth’s crust is made up of semi-rigid <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-earths-continents-became-twisted-and-contorted-over-millions-of-years-116168">tectonic plates</a> which move around and collide to form mountains or sink underneath one another at regions called <a href="https://www.universetoday.com/43822/subduction-zone/">subduction zones</a>. The volume of material brought to the Earth’s surface by volcanoes is balanced by similar amounts of material going back into the mantle via sinking tectonic plates. </p>
<p>This points to what we call “element cycles”, where material from depth comes up to the surface via volcanoes and then returns again to the mantle via subduction. One of the big questions in Earth Sciences is what happens to this subducted material and how long it resides in the mantle.</p>
<h2>Fossil volcanoes</h2>
<p>Our recent <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-019-12218-1">research</a> studied a group of ancient volcanoes in southern Greenland. Around 1.3 billion years ago, Greenland was a volcanic landscape with deep rift valleys much like modern East Africa. <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0012821X1830089X">Substantial volcanoes erupted</a> on to the land surface and major river systems similar to the Nile carried minerals from these volcanoes over huge areas.</p>
<p>The rivers and volcanoes in Greenland are now long eroded, but the <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/geological-magazine/article/age-hf-isotope-and-trace-element-signatures-of-detrital-zircons-in-the-mesoproterozoic-eriksfjord-sandstone-southern-greenland-are-detrital-zircons-reliable-guides-to-sedimentary-provenance-and-timing-of-deposition/D0C436D308724096242DDF2E7F89B0C9">sediments</a> that the river transported can still be found, and the volcanic “plumbing systems” that operated beneath these ancient volcanoes have preserved samples of the magmas that erupted.</p>
<p>We wanted to understand how element cycling relates to the concentration of critical metals in these ancient volcanoes in Greenland. While it is useful to study the valuable elements themselves, sometimes we can learn more about Earth’s element cycles by studying other elements associated with them. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/299479/original/file-20191030-17868-v4vrl3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/299479/original/file-20191030-17868-v4vrl3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=214&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/299479/original/file-20191030-17868-v4vrl3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=214&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/299479/original/file-20191030-17868-v4vrl3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=214&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/299479/original/file-20191030-17868-v4vrl3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=269&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/299479/original/file-20191030-17868-v4vrl3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=269&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/299479/original/file-20191030-17868-v4vrl3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=269&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Fentale volcano in the Ethiopian rift has erupted large volumes of chemically evolved magma similar to Greenland.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Fingerprinting sulphur</h2>
<p>In our study we used the element sulphur of which there are four stable forms (called <a href="https://www.sciencealert.com/explainer-what-is-an-isotope">isotopes</a>). Each has a slightly different mass. This is important because natural processes can selectively separate lighter isotopes from heavier isotopes. Much like snacking on a bag of M&M’s where you prefer the red ones and leave behind the brown M&Ms, geological processes lead to variations in the relative abundances of each element in different materials.</p>
<p>By measuring the amount of isotope in rocks, we can learn about the processes that formed them. Sulphur isotopes are particularly useful because bio- and geochemical processes on the Earth’s surface (at low temperatures) are very efficient at <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/ngeo1585">modifying</a> sulphur signatures, whereas magmatic processes (at high temperatures) do not create much variation between light and heavy sulphur. </p>
<p>So the variations in sulphur signatures in magmatic rocks allow us to fingerprint traces of recycled crustal material in the mantle source. By choosing volcanoes that were active at different periods of geological time, we reconstruct how the mantle composition and sulphur cycling have varied over Earth’s history.</p>
<p>Geologists have known for a long time that Earth’s surface has changed profoundly over the past 4.5 billion years as life emerged and became progressively more complex. The <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/ngeo1585">increasing imprint of life on the sulphur cycle</a> has dramatically changed the sulphur isotope ratio of sediments at the surface of the Earth, but this imprint has not previously been documented in rocks from the mantle.</p>
<p>Our work shows for the first time that the sulphur signature of the Earth’s mantle changed in a manner that broadly matches the changes in sulphur on the Earth’s surface. Biological and atmospheric impacts on the surface sulphur signature appear to have been transferred all the way into the Earth’s interior.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/299528/original/file-20191030-17878-6lu3mj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/299528/original/file-20191030-17878-6lu3mj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/299528/original/file-20191030-17878-6lu3mj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/299528/original/file-20191030-17878-6lu3mj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/299528/original/file-20191030-17878-6lu3mj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/299528/original/file-20191030-17878-6lu3mj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/299528/original/file-20191030-17878-6lu3mj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This means that the Earth’s surface and mantle are strongly connected – one responding to changes in the other – although timescales of this recycling remain unknown. Our data show that sulphur that was once on the Earth’s surface went back into the mantle through tectonic plate activity and then – 1.3 billion years ago – found itself coming back to the surface in the Greenland volcanoes. It’s like geological <em>déjà-vu</em>.</p>
<h2>One cycle or many?</h2>
<p>How many times has sulphur been recycled between the Earth’s crust and mantle over geological time? We do not currently know the answer to this but our research paints a picture of the Earth as a global element conveyor belt with surface sulphur and mantle closely linked. </p>
<p>The study has many implications. A major question in geology is how rare metal deposits form, particularly the <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/extractiveindustries/brief/climate-smart-mining-minerals-for-climate-action">high-tech metals</a> that are essential for the green energy revolution. The story from sulphur seems to be consistent with our work on other isotopes. For example, one of the world’s biggest deposits of the element <a href="https://www.rsc.org/periodic-table/element/73/tantalum">tantalum</a> (used in electronics and also concentrated in one of the ancient volcanoes in Greenland) has isotopic fingerprints that also <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0169136819300988">hint at crustal recycling</a>.</p>
<p>It may be that these global cycles have taken elements from surface to mantle and back again many times, effectively concentrating those elements each time. The global cycle that we have documented in sulphur may be an essential precursor to generate the metal deposits that are crucial to modern technologies. By understanding plate tectonics and magmatic processes that took place billions of years ago, we gain insights into how to identify and understand the mineral resources of the future.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/125159/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Adrian Finch receives funding from NERC consortium grant NE/M010856/1 for SoS RARE and the EU Horizon 2020 fund for HiTech AlkCarb grant agreement no. 689909.
In addition to the formal authors in the article, Adrian Finch's research group also includes Nicola Horsburgh and Krzysztof Sokół who also contributed to the backdrop of understanding metal resources on which the article draws. His colleague Eva Stüeken assisted with the sulphur modelling used in the Hutchison et al. (2019) article. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anouk Borst receives funding from NERC consortium grant NE/M010856/1 for SoS RARE and Global Challenges Research Funding from the Scottish Funding Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>William Hutchison receives funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme and a UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship.</span></em></p>
Exploration of ancient magma chambers in fossil volcanoes has the potential to provide new sources of metals that will facilitate environmentally friendly technologies.
Adrian Finch, Professor of Geology, School of Earth & Environmental Sciences, University of St Andrews
Dr Anouk M Borst, Research Fellow Geology, University of St Andrews
William Hutchison, Research Fellow, University of St Andrews
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/119266
2019-06-25T23:13:58Z
2019-06-25T23:13:58Z
Without changes, Scheer’s climate plan will be expensive or useless
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281164/original/file-20190625-81776-1v6qh84.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=69%2C79%2C3124%2C2180&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer delivers a speech on the environment in Chelsea, Que. on June 19, 2019.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>When <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/scheer-climate-environment-plan-election-von-scheel-1.5177187">Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer unveiled his long-awaited climate plan</a>, he said he could eliminate the federal carbon tax and still meet Canada’s emissions targets by focusing on investments into green technology. Tech, not taxes, he said.</p>
<p>Under the plan, major emitters would not pay a carbon tax and would, instead, have to invest in “emissions-reducing technology.” But if you look closer, these investments may not actually reduce emissions. </p>
<p>Instead of investing in proven green technology such as wind farms and solar power, Scheer’s plan allows industries to fund things with the potential to reduce emissions, like research or green companies. This flexibility reduces the guaranteed benefits of these green investments.</p>
<p>Although the details remain sparse, Scheer’s proposal isn’t entirely off base: My own research shows that investment into green technologies can offset the emissions of an entire industry, but it can only work in certain circumstances. With a couple of modifications, policies like Scheer’s can bring more predictable and affordable emissions reductions.</p>
<h2>A disguised carbon tax</h2>
<p>Scheer’s plan includes “<a href="https://arealplan.ca">green investment standards</a>” that would force major emitters to invest a set amount, based on their emissions. Investments must go to activities, technologies, companies or research that might eventually reduce emissions.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281226/original/file-20190625-81741-12l88eg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281226/original/file-20190625-81741-12l88eg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281226/original/file-20190625-81741-12l88eg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281226/original/file-20190625-81741-12l88eg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281226/original/file-20190625-81741-12l88eg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281226/original/file-20190625-81741-12l88eg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281226/original/file-20190625-81741-12l88eg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Unless large emitters invest in proven technologies, emissions may continue to rise.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shuttersock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>These mandatory investments would create financial pressure to lower emissions, much like a carbon tax. But, unlike many carbon taxes, these investments aim to reduce emissions in the “medium term,” according to Scheer. </p>
<p>It’s not clear how long that might be or what the investment amounts will be. Surprisingly, the standards let emitters invest in indirect emissions reductions, including funding research or a purchasing a clean-tech start-up company. </p>
<p>Allowing investments that do not create substantial short-term emissions reductions creates a major loophole. For example, a $1 million factory expansion that also reduced factory emissions by 0.01 per cent might be considered an eligible investment under Scheer’s plan, but that $1 million would have little effect on emissions. </p>
<p>Scheer could improve his plan with this change: Make explicit emissions-reduction targets for investments, and let the private sector innovate and find cheaper paths to those targets.</p>
<h2>Affordable or effective?</h2>
<p><a href="https://repository.law.umich.edu/articles/52/">Typical climate policies fall into two categories</a>. Defined costs, like a carbon tax, where fixed financial penalties encourage greener choices, but the benefits can vary. Or, defined benefits, like cap-and-trade, where regulations require emissions to change, but the costs can vary. </p>
<p>While <a href="https://doi.org/10.3386/w19338">research suggests that the details of a climate policy matter more than its structure</a>, Scheer is proposing a new policy structure without providing details. Without details, Scheer’s plan may seem like the best of both a carbon tax and a cap-and-trade system. But without firm emissions-reduction targets, Scheer’s policy relies on its financial incentives for emissions reductions and will behave like a carbon tax.</p>
<p>To be effective, therefore, the required investments per tonne of emissions in Scheer’s plan would need to be similar to the per tonne costs of the carbon tax. Yet Scheer decries projections that an effective federal carbon tax would need to climb north of $100 per tonne. Both Scheer’s plan and the federal carbon tax rely on financial incentives to reduce emissions. Either policy will force Canadians to choose between an affordable climate policy and an effective one. </p>
<p>My research team has found a way to ease this dilemma. With a couple of modifications, the efficiency of policies like Scheer’s can be improved by as much as five times.</p>
<h2>A savings opportunity</h2>
<p>We looked at what would happen to emissions if fossil fuel producers were forced to invest in green technologies that were known to be profitable or save costs, and were further required to reinvest a portion of those profits or cost savings. We created a simulation where oil and gas producers in North Dakota were forced to invest in wind turbines — and reinvest a fraction of the wind turbines’ revenue into more wind turbines.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281225/original/file-20190625-81766-y94swh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281225/original/file-20190625-81766-y94swh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281225/original/file-20190625-81766-y94swh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281225/original/file-20190625-81766-y94swh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281225/original/file-20190625-81766-y94swh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281225/original/file-20190625-81766-y94swh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281225/original/file-20190625-81766-y94swh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In a simulation, researchers found that when oil and gas producers in North Dakota invested and reinvested in wind turbines, emissions and costs decreased.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The initial investments in wind turbines turned a profit and some of that profit went towards growing the wind farm. This feedback loop allowed the wind farm and its emissions offsets to grow exponentially and reduced the necessary initial investments. In North Dakota, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2019.03.158">the investments needed to offset all of the emissions from producing and consuming oil and gas dropped from about 50 per cent of the value of the hydrocarbons to 10 per cent because of reinvestments</a>. </p>
<p>Combining investment and reinvestment into proven and successful green technologies allows green technologies to expand more quickly. Policies with reinvestment are like a savings account with a high interest rate — over time, the balance is funded by more than the initial investment. </p>
<p>Reinvestment makes green technologies and their emissions reductions available at a lower cost to consumers and businesses. Owning profitable and growing green technologies gives businesses, consumers and heavy emitters a transition plan, which my colleagues and I call “black-into-green,” or the BIG transition. </p>
<h2>Mandate reinvestments</h2>
<p>While our case study is not directly applicable everywhere (and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seta.2017.01.003">is not as favourable in the Athabasca oil sands</a> due to lower wind speeds and greener Canadian electricity), it demonstrates the benefits of pairing investments and reinvestments into profitable or cost-saving green technologies.</p>
<p>Our work suggests Scheer should make another modification to his plan: The green investment standards should mandate that heavy emitters make profitable or cost-saving green investments and reinvest a portion of those profits or savings.</p>
<p>Scheer’s green investment plan is missing key details and needs two major improvements. The Conservatives should mandate the efficacy of investments and require reinvestments. Without these modifications, the proposed green investment standards, like a carbon tax, are another climate policy that can be either affordable or effective — but not both. </p>
<p>Given this trade-off, Canadians should fear promises of affordability and advocate for more efficient climate policies.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/119266/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Taylor has and continues to receive some funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC). Were the Green Investment Standards implemented, David Taylor might be eligible for some of the funding allocated to "research" as part of these standards. </span></em></p>
The Conservatives’ green investment standards may not have a direct impact on emissions. But with a few tweaks, it could be effective and affordable.
David Meyer, Assistant Professor in Global and Civil Engineering, University of Toronto
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/112012
2019-02-19T12:51:43Z
2019-02-19T12:51:43Z
Deep sea mining threatens indigenous culture in Papua New Guinea
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/259680/original/file-20190219-43261-1vsa6pt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">JC142 research cruise: reproduced with permission of the British Geological Survey, National Oceanography Centre ©UKRI 2018.</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><blockquote>
<p>When they start mining the seabed, they’ll start mining part of me.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>These are the words of a clan chief of the Duke of York Islands – a small archipelago in the Bismarck Sea of Papua New Guinea which lies 30km from the world’s first commercial deep sea mine site, known as “Solwara 1”. The project, which has been delayed due to funding difficulties, is <a href="http://www.nautilusminerals.com/irm/content/png.aspx?RID=258">operated by Canadian company Nautilus Minerals</a> and is poised to extract copper from the seabed, 1600m below the surface.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/259681/original/file-20190219-43255-1n3v5no.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/259681/original/file-20190219-43255-1n3v5no.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/259681/original/file-20190219-43255-1n3v5no.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/259681/original/file-20190219-43255-1n3v5no.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/259681/original/file-20190219-43255-1n3v5no.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/259681/original/file-20190219-43255-1n3v5no.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/259681/original/file-20190219-43255-1n3v5no.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/259681/original/file-20190219-43255-1n3v5no.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">New Ireland Province – the Duke of York Islands are situated in the strait between the two land masses.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:New_Ireland_Languages.jpg">CPUD-PW/Wikipedia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Valuable minerals are created as rapidly cooling gases emerge from volcanic vents on the seafloor. Mining the seabed for these minerals could supply the metals and rare earth elements essential to building electric vehicles, solar panels <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jun/04/is-deep-sea-mining-vital-for-greener-future-even-if-it-means-destroying-precious-ecosystems">and other green energy infrastructure</a>. But deep sea mining could also <a href="http://www.deepseaminingoutofourdepth.org">damage and contaminate</a> these unique environments, where researchers have only begun to explore.</p>
<p>The industry’s environmental impact isn’t the only concern. It’s been assumed by the corporate sector that there is limited human impact from mining in the deep sea. It is a notion that is persuasive especially when compared with the socio-ecological impacts of land-based mining. </p>
<p>But such thinking is a fallacy – insights from my <a href="https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=ES%252FN016548%252F1">research with communities</a> in Papua New Guinea over the past three years highlight that the deep sea and its seabed should be thought of as intimately connected to humanity, despite the geographical distances involved. For the people of the Duke of York Islands, deep sea mining disturbs a sense of who they are, including the spirits that inhabit their culture and beliefs. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/259597/original/file-20190218-56208-fbhaj9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/259597/original/file-20190218-56208-fbhaj9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/259597/original/file-20190218-56208-fbhaj9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/259597/original/file-20190218-56208-fbhaj9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/259597/original/file-20190218-56208-fbhaj9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/259597/original/file-20190218-56208-fbhaj9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/259597/original/file-20190218-56208-fbhaj9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Young people on Duke of York Islands.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Paul Hearne</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Out of sight, out of mined</h2>
<p>In Western thought, the sea has not only been considered to be marginal to politics, but also as entirely distinct from the land. Separating nature from humanity has proved useful in enabling exploitation of the natural world for human means. Deep sea mining, with all its material connections between a dynamic seabed and sites of consumption on land, provokes new questions.</p>
<p>If humanity can’t physically encounter the deep seabed, then how are we to <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14650045.2018.1465041">treat it ethically?</a>. By conceptually “distancing” the deep ocean, who is being marginalised?</p>
<p>For the people who live close to Solwara 1, the answer is pointed. These communities have long understood the world as a connection between “nature”, “spirits” and “beings”. Central within this cosmology are the spirits – masalai – some of which are understood as guardians of the seabed and its resources.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/259596/original/file-20190218-56215-135fhxi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/259596/original/file-20190218-56215-135fhxi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/259596/original/file-20190218-56215-135fhxi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/259596/original/file-20190218-56215-135fhxi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/259596/original/file-20190218-56215-135fhxi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/259596/original/file-20190218-56215-135fhxi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/259596/original/file-20190218-56215-135fhxi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The people of Duke of York Islands are tied spiritually to events in the deep sea.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">John Childs</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Masalai are a fundamental part of the islanders’ world. Thus, the prospect of deep sea mining means not just social and economic disruption, but spiritual turmoil. The digging up of the seabed and the extraction of its resources cuts through the very fabric of their spiritual world and its sacred links to the sea and land. </p>
<p>As the historian Neil Macgregor put it in the Radio 4 series “Living with the Gods”, masalai are not </p>
<blockquote>
<p>out there… [like] tourists in the human realm, from somewhere else … but in <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09fy6fz">a world in which we co-inhabit</a>. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>The political implication for island communities here is clear. The copper which might be mined from the seabed is effectively constituted by these spirits. Thus, as copper “resurfaces” in the objects and technologies of the future – in batteries and wiring – it also carries a spirituality from the region where it originated.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ymXG8BMFoBs?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>Spirits infuse the traditions and everyday practises of the people on the Duke of York Islands. “Shark calling” is one such example which is practised along parts of the west coast of New Ireland Province – the closest point on land to Solwara 1. </p>
<p>Every few weeks, when the sea conditions allow, “shark callers” attempt to attract sharks to their hand-carved wooden canoes by rattling a mesh of coconut shells in the water, before capturing them by hand. Shark meat is a key part of local diets that generally lack protein.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/deep-sea-mining-could-help-develop-mass-solar-energy-is-it-worth-the-risk-76500">Deep sea mining could help develop mass solar energy – is it worth the risk?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Shark callers communicate with spirits which are “resident” in stones found on local beaches prior to their expeditions. It’s no surprise then, that these communities fear noise pollution generated by deep sea mining and the physical disturbance of the seabed which could sever the cultural connections they have with the ocean.</p>
<p>Deep sea mining companies should consider the spirituality of the people their work affects and other kinds of environmental knowledge as important in their own right. As this new industry collides with cultural belief systems in different parts of the world, it will be essential to understand the complex ways in which deep sea mining does have “human” impacts after all. Culture is a key part of any understanding of environmental politics, no matter how extreme the environment in question.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/112012/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>This research was based upon funding received from the Economic and Social Research Council.</span></em></p>
Deep sea mining could supply valuable rare minerals to green technology, but one project in the south-west Pacific is invoking the wrath of local spirits.
John Childs, Lecturer in International Development and Natural Resources, Lancaster University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/107722
2018-12-19T11:38:46Z
2018-12-19T11:38:46Z
How African cities can harness green technologies for growth and jobs
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/247473/original/file-20181127-76767-1v8dm5z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Solar panels in Alexandra, Johannesburg.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">KIM LUDBROOK/EPA</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In 1967 one gigabyte of hard drive storage space <a href="https://www.computerworld.com/article/3182207/data-storage/cw50-data-storage-goes-from-1m-to-2-cents-per-gigabyte.html">cost US$ 1m</a>. Today it’s around two US cents. Computer processing power has also increased exponentially: it <a href="https://www.offgridweb.com/preparation/infographic-the-growth-of-computer-processing-power/">doubles</a> every two years. This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to technological progress in the 21st century.</p>
<p>There have also been tremendous advances in communication technology; robotics; nanotechnology; genetics and artificial intelligence, among other things. This merging of digital, physical and biological worlds has come to be known as the “<a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/01/the-fourth-industrial-revolution-what-it-means-and-how-to-respond/">fourth industrial revolution</a>”.</p>
<p>So far, relatively little attention has been paid to the overwhelming potential of the fourth industrial revolution to catalyse much needed transitions to a more sustainable society – particularly in the developing world.</p>
<p>This is slowly starting to shift. The World Economic Forum recently published a <a href="https://www.weforum.org/projects/fourth-industrial-revolution-and-environment-the-stanford-dialogues">set of briefs</a> as part of its “Shaping the Future of Environment and Natural Resource Security System Initiative”. These documents have begun to address some key questions around the potential role of the fourth industrial revolution in supporting a sustainable development agenda.</p>
<p>There are many compelling reasons for combining the offerings of the fourth industrial revolution with new green technologies, infrastructures and systems to tackle the developing world’s challenges. Multiple benefits can be realised through introducing these offerings in new, <a href="https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/opinion/2017-11-20-changing-the-system-for-sustainable-development/">innovative ways that are customised for local contexts</a>.</p>
<p>These green technologies <a href="https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/@dgreports/@dcomm/documents/publication/wcms_098484.pdf">can generate employment</a>, <a href="https://unhabitat.org/books/state-of-african-cities-2014-re-imagining-sustainable-urban-transitions/">ease pressure</a> on infrastructure in rapidly growing cities and <a href="https://unhabitat.org/books/state-of-african-cities-2014-re-imagining-sustainable-urban-transitions/">lower energy costs</a>, especially for poorer households.</p>
<h2>Chance for change</h2>
<p>Unplanned slums and informal settlements present <a href="https://unhabitat.org/books/state-of-african-cities-2014-re-imagining-sustainable-urban-transitions/">systemic problems</a> in most developing world cities. This is particularly the case in both large, established and smaller, emerging African cities. Municipalities are under strain. They simply don’t have enough bulk infrastructure – water, sanitation, electricity and waste management facilities – to cater for growing populations.</p>
<p>The value of green technologies and systems is that they are largely decentralised or semi-decentralised. Examples include solar panels, energy saving devices, and small-scale wind and hydro energy technologies. These don’t require major infrastructure investment. And their decentralised nature enables them to keep up with cities as they change. </p>
<p>The introduction of green technology solutions and systems can also <a href="https://unhabitat.org/books/state-of-african-cities-2014-re-imagining-sustainable-urban-transitions/">bring down household costs</a>. Between 50 and 70% of poor African households’ budgets are spent on <a href="http://r-santaeulalia.net/pdfs/CrossSecSSA.pdf">food, water, energy</a> and <a href="http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/967821470756082684/pdf/WPS7789.pdf">transport</a>. This makes them vulnerable to external shocks such as sharp rises in the costs of electricity, oil and petroleum, food and water. </p>
<p>These factors are also interlinked: for example, if oil prices rise, so do the costs of transport and food. That places extra pressure on already struggling households.</p>
<p>Green technologies can buffer poor households from these shocks by decoupling them from their dependence on local grids and provincial, national or global supply systems.</p>
<p>That’s at a household level. Then there’s the bigger picture. Absorbing green and sustainable technologies can help seed small to medium enterprises on <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/environment/ecoap/news/world-bank-smes-have-16tr-clean-tech-opportunity_en">a large scale</a> and <a href="http://www.g20-insights.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/05_Climate_Innovative-green-technology....pdf">increase their investment appeal</a>.</p>
<p>This, in turn, can drive economic growth and get cash circulating at the levels where it’s most needed.</p>
<p>Introducing new technologies to a city is a great job creator. People are needed to install solar panels, solar water heaters, biogas digesters, energy savings devices; or to set up urban agriculture and permaculture operations. There are already <a href="https://unhabitat.org/books/state-of-african-cities-2014-re-imagining-sustainable-urban-transitions/">examples of this</a> in several African cities.</p>
<h2>Unlocking opportunities</h2>
<p>And, perhaps the biggest boon of them all: the fourth industrial revolution presents a massive opportunity to leapfrog African countries’ productive economies into a wholly new space.</p>
<p>Economic diversification and development on the continent could benefit considerably from harnessing the opportunities emerging in the green technology and fourth industrial revolution spaces. This will shift them onto a significantly new economic growth and developmental trajectory. It will also go a long way towards ensuring that as emerging economies develop, they will do so in a manner that doesn’t exacerbate climate change and environmental degradation. </p>
<p>A number of African countries are already positioning themselves to harness this opportunity. Both <a href="http://gggi.org/is-rwanda-heading-towards-green-growth-pathway/">Rwanda</a> and <a href="http://www.greengrowthknowledge.org/national-documents/ethiopia%E2%80%99s-climate-resilient-green-economy-green-economy-strategy">Ethiopia</a>, for example, have placed green economic development and sustainability at the heart of their national economic development strategies and plans. More recently, Kenya <a href="https://www.nation.co.ke/news/Kenya-to-move-to-green-energy-by-2020--says-President/1056-4848856-pc34xi/index.html">has committed</a> to actualising a 100% transition to green energy by 2020.</p>
<p>Other African countries would do well to follow these nations’ examples. The fourth industrial revolution is here. Combining it with green technology is a way for the continent to benefit at all levels.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/107722/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Camaren Peter (PhD) is Associate Professor at the Allan Gray Centre for Values-Based Leadership at the Graduate School of Business, UCT. He is also currently a director and the Executive Head of the Centre for Analytics and Behavioural Change (CABC NPO), which he is incubating. He has previously received funding from the National Research Foundation and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research. He currently has no commercial interests related to this article. Opinions expressed here are his own.</span></em></p>
The value of green technologies and systems is that they are largely decentralised or semi-decentralised.
Camaren Peter, Associate Professor, Allan Gray Centre for Values-Based Leadership, GSB, UCT; Executive Head,Centre for Analytics and Behavioural Change, University of Cape Town
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/101416
2018-08-15T10:24:03Z
2018-08-15T10:24:03Z
Scientists are developing greener plastics – the bigger challenge is moving them from lab to market
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/231794/original/file-20180813-2915-3vl524.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Used once and done.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://flic.kr/p/27tWx69">Michael Coghlan</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Synthetic plastics have made many aspect of modern life cheaper, safer and more convenient. However, we have failed to figure out how to get rid of them after we use them. </p>
<p>Unlike other forms of trash, such as food and paper, most synthetic plastics cannot be easily degraded by live microorganisms or through chemical processes. As a result, a growing plastic waste crisis threatens the health of our planet. It is embodied by the <a href="https://marinedebris.noaa.gov/info/patch.html">Great Pacific Garbage Patch</a> – a massive zone of floating plastic trash, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/23/world/plastic-great-pacific-garbage-patch-intl/index.html">three times the size of France</a>, stretching between California and Hawaii. Scientists have estimated that if current trends continue, the mass of plastics in the ocean will <a href="http://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/publications">equal the mass of fish by 2050</a>. Making plastics from petroleum also increases carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere, contributing to climate change. </p>
<p>Much of <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=elHd0dsAAAAJ&hl=en">my work</a> has been dedicated to finding <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/green-polymer-chemistry-9780841230651?cc=us&lang=en&">sustainable ways to make and break down plastics</a>. My lab and others are making progress on both fronts. But these new alternatives have to compete with synthetic plastics that have established infrastructures and optimized processes. Without supportive government policies, innovative plastic alternatives will have trouble crossing the so-called “<a href="https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/why-the-valley-of-death-is-still-a-problem-for-cleantech#gs.qO605FE">valley of death</a>” from the lab to the market.</p>
<h2>From wood and silk to nylon and plexiglass</h2>
<p>All plastics consist of <a href="https://plastics.americanchemistry.com/plastics/The-Basics/">polymers</a> – large molecules that contain many small units, or monomers, joined together to form long chains, much like strings of beads. The chemical structure of the beads and the bonds that join them together determine polymers’ properties. Some polymers form materials that are hard and tough, like glass and epoxies. Others, such as rubber, can bend and stretch. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/231803/original/file-20180813-2906-13vsj9n.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/231803/original/file-20180813-2906-13vsj9n.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/231803/original/file-20180813-2906-13vsj9n.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231803/original/file-20180813-2906-13vsj9n.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231803/original/file-20180813-2906-13vsj9n.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231803/original/file-20180813-2906-13vsj9n.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231803/original/file-20180813-2906-13vsj9n.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231803/original/file-20180813-2906-13vsj9n.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A monomer of Teflon, a nonstick synthetic resin (top), and a chain of monomers (bottom).</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-vector/structural-chemical-formula-model-teflon-polymer-316699352?src=_nqHeV79Q0RehynnaBpv4Q-2-4">Chromatos</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For centuries humans have made products out of polymers from natural sources, such as silk, cotton, wood and wool. After use, these natural plastics are easily degraded by microorganisms. </p>
<p>Synthetic polymers derived from oil were developed starting in the 1930s, when new material innovations were desperately needed to support Allied troops in World War II. For example, <a href="https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/education/whatischemistry/landmarks/carotherspolymers.html">nylon, invented in 1935</a>, replaced silk in parachutes and other gear. And poly(methyl methacrylate), known as <a href="https://www.eplastics.com/blog/plastics-history">Plexiglas</a>, substituted for glass in aircraft windows. At that time, there was little consideration of whether or how these materials would be reused. </p>
<p>Modern synthetic plastics can be grouped into two main families: Thermoplastics, which soften on heating and then harden again on cooling, and thermosets, which never soften once they have been molded. Some of the most common high-volume synthetic polymers include polyethylene, used to make film wraps and plastic bags; polypropylene, used to form reusable containers and packaging; and polyethylene terephthalate, or PET, used in clothes, carpets and clear plastic beverage bottles.</p>
<h2>Recycling challenges</h2>
<p>Today <a href="https://www.epa.gov/facts-and-figures-about-materials-waste-and-recycling/plastics-material-specific-data">only about 10 percent</a> of discarded plastic in the United States is recycled. Processors need an input stream of non-contaminated or pure plastic, but waste plastic often contains impurities, such as residual food. </p>
<p>Batches of disposed plastic products also may include multiple resin types, and often are not consistent in color, shape, transparency, weight, density or size. This makes it hard for recycling facilities to <a href="https://www.plasticsrecycling.org/images/pdf/design-guide/Resources/Recycling_Process/Plastics_Collection_and_Sortation2.pdf">sort them by type</a>.</p>
<p>Melting down and reforming mixed plastic wastes creates recycled materials that are inferior in performance to virgin material. For this reason, many people refer to plastic recycling as “<a href="http://www.greenhome.com/blog/what-is-downcycling">downcycling</a>.” </p>
<p>As most consumers know, many plastic goods are stamped with a code that indicates the type of resin they are made from, numbered one through seven, inside a triangle formed by three arrows. These codes were developed in the 1980s by the <a href="https://plastics.americanchemistry.com/Plastic-Packaging-Resin-Identification-Codes/">Society of the Plastics Industry</a>, and are intended to indicate whether and how to recycle those products. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/231524/original/file-20180810-2918-n623le.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/231524/original/file-20180810-2918-n623le.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/231524/original/file-20180810-2918-n623le.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=720&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231524/original/file-20180810-2918-n623le.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=720&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231524/original/file-20180810-2918-n623le.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=720&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231524/original/file-20180810-2918-n623le.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=905&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231524/original/file-20180810-2918-n623le.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=905&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231524/original/file-20180810-2918-n623le.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=905&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Resin_identification_code.svg">Filtre</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>However, these logos are highly misleading, since they suggest that all of these goods can be recycled an infinite number of times. In fact, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, <a href="https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2018-07/documents/smm_2015_tables_and_figures_07252018_fnl_508_0.pdf">recycling rates in 2015</a> ranged from a high of 31 percent for PET (SPI code 1) to 10 percent for high-density polyethylene (SPI code 2) and a few percent at best for other groups. </p>
<p>In my view, single-use plastics should eventually be required to be biodegradable. To make this work, households should have biowaste bins to collect food, paper and biodegradable polymer waste for composting. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.proenv.2016.07.011">Germany</a> has such a system in place, and San Francisco <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/07/13/how-san-francisco-became-a-global-leader-in-waste-management.html">composts organic wastes from homes and businesses</a>. </p>
<h2>Designing greener polymers</h2>
<p>Since modern plastics have many types and uses, multiple strategies are needed to replace them or make them more sustainable. One goal is making polymers from bio-based carbon sources instead of oil. The most readily implementable option is <a href="https://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/1602/1602.01684.pdf">converting carbon from plant cell walls (lignocellulosics) into monomers</a>.</p>
<p>As an example, my lab has developed a yeast catalyst that takes plant-derived oils and <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/bm2007554">converts them to a polyester</a> that has properties similar to polyethylene. But unlike a petroleum-based plastic, it can be <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/ja107707v">fully degraded by microorganisms in composting systems</a>. </p>
<p>It also is imperative to develop new cost-effective routes for decomposing plastics into high-value chemicals that can be reused. This could mean using biological as well as chemical catalysts. One intriguing example is a gut bacterium from mealworms that can <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.5b02661">digest polystyrene</a>, converting it to carbon dioxide. </p>
<p>Other scientists are developing high-performance vitrimers – a type of thermoset plastic in which the bonds that cross-link chains <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.aah5281">can form and break</a>, depending on built-in conditions such as temperature or pH. These vitrimers can be used to make hard, molded products that can be converted to flowable materials at the end of their lifetimes so they can be reformed into new products. </p>
<p>It took years of research, development and marketing to optimize synthetic plastics. New green polymers, such as <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acssuschemeng.6b00321">polylactic acid</a>, are just starting to enter the market, mainly in <a href="https://www.environmentalleader.com/2010/03/bio-plastic-water-bottles-trickle-into-marketplace/">compost bags, food containers, cups and disposable tableware</a>. Manufacturers need support while they work to reduce costs and improve performance. It also is crucial to link academic and industrial efforts, so that new discoveries can be commercialized more quickly. </p>
<p>Today the <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/research/bioeconomy/pdf/cordis_rp_bioplastics_brochure_accessibility_v2.pdf">European Union</a> and <a href="http://biomassmagazine.com/articles/15326/ontario-government-invests-in-bioplastics-ad-research">Canada</a> provides much more government support for discovery and development of bio-based and sustainable plastics than the United States. That must change if America wants to compete in the sustainable polymer revolution.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/101416/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Richard Gross has received funding from the National Science Foundation. He founded a company called SyntheZyme that developed biobased polymers and natural surfactants; the company is no longer active.</span></em></p>
Research is yielding strategies for making plastics greener and more sustainable. But without support as they scale up, new versions will struggle to compete with well-established synthetic plastics.
Richard Gross, Professor of Chemistry, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/90839
2018-02-15T03:43:22Z
2018-02-15T03:43:22Z
Semitransparent solar cells: a window to the future?
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/206498/original/file-20180215-124886-1cij0t2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Looking through semitransparent cells – one day these could be big enough to make windows.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">UNSW</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Can you see a window as you are reading this article?</p>
<p>Windows have been ubiquitous in society for centuries, filling our homes and workplaces with natural light. But what if they could also generate electricity? What if your humble window could help charge your phone, or boil your kettle?</p>
<p>With between 5 billion and 7 billion square metres of glass surface in the <a href="http://www.newsweek.com/fossil-fuels-transparent-solar-panels-harvest-energy-windows-msu-691308">United States alone</a>, solar windows would offer a great way to harness the Sun’s energy. Our <a href="http://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsphotonics.7b00618">research</a> represents a step toward this goal, by showing how to make solar panels that still let through enough light to function as a window.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/solar-is-now-the-most-popular-form-of-new-electricity-generation-worldwide-81678">Solar is now the most popular form of new electricity generation worldwide</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The economics of renewable energy are becoming <a href="https://theconversation.com/renewables-will-be-cheaper-than-coal-in-the-future-here-are-the-numbers-84433">increasingly favourable</a>. In Australia, and many other parts of the world, silicon solar cells already <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-photovoltaic-solar-energy-12924">dominate the rooftop market</a>.
Rooftop solar power offers an increasingly cheap and efficient way to generate electricity.</p>
<p>But while great for roofs, these silicon modules are opaque and bulky. To design a solar cell suitable for windows, we have to think outside the box.</p>
<p>When we put a solar panel on a roof, we want it to absorb as much sunlight as possible, so that it can generate the maximum amount of power. For a window, there is inevitably a trade-off between absorbing light to turn into electricity, and transmitting light so we can still see through the window. </p>
<p>When thinking about a cell that could be fitted to a window, one of the key parameters is known as the average visible transmittance (AVT). This is the percentage of visible light (as opposed to other wavelengths, like infrared or ultraviolet) hitting the window that travels through it and emerges on the other side. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/206460/original/file-20180214-124883-150h66o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/206460/original/file-20180214-124883-150h66o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/206460/original/file-20180214-124883-150h66o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=243&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206460/original/file-20180214-124883-150h66o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=243&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206460/original/file-20180214-124883-150h66o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=243&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206460/original/file-20180214-124883-150h66o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=306&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206460/original/file-20180214-124883-150h66o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=306&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206460/original/file-20180214-124883-150h66o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=306&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Semitransparent solar cells convert some sunlight into electricity, while also allowing some light to pass through.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Of course we don’t want the solar window to absorb so much light that we can longer see out of it. Nor do we want it to let so much light through that it hardly generates any solar power. So scientists have been trying to find a happy medium between high electrical efficiency and a high AVT.</p>
<h2>A matter of voltage</h2>
<p>An AVT of 25% is generally considered a benchmark for solar windows. But letting a quarter of the light travel through the solar cell makes it hard to generate a lot of current, which is why the efficiency of semitransparent cells has so far been low.</p>
<p>But note that electrical power depends on two factors: current and voltage. In our recent research, we decided to focus on upping the voltage. We carefully selected new organic absorber materials that have been shown to produce high voltage in non-transparent cells.</p>
<p>When placed in a semitransparent solar cell, the voltage was also high, as it was not significantly lowered by the large amount of transmitted light. And so, although the current was lowered, compared to opaque cells, the higher voltage allowed us to achieve a higher efficiency than previous semitransparent cells.</p>
<p>Having got this far, the key question is: what would windows look like if they were made of our new semitransparent cells?</p>
<h2>Do you see what I see?</h2>
<p>If your friend is wearing a red shirt, when you view them through a window, their shirt should appear red. That seems obvious, as it will definitely be the case for a glass window.</p>
<p>But because semitransparent solar cells absorb some of the light we see in the visible spectrum, we need to think more carefully about this colour-rendering property. We can measure how well the cell can accurately present an image by calculating what’s called the colour rendering index, or CRI. Our investigation showed that changing the thickness of the absorbing layer can not only affect the electrical power the cell can produce, but also changes its ability to depict colours accurately.</p>
<p>A different prospective approach, which can lead to excellent CRIs, is to replace the organic absorber material with one that absorbs energy from the sun outside the <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/wol1/doi/10.1002/adom.201400103/abstract">visible range</a>. This means the cell will appear as normal glass to the human eye, as the solar conversion is happening in the infrared range. </p>
<p>However, this places limitations on the efficiency the cells can achieve as it severely limits the amount of power from the sun that can be converted to electricity.</p>
<h2>What next?</h2>
<p>So far we have created our cells only at a small, prototype scale. There are still several hurdles in the way before we can make large, efficient solar windows. In particular, the transparent electrodes used to collect charge from these cells can be brittle and contain rare elements, such as indium.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/solar-power-alone-wont-solve-energy-or-climate-needs-83342">Solar power alone won't solve energy or climate needs</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>If science can solve these issues, the large-scale deployment of solar-powered windows could help to bolster the amount of electricity being produced by renewable technologies.</p>
<p>So while solar windows are not yet in full view, we are getting close enough to glimpse them.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/90839/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Solar windows would need to trap enough light to generate power, while letting through enough to keep buildings light. Thankfully, newly developed semitransparent cells offer to do just that.
Matthew Wright, Postdoctoral Researcher in Photovoltaic Engineering, UNSW Sydney
Mushfika Baishakhi Upama, PhD student [Photovoltaics & Renewable Energy Engineering], UNSW Sydney
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/82686
2017-08-21T19:21:58Z
2017-08-21T19:21:58Z
Greening the concrete jungle: how to make environmentally friendly cement
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/182551/original/file-20170818-30813-15wj0zp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">With some tweaks to the recipe, cement and concrete can be made kinder to the planet.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Postman Photos/Shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Cement is the world’s <a href="http://www.internationaljournalssrg.org/IJCE/2017/Special-Issue/ICETSST/IJCE-ICETSST-P105.pdf">most widely used material apart from water</a>, largely because it is the key ingredient in concrete, the world’s favourite building material.</p>
<p>But with cement’s success comes a huge amount of greenhouse emissions. For every tonne of cement produced in Australia, <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/267233444_SCM's_potential_to_lower_Australia's_greenhouse_gas_emissions_profile">0.82 tonnes of CO₂ is released</a>. That might not sound like much, especially when compared with the 1.8 tonnes emitted in making a tonne of steel. But with a global production of <a href="https://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/cement/mcs-2015-cemen.pdf">more than 4 billion tonnes a year</a>, cement accounts for about 8% of the world’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/fossil-fuel-emissions-have-stalled-global-carbon-budget-2016-68568">CO₂ emissions</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-problem-with-reinforced-concrete-56078">The problem with reinforced concrete</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The electricity and heat demands of cement production are responsible for around 50% the CO₂ emissions. But the other 50% comes from the process of “calcination” – a crucial step in cement manufacture in which limestone (calcium carbonate) is heated to transform it into quicklime (calcium oxide), giving off CO₂ in the process.</p>
<p>A <a href="http://bze.org.au/rethinking-cement-plan/">report published by Beyond Zero Emissions (BZE)</a> (on which I was a consultant) outlines several ways in which the sector can improve this situation, and perhaps even one day create a zero-carbon cement industry.</p>
<h2>Better recipes</h2>
<p>The cement industry has already begun to reduce its footprint by improving equipment and reducing energy use. But energy efficiency can only get us so far because the chemical process itself emits so much CO₂. Not many cement firms are prepared to cut their production to reduce emissions, so they will have to embrace less carbon-intensive recipes instead. </p>
<p>The BZE report calculates that 50% of the conventional concrete used in construction can be replaced with another kind, called <a href="https://www.homeimprovementpages.com.au/article/geopolymer_concrete">geopolymer concrete</a>. This contains cement made from other products rather than limestone, such as fly ash, slag or clay.</p>
<p>Making this transition would be relatively easy in Australia, which has <a href="http://www.adaa.asn.au/knowledge/ccp-handbook/chapter-4">more than 400 million tonnes of fly ash</a> readily available as stockpiled waste from the coal industry, which represents already about 20 years of stocks. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/eco-cement-the-cheapest-carbon-sequestration-on-the-planet-10978">Eco-cement, the cheapest carbon sequestration on the planet</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>These types of concrete are readily available in Australia, although they are not widely used because they have not been included in supply chains, and large construction firms have not yet put their faith in them.</p>
<p>Another option more widely known by construction firm is to use the so-called “high blend” cements containing a mixture of slag, fly ash and other compounds blended with cement. These blends have been used in concrete structures all over the world, such as the <a href="http://www.baps.org/Global-Network/North-America/Chicago.aspx">BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir Hindu temple in Chicago</a>, the foundation slab of which contains 65% fly ash cement. These blends are available everywhere in Australia but their usage is not as high as it should due to the lack of trust from the industry.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/182707/original/file-20170821-17119-1g5r43p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/182707/original/file-20170821-17119-1g5r43p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/182707/original/file-20170821-17119-1g5r43p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=376&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/182707/original/file-20170821-17119-1g5r43p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=376&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/182707/original/file-20170821-17119-1g5r43p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=376&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/182707/original/file-20170821-17119-1g5r43p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=472&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/182707/original/file-20170821-17119-1g5r43p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=472&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/182707/original/file-20170821-17119-1g5r43p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=472&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Built on the fly (ash): a Hindu temple in Chicago.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">BAPS.org/Wikimedia Commons</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It is even theoretically possible to create “carbon-negative cement”, made with magnesium oxide in place of traditional quicklime. This compound can absorb CO₂ from the air when water is added to the cement powder, and its developer Novacem, a spinoff from Imperial College London, <a href="http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/pls/portallive/docs/1/50161701.PDF">claimed a tonne of its cement had a “negative footprint” of 0.6 tonnes of CO₂</a>. But almost a decade later, carbon-negative cement has <a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/s/535646/what-happened-to-green-concrete/">not caught on</a>.</p>
<h2>Capturing carbon</h2>
<p>The CO₂ released during cement fabrication could also potentially be recaptured in a process called <a href="https://theconversation.com/putting-co2-away-for-good-by-turning-it-into-stone-60688">mineral carbonation</a>, which works on a similar principle as the <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-carbon-capture-and-storage-16052">carbon capture and storage</a> often discussed in relation to coal-fired electricity generation. </p>
<p>This technique can theoretically prevent 90% of cement kiln emissions from escaping to the atmosphere. The necessary rocks (olivine or serpentine) are found in Australia, especially in the New England area of New South Wales, and the technique has been demonstrated in the laboratory, but has not yet been put in place at commercial scale, although several companies around the world are currently working on it.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-clean-coal-row-shouldnt-distract-us-from-using-carbon-capture-for-other-industries-74170">The 'clean coal' row shouldn't distract us from using carbon capture for other industries</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Yet another approach would be to adapt the design of our buildings, bridges and other structures so they use less concrete. Besides using the high-performance concretes, we could also replace some of the concrete with other, less emissions-intensive materials such as <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-skyscrapers-of-the-future-will-be-made-of-wood-42132">timber</a>.</p>
<p>Previously, high greenhouse emissions were locked into the cement industry because of the way it is made. But the industry now has a range of tools in hand to start reducing its greenhouse footprint. With the world having agreed in Paris to try and <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-paris-climate-agreement-at-a-glance-50465">limit global warming to no more than 2°C</a>, every sector of industry needs to do its part.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>This article was amended on August 23, 2017, to report that cement accounts for 8% of global carbon dioxide emissions, not 5% as originally stated.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/82686/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rackel San Nicolas is affiliated with the University of Melbourne, International Union of Laboratories and Experts
in Construction Materials, Systems and Structures, the Australian French Association of Science and Technology, She receives funding from Australian Research Council.</span></em></p>
Cement has a huge greenhouse footprint, largely because the chemical process by which it is made releases carbon dioxide. But there are several different ways for cement to green up its act.
Rackel San Nicolas, Academic specialist, Infrastructure Engineering, The University of Melbourne
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/76192
2017-05-25T10:12:40Z
2017-05-25T10:12:40Z
How electric car racing could one day challenge the spectacle of Formula One
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/170584/original/file-20170523-5782-4mcvzh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=45%2C58%2C1971%2C1189&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/53361872@N07/19021891769/in/photolist-uYUaHc-HLC2z1-76Mrkk-dfkExR-dVCJDD-nMsp9q-fnFby-bTFEp6-HNYwJR-qutdpc-cEMdvC-92Sv4S-92Pm1V-dfkFfc-drhN77-bBxmDu-79Yjg4-8UY4dK-8PvrMC-8V8VLf-pQ7E7R-79YzGn-8V5NdV-8V8Rbs-98Kwdc-8V1Qqj-92Pkzv-8UYccR-7arA25-qLTQ5V-pPTMM7-85Vyi4-8V5SW6-8V2dej-8UYjhZ-qJB1Bd-8UY1F2-8V2737-9epHG9-8UYhzV-bTFEgT-5XXkLp-pQ7DoB-pQ7Bcx-8UXQ6e-8UYfa8-77GxS9-8UXR5p-92PmJD-92SgH1">rollingstone64/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Motor racing’s most glamorous event, the Formula One Grand Prix in the glittering tax haven of Monaco is just around the corner. It is 67 years since drivers first took on the famous, twisty roads through the principality on the south coast of France, but is age starting to creep up on the F1 scene?</p>
<p>Since the earliest Olympic Games, racing has been used to advance wheeled transport. It was in the <a href="http://www.ancient.eu/Olympic_Games/">Tethrippon, Keles and Apene</a> events in Ancient Greece, that chariots were developed and the numbers of horses, foals and mules adjusted to provide optimum power and handling. Centuries later, in 1899, the French Renault brothers understood <a href="https://www.autoevolution.com/renault/">that city-to-city racing</a> could help harness the very different horsepower of their new combustion-engined cars.</p>
<p>Today we use many F1 technologies on the road. Ferrari’s semi-automatic gearbox and the “flappy paddle” transmissions are now standard in many road cars. Shell and Total produced friction-reducing fuel additives, and tyres made by Goodyear, Michelin, Bridgestone and Pirelli have all benefited from F1 research. Williams Advanced Engineering created the technology behind the Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS) to be found in <a href="http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1816116">Volvo’s C30 Electric road car</a> and the BMW i3 electric city car is the first to be constructed from carbon fibre-reinforced plastic, a technique pioneered in F1 by McLaren. </p>
<p>But while F1 has driven innovation that has made it to the car showroom, there is a risk it may fall behind by failing to embrace the key evolving trend in road car technologies. Could Formula E (FE), the fully electric vehicle street racing competition, end up being more relevant to the world’s major motor manufacturers?</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/170585/original/file-20170523-5782-j0alk1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/170585/original/file-20170523-5782-j0alk1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/170585/original/file-20170523-5782-j0alk1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/170585/original/file-20170523-5782-j0alk1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/170585/original/file-20170523-5782-j0alk1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/170585/original/file-20170523-5782-j0alk1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=516&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/170585/original/file-20170523-5782-j0alk1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=516&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/170585/original/file-20170523-5782-j0alk1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=516&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Volvo: plugged in.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/49698805@N06/4985837129/in/photolist-8AzHF8-a1Kbzu-89ULgT-9bdJoK-8CTWqx-9Nrrwf-8MpwbA-9NoEDM-9bdEya-9sfRT7-8AzHGn-9sfRpS-9nDRNr-6fLBbP-84ce6d-8CU2CH-8CX4vW-a1GiYx-8CU1S4-84ccfA-8CX8z3-84cd3J-8zFFa2-8CU3AD-8CTWYx-85FxQ3-oZqLsa-9bipD1-byLJGe-9bdMd8-9Rpxqq-9RbxUV-9Rbxqv-9Rbx9V-9RbxC6-9S3Aqc-8496Gx-9T5qEG-85FxKb-9bgNvu-9SZTJx-9scDvB-9SZTbX-9beTe8-9RbCdn-8zkDMN-9RewFA-8FdSPB-8vwY8A-9eXk6F">One Tonne Life/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Urban planning</h2>
<p>This year, FE had its own race in Monaco, a fortnight before F1 arrived. According to Jean Todt, President of the Federation Internationale de L’Automobile (FIA), FE is the perfect showcase for new electric vehicle technologies; a device to promote the use of clean engine technology, especially in cities and towns.</p>
<p>It is in those urban settings that pollution is a major problem. Oslo banned diesel road cars for two days to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jan/16/oslo-temporarily-bans-diesel-cars-combat-pollution">combat rising air pollution</a> while the Norwegian government intends to ban the sale of fossil fuel-based cars <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/norway-to-ban-the-sale-of-all-fossil-fuel-based-cars-by-2025-and-replace-with-electric-vehicles-a7065616.html">by 2025</a>. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/w7qIpKL5Vao?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>Others have similar intentions. India <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/auto/miscellaneous/indias-green-car-plan-prioritises-electric-vehicles-over-hybrids/articleshow/58557589.cms?from=mdr">is considering a draft report</a> recommending that all vehicles should be electric by 2032. China, where pollution in major cities <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/apr/06/air-pollution-beijing-china-smog-britain">can be devastating</a>, is the largest electric vehicle market in the world. BYD Auto sold <a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/s/604335/the-worlds-largest-electric-vehicle-maker-hits-a-speed-bump/">507,000 cars last year</a> and GAC Motor, another of China’s large motor manufacturers, intends to <a href="https://electrek.co/2017/05/09/china-gac-electric-vehicle-industrial-park/">build 200,000 vehicles per year</a>. Unsurprisingly, Alejandro Agag, founder and CEO of FE <a href="https://www.motorsport.com/formula-e/news/formula-e-eyes-shanghai-race-in-season-four-885678/">wants to expand</a> the championship into China.</p>
<p>Agag recognised that the automobile industry’s focus on electric vehicles offered a different direction to most motor sports. He would appear to be right. FE already has an impressive line-up of contributing manufacturers, many of which have been familiar names in F1. </p>
<h2>Brand awareness</h2>
<p>FE cars currently use batteries supplied by <a href="http://www.williamsf1.com/advanced-engineering/about/capabilities/hybrid-and-ev-systems">Williams Advanced Engineering</a>, a subsidiary of the Williams F1 Team. The <a href="http://www.renaultedams.com/?lang=en">Renault e.dams team</a> has allowed Renault to demonstrate its FE pedigree with the all-electric TreZor concept car, which was one of the stars of the 2016 Paris Motor Show. <a href="http://www.fiaformulae.com/en/news/2016/september/mclaren-to-supply-new-formula-e-battery/">McLaren Applied Technologies</a> will supply all the championship’s new batteries from 2018. Jaguar, which was formerly in F1, has backed FE’s <a href="https://www.jaguar.co.uk/jaguar-racing/index.html">Panasonic Jaguar Racing team</a> to showcase its future range of electric cars. </p>
<p>Other manufacturers, including current world F1 championship <a href="http://www.fiaformulae.com/en/news/2016/october/mercedes-takes-option-on-season-five-entry/">winning team Mercedes-Benz</a>, are joining FE soon and even Ferrari, a cornerstone of F1 since the World championship started, <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2017/04/04/marchionne-hints-at-once-obscene-idea-a-formula-e-electric-fe/">is said to be interested</a>.</p>
<p>BMW, which used to have a prominent position in F1 attained <a href="https://news.bmw.co.uk/article/bmw-increases-involvement-with-formula-e/">“Official Vehicle Partner”</a> status by supplying electric utility vehicles for FE, including Safety Cars, Medical and Support Cars and the official Rescue Car. BMW will get further involved on track in the actual racing when it joins the FE grid in 2018 with the Andretti Team.</p>
<p>In 2017, Audi, which <a href="https://www.audi-mediacenter.com/en/press-releases/emotional-farewell-for-audi-from-the-fia-wec-7061">could have gone to F1</a>, completely realigned its motor sport strategy after being dominant in sportscar racing. It became involved in FE with a factory-backed commitment to The Abt Schaeffler Audi Sport team. This fits Audi’s business strategy to produce new electric vehicles, <a href="https://www.audi-mediacenter.com/en/press-releases/audi-ag-and-faw-group-sign-strategic-growth-plan-for-china-7222">particularly aimed at the Chinese market</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/170612/original/file-20170523-5763-1uggsvj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/170612/original/file-20170523-5763-1uggsvj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/170612/original/file-20170523-5763-1uggsvj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=438&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/170612/original/file-20170523-5763-1uggsvj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=438&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/170612/original/file-20170523-5763-1uggsvj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=438&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/170612/original/file-20170523-5763-1uggsvj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=551&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/170612/original/file-20170523-5763-1uggsvj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=551&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/170612/original/file-20170523-5763-1uggsvj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=551&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Musk makes baby steps into racing.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA/PETER FOLEY</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>You might wonder why headline-grabbing US car maker Tesla hasn’t dipped its toe into FE. Well, Elon Musk’s firm has seen its Model S version P85+ chosen as the base car for the world’s <a href="http://www.electricgt.co/testanews">first Electric GT Championship</a>, which starts in a few months time.</p>
<p>So is F1 missing out? Certainly not financially. At the moment, the budgets involved in F1 remain much larger, but that should not be taken for granted if motor manufacturers continue to jump ship. The point has certainly been made that FE is attracting major companies for whom electric technology is becoming increasingly relevant, <a href="http://www.roadandtrack.com/motorsports/a30717/boring-formula-e-has-one-huge-advantage-over-f1-and-indycar/">to the detriment</a> of both F1 and Indycar. </p>
<p>It does seem unlikely that Formula e, as it stands, can truly compete with the decades of history and glamour associated with the combustion-engine machismo of F1. But in 2020, the FIA’s F1 engine rules are due to change and history shows that to justify the substantial investment, this will probably have to be for at least five seasons. The current 1.6-litre V6 600 horsepower hybrid turbo petrol engines, that gain an added 160 horsepower from their electrical recovery systems will be consigned to the scrap heap. </p>
<p>Will the FIA choose another hybrid engine configuration for F1 or could it too go more electric? Perhaps a path might even be laid for a fully electric F1 in later years? In any case, the FIA’s choice will be vital for the future of both F1 and FE. It will also be a strong signal of the pace of change which will dictate the types of cars we will all end up driving to the shops, in China, Norway and beyond.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/76192/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bruce Grant-Braham does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
When manufacturers are chasing sales and more and more customers are plugging in, is the writing on the wall for F1?
Bruce Grant-Braham, Lecturer in Sport Marketing specialising in motorsport, Bournemouth University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.