tag:theconversation.com,2011:/au/topics/lithium-1863/articlesLithium – The Conversation2024-03-20T05:06:52Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2251652024-03-20T05:06:52Z2024-03-20T05:06:52ZA battery price war is kicking off that could soon make electric cars cheaper. Here’s how<p>The main cost of an electric vehicle (EV) is its battery. The high cost of energy-dense batteries has meant EVs have long been more expensive than their fossil fuel equivalents.</p>
<p>But this could change faster than we thought. The world’s largest maker of batteries for electric cars, China’s CATL, claims it will slash the cost of its batteries by up to 50% this year, as a <a href="https://cnevpost.com/2024/01/17/battery-price-war-catl-byd-costs-down/">price war kicks off</a> with the second largest maker in China, BYD subsidiary FinDreams. </p>
<p>What’s behind this? After the electric vehicle industry experienced a <a href="https://www.iea.org/reports/global-ev-outlook-2023/trends-in-batteries">huge surge</a> in 2022, it has hit headwinds. It <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/industry-pain-abounds-electric-car-demand-hits-slowdown-2024-01-30/">ramped up faster</a> than demand, triggering efforts to cut costs. </p>
<p>But the promised price cuts are also a sign of progress. Researchers have made great strides in finding <a href="https://www.iea.org/reports/global-ev-outlook-2023/trends-in-batteries">new battery chemistries</a>. CATL and BYD now make EV batteries without any cobalt, an expensive, scarce metal linked to <a href="https://theconversation.com/we-miners-die-a-lot-appalling-conditions-and-poverty-wages-the-lives-of-cobalt-miners-in-the-drc-220986">child labor and dangerous mining practices</a> in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. </p>
<p>Economies of scale and new supplies of lithium make it possible to sell batteries more cheaply. And the world’s largest carmaker, Toyota, is pinning its hopes on solid-state batteries in the hope these energy-dense, all but fireproof batteries will make possible EVs with a range of more than 1,200km per charge .</p>
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<h2>How are battery makers cutting costs?</h2>
<p>The largest market for electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles is China. But demand for EVs here has eased off, <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/2a9f1dae-ddc4-4214-900d-c763208e9a45">dropping from</a> a 96% surge in demand in 2022 to a 36% rise in 2023. </p>
<p>As a result, battery giant CATL has seen its <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/chinas-catl-posts-first-profit-fall-since-q2-2022-2024-03-15/#:%7E:text=CATL's%20profit%20for%20the%20October,the%20whole%20of%20last%20year.">profits fall</a> for the first time in almost two years. </p>
<p>One of the best ways to create more demand is to make your products cheaper. That’s what’s behind the cost-cutting promises from CATL and BYD. </p>
<p>You might wonder how that’s possible. One of the key challenges in shifting to battery-electric cars is where to get the raw materials. The electric future rests on viable supply chains for critical minerals such as lithium, nickel, copper, cobalt and rare earth elements. </p>
<p>Until recently, the main EV battery chemistry has been built on four of these, lithium, nickel, manganese and cobalt. These are also known as NMC batteries. </p>
<p>If you can avoid or minimise the use of expensive or controversial minerals, you can cut costs. That’s why Chinese companies such as CATL have all but monopolised the market on another chemistry, lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries. These batteries are cheaper, as they have no cobalt. They have other benefits too: a longer usable life and less risk of fire than traditional lithium battery chemistries. The downside is they have lower capacity and voltage. </p>
<p>The recent price cuts come from a deliberate decision to use abundant earth materials such as iron and phosphorus wherever possible. </p>
<p>What about lithium? Prices of lithium carbonate, the salt form of the ultra light silvery-white metal, shot up sixfold between <a href="https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/lithium-price-slide-deepens-china-battery-giant-bets-cheaper-inputs-2023-02-28">2020 and 2022</a> in China before falling last year. </p>
<p>Despite this, battery prices have <a href="https://cleantechnica.com/2023/12/01/record-low-ev-battery-prices/">kept falling</a> – just not by as much as they otherwise would have. </p>
<p>The world’s huge demand for lithium has led to strong growth in supply, as miners scramble to find new sources. CATL, for instance, is spending A$2.1 billion on lithium extraction plants <a href="https://batteryjuniors.com/2023/06/19/catl-investment-bolivian-lithium">in Bolivia</a>. </p>
<p>Growth in lithium supply <a href="https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/lithium-price-slide-deepens-china-battery-giant-bets-cheaper-inputs-2023-02-28/">is projected</a> to outpace demand by 34% both this year and next, which should help stabilise battery prices. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583043/original/file-20240320-26-grg01y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="bolivia salt flats" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583043/original/file-20240320-26-grg01y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583043/original/file-20240320-26-grg01y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583043/original/file-20240320-26-grg01y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583043/original/file-20240320-26-grg01y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583043/original/file-20240320-26-grg01y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583043/original/file-20240320-26-grg01y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583043/original/file-20240320-26-grg01y.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>
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<span class="caption">Bolivia’s salt flats are a rich source of lithium, though its extraction has come with environmental concerns.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/worlds-largest-salt-flat-salar-de-317843843">Shutterstock</a></span>
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<h2>Battery options are multiplying</h2>
<p>China’s battery makers have cornered the market in lithium iron phosphate batteries. But they aren’t the only game in town. </p>
<p>Tesla electric cars have long been powered by batteries from Japan’s Panasonic and South Korea LG. These batteries are built on the older but well established NMC and lithium nickel cobalt aluminate oxide (NCA) chemistries. Even so, the American carmaker is <a href="https://insideevs.com/news/587455/batteries-tesla-using-electric-cars/">now using</a> CATL’s LFP batteries in its more affordable cars. </p>
<p>The world’s largest carmaker, Toyota, has <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/02/01/toyota-chief-executive-faces-electric-vehicle-reality/">long been sceptical</a> of lithium-ion batteries and has focused on hybrid and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles instead. </p>
<p>But this is changing. Toyota is now focused heavily on making <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/feb/04/solid-state-batteries-inside-the-race-to-transform-the-science-of-electric-vehicles">solid-state batteries</a> a reality. These do away with liquid electrolytes to transport electricity in favour of a solid battery. In September last year, the company <a href="https://electrek.co/2023/06/13/toyota-claims-solid-state-ev-battery-tech-breakthrough/">announced a breakthrough</a> which it claims will enable faster recharging times and a range of 1,200km before recharge. If these claims are true, these batteries would effectively double the range of today’s topline EVs. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/petrol-pricing-and-parking-why-so-many-outer-suburban-residents-are-opting-for-evs-225565">Petrol, pricing and parking: why so many outer suburban residents are opting for EVs</a>
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<p>In response, China’s battery manufacturers and government are <a href="https://kr-asia.com/catl-byd-others-unite-in-china-for-solid-state-battery-breakthrough">working to catch up</a> with Toyota on solid-state batteries. </p>
<p>Which battery chemistry will win out? It’s too early to say for electric vehicles. But as the green transition continues, it’s likely we’ll need not just one but many options. </p>
<p>After all, the energy needs of a prime mover truck will be different to city runabout EVs. And as electric aircraft go from dream to reality, these will need different batteries again. To get battery-electric aircraft off the ground, you need batteries with a huge power density. </p>
<p>The good news? These are engineering challenges which can be overcome. Just last year, CATL announced a pioneering <a href="https://www.pv-magazine.com/2023/04/21/catl-launches-500-wh-kg-condensed-matter-battery/">“condensed matter” battery</a> for <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2023-05-03/catl-announces-battery-to-make-electric-aviation-possible/102289310">electric aircraft</a>, with up to three times the energy density of an average electric car battery. </p>
<p>All the while, researchers are pushing the envelope even further. A good electric car might have a battery with an energy density of 150–250 watt-hours per kilogram. But the <a href="https://newatlas.com/energy/highest-density-lithium-battery/#:%7E:text=The%20battery%20tested%20at%20711.3,off%20any%20form%20of%20commercialization.">record in the lab</a> is now over 700 watt-hours/kg. </p>
<p>This is to say nothing of the research going into still other battery chemistries, from <a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/2023/01/04/1066141/whats-next-for-batteries/">sodium-ion to iron-air</a> to <a href="https://spectrum.ieee.org/liquid-metal-battery">liquid metal</a> batteries. </p>
<p>We are, in short, still at the beginning of the battery revolution. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-sodium-ion-batteries-could-make-electric-cars-cheaper-207342">How sodium-ion batteries could make electric cars cheaper</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/225165/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>China’s two largest EV battery makers are pledging to slash the cost of their batteries this year. Behind the pledge is a cost war – and new battery chemistries.Muhammad Rizwan Azhar, Lecturer, Edith Cowan UniversityWaqas Uzair, Research associate, Edith Cowan UniversityYasir Arafat, Senior research associate, Edith Cowan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2225712024-03-05T14:00:28Z2024-03-05T14:00:28ZLithium-ion batteries don’t work well in the cold − a battery researcher explains the chemistry at low temperatures<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579001/original/file-20240229-20-z7oy0y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C2120%2C1414&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Why do batteries lose charge more quickly when it's cold? </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/man-charging-electric-car-in-front-his-cabin-in-royalty-free-image/1977511649?phrase=battery+cold&adppopup=true">Halfpoint Images/Moment</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Rechargeable batteries are great for storing energy and powering electronics from smartphones to electric vehicles. In cold environments, however, they can be more difficult to charge and may even catch on fire. </p>
<p>I’m a mechanical engineering professor who’s been interested in batteries since college. I now lead a <a href="https://research.drexel.edu/mem/changlab">battery research group</a> at Drexel University. </p>
<p>In just this past decade, I have watched the <a href="https://about.bnef.com/blog/lithium-ion-battery-pack-prices-hit-record-low-of-139-kwh/">price of lithium-ion batteries drop</a> as the production market <a href="https://www.iea.org/reports/global-ev-outlook-2023/trends-in-batteries">has grown much larger</a>. Future projections predict the market could reach <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/automotive-and-assembly/our-insights/battery-2030-resilient-sustainable-and-circular">thousands of GWh per year by 2030</a>, a significant increase. </p>
<p>But, lithium-ion batteries aren’t perfect – this rise comes with risks, such as their tendency to slow down during cold weather and even catch on fire.</p>
<h2>Behind the Li-ion battery</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/chemistry/electrochemical-energy-storage">electrochemical energy storage</a> within batteries works by storing electricity <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/ion-physics">in the form of ions</a>. Ions are atoms that have a nonzero charge because they have either too many or not enough electrons. </p>
<p>When you plug in your electric car or phone, the electricity provided by the outlet <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-1psMHSpKs&ab_channel=TheLimitingFactor">drives these ions</a> from the battery’s positive electrode into its negative electrode. The electrodes are solid materials in a battery that can store ions, and all batteries have both a positive and a negative electrode. </p>
<p>Electrons pass through the battery as electricity. With each electron that passes to one electrode, a lithium ion also passes into the same electrode. This ensures the balance of charges in the battery. As you drive your car, the stored ions in the negative electrode move back to the positive electrode, and the resulting flow of electricity powers the motor. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578759/original/file-20240228-8828-q6kh1t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A diagram showing three boxes, one labeled cathode, one labeled electrolyte, and one labeled anode. Small circles representing lithium ions move to the anode to charge and the cathode to discharge." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578759/original/file-20240228-8828-q6kh1t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578759/original/file-20240228-8828-q6kh1t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=564&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578759/original/file-20240228-8828-q6kh1t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=564&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578759/original/file-20240228-8828-q6kh1t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=564&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578759/original/file-20240228-8828-q6kh1t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=708&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578759/original/file-20240228-8828-q6kh1t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=708&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578759/original/file-20240228-8828-q6kh1t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=708&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">When a lithium-ion battery delivers energy to a device, lithium ions – atoms that carry an electrical charge – move from the negative electrode, the anode, to the positive electrode, the cathode. The ions move in reverse when recharging.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/argonne/5029455937">Argonne National Laboratory</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
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<p>While AA or AAA batteries can power small electronics, they can be used only once and cannot be charged. Rechargeable Li-ion batteries can operate for thousands of cycles of full charge and discharge. For each cycle, they can also store a much higher amount of charge than an AA or AAA battery.</p>
<p>Since lithium is the lightest metal, it has a high <a href="https://doi.org/10.1039/C3EE40795K">specific capacity</a>, meaning it can store a <a href="https://chang-lab.notion.site/How-To-Become-a-Battery-Expert-20a8edebe395403c9a158d7caca06ef4?pvs=4">huge amount of charge per weight</a>. This is why lithium-ion batteries are useful not just for portable electronics but for powering modes of transportation with limited weight or volume, such as electric cars. </p>
<h2>Battery fires</h2>
<p>However, lithium-ion batteries have risks that AA or AAA batteries don’t. For one, they’re more likely to catch on fire. For example, the number of <a href="https://gothamist.com/news/e-bike-battery-fires-keep-climbing-in-nyc">electric bike battery fires</a> reported in New York City has increased from 30 to nearly 300 in the past five years. </p>
<p>Lots of different issues can cause a battery fire. Poorly manufactured cells could contain defects, such as trace impurities or particles left behind from the manufacturing process, that increase the risk of an internal failure. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578754/original/file-20240228-30-b8mmfs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A car in a garage is on fire with the door cracked open, a firefighter carrying a hose runs towards it." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578754/original/file-20240228-30-b8mmfs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578754/original/file-20240228-30-b8mmfs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578754/original/file-20240228-30-b8mmfs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578754/original/file-20240228-30-b8mmfs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578754/original/file-20240228-30-b8mmfs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=497&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578754/original/file-20240228-30-b8mmfs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=497&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578754/original/file-20240228-30-b8mmfs.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"></a>
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<span class="caption">The lithium-ion batteries in electric vehicles have a higher risk of catching on fire when it’s cold out.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/ElectricCarsBatteryFires/0624a4c4cadb4ee0be42d58b8aab0161/photo?Query=ev%20battery%20fire&mediaType=photo&sortBy=&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=300&digitizationType=Digitized&currentItemNo=0&vs=true&vs=true">Orange County Sheriff’s Department/National Transportation Safety Board via AP</a></span>
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<p>Climate can also affect battery operation. <a href="https://about.bnef.com/electric-vehicle-outlook/">Electric vehicle sales</a> have increased across the U.S., particularly in cold regions such as the Northeast and Midwest, where the frigid temperatures can hinder battery performance. </p>
<p>Batteries contain fluids called electrolytes, and cold temperatures cause fluids to flow more slowly. So, the electrolytes in batteries slow and thicken in the cold, causing the lithium ions inside to move slower. This slowdown can prevent the lithium ions from properly inserting into the electrodes. Instead, they may deposit on the electrode surface and form <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xcrp.2020.100035">lithium metal</a>. </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">The molecules in fluids move slower at colder temperatures – the same thing happens inside batteries.</span></figcaption>
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<p>If too much lithium deposits on the electrode’s surface during charging, it may cause an internal short circuit. This process can <a href="https://theconversation.com/lithium-ion-battery-fires-are-a-growing-public-safety-concern-heres-how-to-reduce-the-risk-209359">start a battery fire</a>.</p>
<h2>Making safer batteries</h2>
<p><a href="https://research.coe.drexel.edu/mem/changlab">My research group</a>, along with many others, is studying how to make batteries that operate more efficiently in the cold. </p>
<p>For example, researchers are exploring swapping out the usual battery electrolyte and replacing it with an alternative electrolyte that doesn’t thicken at cold temperatures. Another potential option is <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solutions/2024/01/19/electric-vehicle-battery-cold/">heating up the battery pack</a> before charging so that the charging process occurs at a warmer temperature. </p>
<p>My group is also investigating new types of batteries beyond lithium ion. These could be battery types that are more stable at wider temperature ranges, types that don’t even use liquid electrolytes at all, or batteries that use sodium instead of lithium. <a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/2023/05/11/1072865/how-sodium-could-change-the-game-for-batteries/">Sodium-ion batteries</a> could work well and cost less, as sodium is a very abundant resource.</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-023-01208-9">Solid-state batteries</a> use solid electrolytes that aren’t flammable, which reduces the risk of fire. But these batteries don’t work quite as well as Li-ion batteries, so it’ll take more research to tell whether these are a good option.</p>
<p>Lithium-ion batteries power technologies that people across the country use every day, and research in these areas aims to find solutions that will make this technology even safer for the consumer.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/222571/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Wesley Chang receives funding from Solid Energy Systems, Inc., Electric Power Research Institute, Drexel University. Wesley Chang consults for The Electrochemical Society. </span></em></p>Electric vehicles are catching on across the US, but they’re also catching on fire in colder regions like the Northeast and Midwest.Wesley Chang, Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics, Drexel UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2208332024-02-27T21:50:30Z2024-02-27T21:50:30ZThe importance of critical minerals should not condone their extraction at all costs<p>Global warming is real and climate change is worsening day-by-day with <a href="https://theconversation.com/zombie-fires-are-occurring-more-frequently-in-boreal-forests-but-their-impacts-remain-uncertain-198459">raging forest fires</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-global-warming-is-reshaping-winter-life-in-canada-222329">unseasonably warm winters</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/warmer-wetter-wilder-38-million-people-in-the-great-lakes-region-are-threatened-by-climate-change-170195">flooding disasters</a> taking place across Canada. Meanwhile, the carbon-zero transition required to move away from such a dire future is hampered by a key weakness — “critical minerals.” </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/raising-ambition/renewable-energy-transition">energy transition</a> depends on so-called <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-023-02330-0">“battery” or “critical”</a> minerals to be successful — minerals which must be mined or recycled. Smart phones, <a href="https://www.energy.gov/eere/ammto/critical-minerals-and-materials#:%7E:text=Lithium%2C%20cobalt%2C%20and%20high%2D,and%20germanium%20used%20in%20semiconductors.">superconductor chips</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2023.113938">renewable energy technologies</a> and even the <a href="https://www.usgs.gov/news/national-news-release/us-geological-survey-releases-2022-list-critical-minerals">defence industry</a> all rely heavily upon critical minerals. Demand for these minerals is set to <a href="https://iea.blob.core.windows.net/assets/c7716240-ab4f-4f5d-b138-291e76c6a7c7/CriticalMineralsMarketReview2023.pdf">triple by 2030</a>. </p>
<p>However, the uncomfortable reality is that the supply of these metals is simply not there, and their extraction carries huge social and ecological risks. This problem affects us all.</p>
<h2>What are critical minerals?</h2>
<p>There is no universal consensus on what critical minerals are. Various countries and bodies such as the <a href="https://www.iea.org/reports/critical-minerals-market-review-2023">International Energy Agency</a> or the <a href="https://pubdocs.worldbank.org/en/961711588875536384/Minerals-for-Climate-Action-The-Mineral-Intensity-of-the-Clean-Energy-Transition.pdf">World Bank</a> have different lists and the contents of these lists do not remain static. </p>
<p>For instance, the <a href="https://natural-resources.canada.ca/sites/nrcan/files/mineralsmetals/pdf/Critical_Minerals_List_2021-EN.pdf">Canadian Critical Minerals List</a> contains 31 minerals or mineral groups. The United States has two lists: the <a href="https://d9-wret.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/assets/palladium/production/s3fs-public/media/files/2022%20Final%20List%20of%20Critical%20Minerals%20Federal%20Register%20Notice_2222022-F.pdf">U.S. Geological Survey Critical Minerals List</a> that contains 50 individual minerals and the <a href="https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2023-07/preprint-frn-2023-critical-materials-list.pdf">Department of Energy Critical Materials for Energy List</a>, which adds energy materials like copper and silicon. The European Union has a list of 34 <a href="https://single-market-economy.ec.europa.eu/sectors/raw-materials/areas-specific-interest/critical-raw-materials_en">Critical Raw Materials</a>.</p>
<p>The term “critical mineral” is technically a misnomer as most of the elements on these lists are metals and not minerals. However, there are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.exis.2023.101402">broad areas of agreement</a>: most lists include battery metals such as lithium, nickel, cobalt and copper, as well as rare earth elements and platinum group metals. Other common elements are the alloys of steel, such as chromium, manganese and zinc. </p>
<p>All of these elements are crucial to the energy transition. Battery metals power electric vehicles and storage batteries, steel and rare earth elements are imperative for wind turbines and copper is essential for power grids. Simply put, shortages in critical minerals mean a delayed energy transition and worsening <a href="https://www.irena.org/Energy-Transition/Outlook">climate impacts</a>.</p>
<p>Yet electric vehicles are only as “clean” as the electricity grid that feeds them. They are only as “green” as their component parts. The batteries require nickel, which could well have come from <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polgeo.2023.102997">a mine in the Philippines that legally dumps its tailings (toxic waste) in oceans</a>. Meanwhile, the vital cobalt can’t be separated from the human miseries of mining in the Democratic Republic of the Congo — a mining industry referred to as “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.exis.2020.11.018">a new form of slavery, a subterranean slavery</a>.”</p>
<h2>Why are critical minerals problematic?</h2>
<p>Critical minerals are often found <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2021.12.001">in deposits that are highly concentrated geographically</a>, and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2023.103336">China is a dominant force</a> in their processing and supply. This means that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resourpol.2023.104587">geopolitical tensions</a> can make it harder to secure <a href="https://www.csis.org/analysis/building-larger-and-more-diverse-supply-chains-energy-minerals#:%7E:text=Critical%20Minerals%20in%20the%20Energy%20Sector&text=Lithium%2C%20nickel%2C%20cobalt%2C%20copper,needed%20in%20significantly%20greater%20supply.">critical mineral supply chains</a>. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Securing_Minerals_for_the_Energy_Transition_2023.pdf">December 2023 World Economic Forum White Paper</a> maps ecosystem risks arising from a lack of supply in critical minerals. Its conclusions are clear.</p>
<p>Not only does a <a href="https://meetings.imf.org/en/IMF/Home/Blogs/Articles/2021/11/10/soaring-metal-prices-may-delay-energy-transition">delayed energy transition</a> await us at the end of the road, but the signposts along the way indicate that these risks are already playing out.</p>
<p>For instance, political risks identified include <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resourpol.2023.104475">conflict over resources</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.futures.2023.103101">increasing resource nationalism</a> and increasing <a href="https://www.mining.com/web/bank-of-england-takes-deep-dive-into-opaque-commodities/">trade fragmentation</a>. Among the economic risks are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eneco.2023.106934">market volatility and uncertainty</a>, as well as <a href="https://www.mining.com/web/germany-invests-1-1bn-to-counter-china-on-raw-materials">stockpiling</a> of critical minerals. </p>
<p>Socio-environmental risks comprise an <a href="https://www.mining.com/web/amazon-gold-miners-flout-artisanal-label-with-outsized-operations/">increase in exploitative and illegal mining</a> and a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resourpol.2023.103718">higher demand on ecosystems</a>, while technological risks point to cascading <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/resources8010029">renewable technology shortages</a>.</p>
<h2>The impacts of critical minerals mining</h2>
<p>When considering the implications of minerals shortages, it may be tempting to justify critical minerals mining at all costs, however, this is a dangerous fallacy. The <a href="https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/43012/minerals_africa.pdf?sequence=3&isAllowed=y#:%7E:text=Critical%20mineral%20extraction%20and%20processing,crucial%20to%20mitigate%20these%20impacts.">social and environmental impacts</a> of poorly mined critical minerals are dire.</p>
<p>These range from <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.120838">lithium’s water intensity</a> in the fragile landscapes of the Chilean Atacama desert to the toxic processes inherent in the processing of the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/09603123.2017.1415307">rare earth elements</a> whose use is ubiquitous in smart technology and wind turbines. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1144/sp526-2022-172">Diminishing ore grades</a> mean ever bigger tailings dams, and climate change makes them more prone to accidents.</p>
<p>For Indigenous communities, <a href="https://chamber.ca/critical-minerals-can-create-transformative-economic-opportunities-for-indigenous-communities-if-we-do-it-right/">critical minerals hold both promise</a> and peril. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resourpol.2023.104448">Studies have shown</a> that critical minerals are often heavily concentrated on Indigenous lands. For them, the question arises whether this will open the door to <a href="https://www.mining.com/british-columbias-nisgaa-nation-plans-indigenous-majority-owned-royalty-company/">Indigenous economic development</a> or if it will constitute yet another instance of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2022.102665">displacement and ecological destruction</a> on their doorstep.</p>
<p>The importance of independent standards authorities such as the <a href="https://responsiblemining.net">Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance</a> (IRMA) cannot be overemphasized. In contrast to industry standards such as <a href="https://mining.ca/towards-sustainable-mining/">Towards Sustainable Mining</a>, IRMA represents multiple stakeholder views. These include communities, employees, investors and mines.</p>
<p>Mining is by its very nature a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s13563-020-00242-3">highly energy intensive</a> process. While it is expensive and technically complex to retrofit existing mines for electrification purposes, new mines should be designed with carbon neutrality in mind. Of course, this can be particularly difficult in places that are experiencing <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2023.1089391">infrastructure challenges</a>, such as <a href="https://doi.org/10.12789/geocanj.2023.50.199">limited renewable or low carbon energy options</a>.</p>
<p>Greenfield mining is not the sole solution to the critical minerals conundrum. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2023.107181">Urban mining</a> (extraction from electronic waste) can play an important role. It’s also important to design products manufactured from critical minerals with <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s43615-022-00181-x">recycling and repurposing</a> in mind. </p>
<p>By investing in research and development, we can <a href="https://doi.org/10.1021/acscentsci.3c01478">find substitutes</a> to the most problematic minerals, whether the underlying issues are geopolitical constraints, toxicity or human rights abuses.</p>
<h2>The bottom line</h2>
<p>At the end of the day, we need responsible mining practices that will enable us to obtain the minerals required to make the energy transition work. However, we must do so in a way that is just and equitable towards both people and the planet. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/renewable-energy-innovation-isnt-just-good-for-the-climate-its-also-good-for-the-economy-223164">Renewable energy innovation isn't just good for the climate — it's also good for the economy</a>
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<p>This goal is a race against time, requiring both innovation and a never-ending vigilance against a lowering of standards to meet short-term needs — a vigilance which we all must work to maintain.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/220833/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Elizabeth Steyn previously received funding from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). She is affiliated with the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC), the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM) and the Foundation for Natural Resources and Energy Law (FNREL). She is a board member of the Canadian Institute of Resources Law (CIRL). </span></em></p>The temptation to justify critical minerals mining at all costs is a dangerous fallacy. The social and environmental impacts of poorly mined critical minerals are dire.Elizabeth Steyn, Assistant Professor of Law, Faculty of Law, University of CalgaryLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2164242024-02-15T13:32:45Z2024-02-15T13:32:45ZGold, silver and lithium mining on federal land doesn’t bring in any royalties to the US Treasury – because of an 1872 law<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575104/original/file-20240212-17-qfzo4g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C8%2C5483%2C3655&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Aerial view of the Pinto Valley copper mine, located on private and U.S. national forest lands in Gila County, Ariz.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/aerial-view-of-pinto-valley-copper-mine-in-gila-county-news-photo/1410152071">Wild Horizon/Universal Images Group via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When Congress opened U.S. public lands for mining in 1872, the nation was less than a century old. Miners used picks, shovels and pressurized water hoses to pry loose valuable minerals like gold and silver. </p>
<p>Today, mining is a high-technology industry, but it is still governed by the <a href="https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/COMPS-5337/pdf/COMPS-5337.pdf">Mining Law of 1872</a>. As was true 150 years ago, companies can mine valuable mineral deposits from federal lands without paying any royalties to the U.S. Treasury. </p>
<p>Even when lands that formerly were available for mining receive new protected status as national parks or monuments, the 1872 mining law <a href="https://www.nps.gov/subjects/energyminerals/development-in-parks.htm">protects existing mining claims on those lands</a>. That’s why a company called Energy Fuels Inc. <a href="https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona-environment/2024/01/10/a-uranium-mine-near-the-grand-canyon-is-operating-despite-opposition/72163283007/">just started mining uranium in January 2024</a> at a site in Arizona 10 miles from the Grand Canyon and inside a <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/08/08/fact-sheet-president-biden-designates-baaj-nwaavjo-itah-kukveni-ancestral-footprints-of-the-grand-canyon-national-monument/">new national monument</a>.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575103/original/file-20240212-16-7p58kw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Men wield shovels and wheelbarrows next to a small timbered opening in a hillside." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575103/original/file-20240212-16-7p58kw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575103/original/file-20240212-16-7p58kw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=617&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575103/original/file-20240212-16-7p58kw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=617&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575103/original/file-20240212-16-7p58kw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=617&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575103/original/file-20240212-16-7p58kw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=775&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575103/original/file-20240212-16-7p58kw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=775&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575103/original/file-20240212-16-7p58kw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=775&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">Gold prospectors mining at Lake Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, circa 1885.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/gold-prospectors-shovel-sand-and-gravel-into-a-rocker-box-a-news-photo/1478786322">Graphic House/Archive Photos via Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>Minerals like lithium, uranium and copper are essential for <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-us-is-worried-about-its-critical-minerals-supply-chains-essential-for-electric-vehicles-wind-power-and-the-nations-defense-157465">shifting from fossil fuels to renewable energy</a>, and for many other uses in our increasingly technological society. The Biden administration wants to produce these materials domestically, rather than relying on foreign sources – especially from countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo, where <a href="https://www.dol.gov/agencies/ilab/combatting-child-labor-democratic-republic-congos-cobalt-industry-cotecco">child labor abuses in the mining industry persist</a>. </p>
<p>As a <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/scientific-contributions/Sam-Kalen-2146924596">natural resource and public land scholar</a>, I agree with many others who argue that the 1872 mining law is <a href="https://earthworks.org/releases/biden-administration-working-group-recommendations-offer-first-step-to-protect-communities-environment-from-destructive-mining/">archaic and overdue for an update</a>. It allows the modern mining industry to develop valuable resources on public lands without returning any value to the American taxpayer, and to mine in areas that have sensitive ecosystems or contain important cultural resources for Indigenous peoples.</p>
<h2>Royalty-free development</h2>
<p>Allowing citizens to enter, explore and ultimately develop claims on federal lands with valuable mineral deposits was part of a broad push to settle the West. Congress enacted the 1872 mining law just a decade after the <a href="https://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/homestead-act">Homestead Act</a>, which gave settlers up to 160 acres of public land for a small claim fee if they lived on it and farmed it, and three years after the <a href="https://guides.loc.gov/this-month-in-business-history/may/completion-transcontinental-railroad">completion of the transcontinental railroad</a> in 1869.</p>
<p>Today, open federal public lands are managed by either the <a href="https://www.fs.usda.gov/">U.S. Forest Service</a> or the <a href="https://www.blm.gov/">Bureau of Land Management</a>. In either case, they are considered available for hard rock mining. </p>
<p>Companies that want to develop <a href="https://www.blm.gov/programs/energy-and-minerals/coal">coal</a>, <a href="https://www.blm.gov/programs/energy-and-minerals/oil-and-gas/about">oil, natural gas</a>, <a href="https://www.blm.gov/programs/energy-and-minerals/renewable-energy/strategy">geothermal energy and solar or wind power</a> on public lands sign leases and pay royalties in return for using these lands to generate private wealth. For example, the current royalty rate for oil and gas production on federal land is <a href="https://www.doi.gov/pressreleases/interior-department-takes-steps-modernize-oil-and-gas-leasing-public-lands-ensure-fair">16.67% of the market value</a> of these fuels.</p>
<p>Not so for mining companies, even if they extract precious metals like gold and silver. According to an Interior Department estimate, the value of gold, silver, copper, molybdenum, lead and zinc mined on federal lands in the West in 2019 was <a href="https://www.doi.gov/media/document/mriwg-report-final-508-pdf">approximately US$4.9 billion</a>. If the companies had paid royalties, they would have returned millions of dollars to the U.S. Treasury.</p>
<p>A miner who locates a valuable mineral deposit on public lands and complies with federal and state law enjoys a right to explore and then develop the land, and can even prevent others from doing so. There are two principal qualifying rules.</p>
<p>First, claims can only be located on open public lands that have not been withdrawn from use for other purposes, such as protecting cultural resources or wilderness areas. Second, the 1872 law only applies to valuable mineral deposits, which it defines as those on lands containing locatable minerals that a prudent person would develop because the minerals can be mined and marketed at a profit. </p>
<p>These materials may include precious minerals, such as gold and silver; metallic minerals, such as uranium, lead, copper or zinc; or nonmetallic minerals, such as some types of limestone, bentonite and asbestos. High-profile mining proposals today include <a href="https://news.bloomberglaw.com/environment-and-energy/epa-proposes-lead-copper-limits-near-planned-arizona-mine">copper mines in Arizona</a> and <a href="https://apnews.com/article/lithium-mine-tribes-climate-energy-lawsuit-nevada-7a65eee7d78d93a1e44e3f8e10445143">lithium mines in Nevada</a>.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Native Americans have fought construction of a lithium mine at Thacker Pass in northern Nevada, which they contend sits on their ancestral land. Environmentalists are divided over the project, which would supply material for advanced batteries.</span></figcaption>
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<h2>Decades of debate</h2>
<p>Calls for reforming the 1872 law first surfaced in the late 19th century and have persisted ever since. </p>
<p>After all, the law transferred valuable public resources to private hands at virtually no cost, while saddling the public with the resulting environmental burdens, such as ponds <a href="https://www.gao.gov/assets/rced-91-145.pdf">contaminated with toxic cyanide</a>. Mining on public lands, especially prior to the 1970s, left <a href="https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-23-105408">a multitude of contaminated zones</a> that federal agencies are still working to clean up at taxpayer expense. </p>
<p>Today, mining operations are subject to modern land management and environmental laws, such as the Clean Water Act. But these laws were not written specifically to address mining and do not fully cover issues such as <a href="https://earthworks.org/files/publications/FACTSHEET_Mining-industry-exploits-clean-water-act-loopholes.pdf">disposal of mine waste</a>. </p>
<p>University of California legal scholar <a href="https://expertfile.com/experts/john.leshy/john-leshy">John Leshy</a>, a former solicitor at the Interior Department and the nation’s premier mining law expert, forcefully described in his 1987 book, “<a href="https://www.routledge.com/The-Mining-Law-A-Study-in-Perpetual-Motion/Leshy/p/book/9781138951877">The Mining Law: A Study in Perpetual Motion</a>,” how this statute languished for decades, widely understood as ill-suited to modern times yet eluding reform. Former University of Colorado law professor <a href="https://www.colorado.edu/law/2023/06/12/memoriam-charles-wilkinson-trailblazer-justice-earth-and-american-indian-law">Charles Wilkinson</a> called the law a “lord of yesterday” in his classic 1992 book, “<a href="https://islandpress.org/books/crossing-next-meridian">Crossing the Next Meridian: Land, Water, and the Future of the West</a>.” </p>
<p>Reform advocates support adopting the type of <a href="https://www.eenews.net/articles/citing-clean-energy-progressives-mount-mining-law-overhaul/">traditional leasing model</a> that is used for most other resources on public lands in the U.S. and elsewhere. As an example, for oil and gas production <a href="https://www.blm.gov/programs/energy-and-minerals/oil-and-gas/leasing/general-leasing">on federal lands</a> and <a href="https://www.boem.gov/oil-gas-energy/leasing">offshore in federal waters</a>, agencies identify areas with development potential and hold competitive auctions to lease parcels for exploration and development.</p>
<p>Reformists also favor tighter environmental safeguards that would address issues such as <a href="https://www.nwf.org/Our-Work/Waters/Hardrock-Mining">management and disposal of mining wastes</a>. Finally, they argue that mining should be prohibited in areas that are ecologically sensitive or are <a href="https://www.csis.org/analysis/pathway-responsible-mining-indian-country">important to Indigenous peoples or tribal nations</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575114/original/file-20240212-18-ql6lrc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Bright orange water flows from a pipe into a plastic-lined settling pond." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575114/original/file-20240212-18-ql6lrc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575114/original/file-20240212-18-ql6lrc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575114/original/file-20240212-18-ql6lrc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575114/original/file-20240212-18-ql6lrc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575114/original/file-20240212-18-ql6lrc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575114/original/file-20240212-18-ql6lrc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575114/original/file-20240212-18-ql6lrc.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">Water from a 2015 spill at the abandoned Gold King mine in southwest Colorado flows into a holding pond. The spill released 3 million gallons of water laced with toxic metals, contaminating rivers in three states and the Navajo Nation.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/NewMexicoMineSpillSettlementGrants/f4d3c34b13894facae77fc6ef413c45a/photo">AP Photo/Brennan Linsley</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In contrast, the mining industry and its supporters complain that <a href="https://www.nma.org/pdf/041508_mining_law.pdf">existing laws hinder mining activities</a>. In their view, the federal government applies the 1872 mining law in a way that forces companies to spend years securing necessary approvals. A 2015 report prepared for the mining industry estimated that the average time required to secure all permits for a large mine in the U.S. was <a href="https://nma.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/SNL_Permitting_Delay_Report-Online.pdf">seven to 10 years</a>, compared with two years in Canada and Australia.</p>
<p>The industry also contends that imposing a royalty requirement would make it hard for companies to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/12/climate/mining-federal-lands-metals.html">produce critical materials profitably</a>, although these companies currently <a href="https://www.gao.gov/products/b-330854">pay royalties to 12 western states</a> for mining on state land.</p>
<p>In September 2023, the Interior Department <a href="https://www.doi.gov/pressreleases/biden-harris-administration-report-outlines-reforms-needed-promote-responsible-mining">released a 168-page report</a> making recommendations for improving mining on public lands. It calls for:</p>
<p>– Putting greater emphasis on environmental protection in mine permitting;</p>
<p>– Preventing mining in areas that are important to tribal nations and Indigenous peoples;</p>
<p>– Replacing the 1872 mining law with a more traditional leasing system that would charge royalties of 4% to 8%; and</p>
<p>– Charging mining companies a fee that would be used to help clean up abandoned mine sites, similar to a fee that <a href="https://revenuedata.doi.gov/how-revenue-works/aml-reclamation-program/">coal mining companies have paid since 1977</a>.</p>
<p>Bills are <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/senate-bill/1281">pending now</a> in Congress, introduced by <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/2925">legislators from Nevada</a>, a major mineral-producing state. These measures would retain the structure of the 1872 law while taking steps to streamline permitting for large-scale mining activities.</p>
<h2>Balancing critical minerals and conservation</h2>
<p>Mining conversations are taking on new urgency as the U.S. pursues a clean energy transition and works to secure essential materials for a modern technology-based economy. In my view, focusing myopically on critical minerals and moving forward with a new era of domestic mining should not occur without reforming the 1872 law. </p>
<p>A rewrite of the law could streamline permitting and create a planning process for mining on public land that mirrors the existing process for energy projects. Halting climate change and powering a new green economy may involve some trade-offs between short-term and long-term environmental protection goals. </p>
<p>But these choices can be made thoughtfully, with a focus on protecting America’s treasured public lands. In 1872, our nation’s lands and natural resources may have seemed inexhaustible; today, we know they are finite, and that using them responsibly means balancing development and stewardship.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/216424/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sam Kalen served as Special Assistant to the Associate Solicitor for Minerals and Resources at the US Department of the Interior from 1994-1996. Views expressed in this article are solely those of the author.</span></em></p>Hard rock minerals like gold, silver, copper and lithium on public lands belong to the American public, but under a 150-year-old law, the US gives them away for free.Sam Kalen, Associate Dean and Professor of Law, University of WyomingLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2073422023-10-10T15:22:11Z2023-10-10T15:22:11ZHow sodium-ion batteries could make electric cars cheaper<p>Cars that burn petrol and diesel must be replaced with renewable alternatives if the climate crisis is to be overcome. Electric vehicles (EVs) are widely viewed as the best option available. </p>
<p>This is because EVs can be powered by renewable electricity from the grid, avoiding the need for fossil fuels. They can store and release this energy with close to 100% efficiency, whereas the internal combustion engine in most modern cars can only usefully convert about <a href="https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/atv.shtml">30%</a> of the energy from fuel. EVs can also be recharged thousands of times, offering lifetime mileages similar to conventional cars. </p>
<p>This engineering feat is possible thanks to the rechargeable battery. </p>
<p>Lithium-ion is the highest performing battery technology commercially available. But demand for these batteries is <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/automotive-and-assembly/our-insights/battery-2030-resilient-sustainable-and-circular">rocketing</a> and the cost of raw materials for making them is high – the price of lithium carbonate alone <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/efa4be2f-75af-4a93-8560-d1a6f326917b">increased tenfold</a> between late 2020 and 2022. With <a href="https://pubs.usgs.gov/periodicals/mcs2022/mcs2022-lithium.pdf">over 84%</a> of known lithium deposits concentrated in Argentina, Australia, Chile and China, securing the raw materials for lithium-ion batteries can be difficult and expensive for manufacturers. </p>
<p>Thankfully, batteries based on sodium ions rather than lithium could overcome these problems – and ultimately lead to EVs that are cheaper to buy.</p>
<h2>Sodium-ion versus lithium-ion</h2>
<p>A battery can be thought of like a sandwich: its two electrodes (called the cathode and anode) are like bread slices containing an electrolyte filling. The electrolyte is typically a liquid which soaks each of the electrodes and holds a high concentration of ions dissolved within it.</p>
<p>When the battery is being recharged, the ions move towards the anode and are stored inside until the energy is needed. When the car is switched on they shift back the other way into the cathode, generating an electric current through the external circuit which powers the motors driving the car forward.</p>
<p>Lithium is the best element to use since the ions are small and light. This means they can be packed tightly inside the electrodes and move quickly, producing batteries capable of charging in as little as 20 minutes.</p>
<p>But in a close second place is sodium.</p>
<p>Positioned immediately beneath lithium in the periodic table, sodium shares many chemical properties, such as the ability to move as quickly through battery materials. But it benefits from being <a href="https://www.rsc.org/periodic-table/element/11/sodium">1,000 times</a> more abundant on Earth than <a href="https://www.rsc.org/periodic-table/element/3/lithium">lithium</a>. </p>
<p>The key material for making sodium-ion batteries, sodium carbonate (or soda ash), can either be found in rocks and salt lake brines or it can be made in factories from limestone and salt. Both of these minerals are widely accessible and practically inexhaustible. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Piles of white sodium in separate brine pools." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/533764/original/file-20230623-17-fvy3b5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/533764/original/file-20230623-17-fvy3b5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533764/original/file-20230623-17-fvy3b5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533764/original/file-20230623-17-fvy3b5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533764/original/file-20230623-17-fvy3b5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533764/original/file-20230623-17-fvy3b5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533764/original/file-20230623-17-fvy3b5.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">Sodium-containing materials are widely accessible and practically inexhaustible.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/lPaVwVGDQUs">Timo Volz/Unsplash</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Shifting from lithium to sodium-ion batteries could reduce dependence on critical minerals and yield cheaper battery packs. But are they good enough yet to power EVs?</p>
<p>With a single full charge, the newest lithium-ion batteries can power an EV for around <a href="https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/best-cars-vans/108345/top-10-longest-range-electric-cars">300-400 miles</a>.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, sodium ions are three times heavier and a third larger than lithium ions. This means the electrodes in sodium-ion batteries must be thicker and heavier to hold the same amount of energy.</p>
<h2>Cost benefits</h2>
<p>Recent <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/2515-7655/ac01ef">innovations</a> mean that sodium batteries are beginning to rival some lithium-ion systems, in particular, those which use lithium iron phosphate cathodes, known in the industry as LFP. Although LFP-containing batteries cannot store energy as densely as the best-in-class technology, these batteries are of growing importance as they are typically around <a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/2023/02/17/1068814/meet-the-new-batteries-unlocking-cheaper-electric-vehicles/">20% cheaper</a>.</p>
<p>While a range of sodium-ion cathodes are being developed, the batteries packing the most energy use layered oxide cathodes. These batteries are good enough to deliver cheaper passenger EVs capable of <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41560-023-01215-w">150-250 miles</a>. Recent analysis has shown that the latest sodium-ion battery packs can even <a href="https://www.woodmac.com/news/opinion/sodium-ion-batteries-disrupt/">undercut the cost</a> of LFP batteries thanks to their cheaper raw materials. </p>
<p>The result is that sodium-ion technology can deliver low-cost EVs with sufficient range to suit commuters and city drivers in particular. </p>
<p>China has already recognised this potential. The Chinese battery company <a href="https://twitter.com/catl_official/status/1647604699829518338">CATL</a> recently revealed it intends to supply Chinese car manufacturer Chery with sodium-ion batteries for a new EV model. Two other Chinese manufacturers, HiNa and JAC group, have also <a href="https://jacmotors.co.za/jac-motors-unveils-worlds-first-sodium-ion-battery-vehicle/">announced</a> a sodium-powered model capable of a 155-mile range, reportedly selling for around <a href="https://rhomotion.com/hina-battery-pioneers-sodium-ion-battery-testing-in-evs">US$10,000</a> (£8,220) in China.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A charger plugged into an electric car." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/533765/original/file-20230623-2465-fvy3b5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/533765/original/file-20230623-2465-fvy3b5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533765/original/file-20230623-2465-fvy3b5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533765/original/file-20230623-2465-fvy3b5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533765/original/file-20230623-2465-fvy3b5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533765/original/file-20230623-2465-fvy3b5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533765/original/file-20230623-2465-fvy3b5.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">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sodium-ion batteries can produce cheaper (albeit lower-range) EVs.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/xJLsHl0hIik">Chuttersnap/Unsplash</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The outlook for sodium-ion EVs</h2>
<p>There is still significant scope to improve the energy density of sodium-ion batteries. </p>
<p>One bottleneck is the cathode. The best layered oxide cathode materials can only store about half as many sodium ions as the anode, effectively meaning twice as much cathode material must be used to balance both sides of the sandwich, adding to the battery weight.</p>
<p>Research is underway to develop new cathode materials which can store more sodium ions in their structure and deliver a higher voltage output, translating to improved EV driving ranges.</p>
<p>Sodium-ion batteries are now beginning to enter the EV market. Just how far they will go in competing with shorter-range lithium batteries remains to be seen and depend on economic headwinds and materials science advances.</p>
<p>You can be sure, at least, that you’ll be hearing a lot more about sodium-ion EVs.</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>
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<hr><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/207342/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Robert House receives funding from the Royal Academy of Engineering, UKRI, the Henry Royce Institute and the Faraday Institution. He works closely with and is funded by Faradion Ltd.</span></em></p>Sodium is a cheap and viable alternative to lithium in batteries for low-medium range EVs.Robert House, Royal Academy of Engineering Research Fellow, University of OxfordLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2144702023-09-28T07:11:58Z2023-09-28T07:11:58ZWhat causes lithium-ion battery fires? Why are they so intense? And how should they be fought? An expert explains<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/550860/original/file-20230928-21-grrarl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=94%2C103%2C2901%2C1890&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>Picture this: you’re cruising down the Great Ocean Road in your brand new
electric vehicle (EV), the ocean to your left and the wind in your hair. But what if I told you this idyllic drive could turn into a nightmare, with the faint smell of something burning? </p>
<p>This month we have had at least two large lithium-ion battery fires in Australia – <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-09-12/sydney-airport-lithium-ion-battery-causes-fire/102846146">one in</a> the Sydney airport car park and another one <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-09-27/tesla-battery-fire-at-queensland-renewable-energy-project/102905302">more recently</a> at the Bouldercombe battery storage site in Queensland. </p>
<p>When a lithium-ion battery fire breaks out, the damage can be extensive. These fires are not only intense, they are also long-lasting and potentially toxic.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/electric-vehicle-fires-are-very-rare-the-risk-for-petrol-and-diesel-vehicles-is-at-least-20-times-higher-213468">Electric vehicle fires are very rare. The risk for petrol and diesel vehicles is at least 20 times higher</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>What causes these fires?</h2>
<p>Most electric vehicles humming along Australian roads are packed with
lithium-ion batteries. They’re the same powerhouses that fuel our smartphones
and laptops – celebrated for their ability to store heaps of energy in a small
space. </p>
<p>The reality is lithium-ion batteries in electric vehicles are very safe. In fact, from 2010 to June 2023, only four electric vehicle battery fires had been recorded in Australia. A <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2571-6255/6/8/325">recent paper</a> forecasts a possible total of around 900 EV fires between 2023 and 2050. This is, for all intents and purposes, a small amount.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, when EV batteries do overheat, they’re susceptible to something called “thermal runaway”. This chemical reaction can be triggered from faults in the battery – whether that’s an internal failure (such as an internal short circuit) or some kind of external damage. In extreme cases, it causes the battery to catch fire or explode. </p>
<p>The onset and intensification of lithium-ion battery fires can be traced to multiple causes, including user behaviour such as improper charging or physical damage. </p>
<p>Then there are even larger batteries, such as Megapacks, which are what recently caught fire at Bouldercombe. Megapacks are large lithium-based batteries, designed by Tesla. They are intended to function as energy storage and to help “stabilise the grid and prevent outages”. </p>
<p>The Megapack that caught fire on Tuesday is one of 40 lithium-ion Megapack 2.0 units on-site. A Megapack fire is daunting for obvious reasons. These have a capacity of 3 megawatt hours, which equals 3,000 kilowatts of electricity generated per hour.</p>
<p>It’s no surprise the Bouldercombe fire <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/sep/27/tesla-lithium-battery-fire-bouldercombe-energy-storage-site-project-rockhampton">may be burning</a> for several days. </p>
<h2>What to do when a fire has started?</h2>
<p>If a fire bursts out in an EV or battery storage facility, the first instinct may be to grab the nearest hose. However, getting too close to the fire could spell disaster as you may be injured by jet-like flames or projectiles.</p>
<p>In the case of <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/23027110/solid-state-lithium-battery-tesla-gm-ford">up-and-coming</a> <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2542435122000885">solid-state batteries</a> with a lithium metal anode (instead of the more common graphite anode), these have a rather unwelcome talent for chemical reactions when they come into contact with water. </p>
<p>Instead of snuffing out the flames, water could actually fuel the fire and cause it <a href="https://www.merckmillipore.com/AU/en/product/msds/MDA_CHEM-805660">to intensify</a>. This is because the water’s reaction with the lithium can produce flammable hydrogen gas – adding more of a hazard to an already perilous situation. </p>
<p>While firefighters <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-crash-fire-lithium-battery-austin-more-water-than-regular-2021-8">have used water</a> on lithium-battery fires in the past (as it can help with cooling the battery itself), they have at times needed up to 40 times as much as a normal car fire requires.</p>
<p>It may often be safer to just let a lithium battery fire burn, as Tesla recommends in its Model 3 <a href="https://www.targawest.com.au/wp-content/uploads/Model_3_Emergency_Response_Guide_en.pdf">response guide</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Battery fires can take up to 24 hours to extinguish. Consider allowing the battery to burn while protecting exposures.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This could explain why Tesla advised authorities in Bouldercombe to not put out <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/sep/27/tesla-lithium-battery-fire-bouldercombe-energy-storage-site-project-rockhampton">the blaze</a>.</p>
<p>Water also conducts electricity, which means spraying it on a battery fire could lead to electrical shocks or short-circuits <em>if</em> the battery is not electrically isolated.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1706779708330066319"}"></div></p>
<p>Globally, numerous solutions have been proposed for extinguishing lithium-ion battery fires. However, as of now, neither <a href="http://www.fpaa.com.au/advocacy-technical/technical-documents/technical-advisory-notes.aspx">Australian standards</a>, nor any<a href="https://activfire.csiro.au/pdfs/documents/CSIRO-AN-004.pdf"> other internationally-recognised</a> guidelines adequately address fire extinguishing requirements for this purpose. </p>
<p>Importantly, the appropriate fire extinguishing method will vary depending on the type of lithium battery in question (such as lithium-ion, all-solid-state lithium-ion or lithium polymer).</p>
<p>For standard lithium-ion battery fires, the <a href="https://vuir.vu.edu.au/43829/1/871.pdf">sprinkling of fine water</a> mist may be used to suppress the fire. On the other hand, <a href="https://www.thecompliancecenter.com/lithium-battery-catches-fire/">experts recommend</a> using specially-designed Class D fire extinguishers for solid-state lithium-metal battery fires – or dry chemical fire extinguishers that are appropriate for electrical fires. </p>
<p>These contain substances, such as sodium chloride powder or pressurised argon, that can combat the challenges posed by solid-state batteries. Sodium chloride, commonly known as table salt, melts to form an oxygen-excluding crust over the fire. Similarly, argon is an <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/nursing-and-health-professions/inert-gas">inert</a> and non-flammable gas which can <a href="https://www.nist.gov/system/files/documents/el/fire_research/R0000257.pdf#:%7E:text=Argon%20is%20not%20a%20typical,combustion%20of%20a%20specific%20material.">help put out</a> fires by suffocating oxygen. </p>
<p>That brings us to the aftermath of the fire – and another often-overlooked hazard: toxic fumes. When lithium-ion batteries catch fire in a car or at a storage site, they don’t just release smoke; they emit a cocktail of dangerous gases such as carbon monoxide, hydrogen fluoride and hydrogen chloride.</p>
<p>These fumes can be hazardous to your health, especially when inhaled in significant quantities. This is why these battery fires are a particular concern in confined spaces such as a garage, where noxious gases can accumulate quickly.</p>
<h2>What to do if your car catches fire</h2>
<p>Although EV fires are very rare, if you do own an EV (or plan to in the future), there are a few steps you can take to tip the scale in your favour.</p>
<p>First, get to know your EV inside and out. Familiarise yourself with its safety features. Does it have a functioning thermal management system to help keep the battery cool? What about sensors that could alert you to a problem before it turns into a crisis? </p>
<p>Secondly, be smart about how you charge your EV. Avoid overcharging your battery as this can increase the risk of it lighting up. </p>
<p>If, despite your best efforts, you find yourself head-to-head with a blaze, your first course of action should be to call emergency services for professional help. </p>
<hr>
<p><em>Correction: Since this article was published it has been updated in several places to better distinguish where the author is referring to solid-state (lithium anode) or lithium-ion batteries. A reference to fire risk from fast-charging batteries has also been removed.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/214470/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Muhammad Rizwan Azhar 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>Lithium-ion battery fires are rare, but they can cause a lot of damage – and they’re challenging to put out.Muhammad Rizwan Azhar, Lecturer, Edith Cowan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2134712023-09-13T08:37:21Z2023-09-13T08:37:21ZPolitics with Michelle Grattan: Asia expert Richard McGregor on Anthony Albanese’s coming visit to China<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/548011/original/file-20230913-17-ou8076.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C1%2C1100%2C714&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Integrity20.org</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Anthony Albanese has now confirmed he’ll be heading to China before the end of the year. He is the first Australian prime minister to visit since 2016, and it is the culmination of an improvement in China-Australia relations since the change of government.</p>
<p>In this podcast, we’re joined by Richard McGregor, an expert on China and senior fellow at the Lowy Institute. He was at the high level dialogue attended by Australian and Chinese retired government officials and others in Beijing on September 6-7.</p>
<p>McGregor says the Albanese trip will be particularly important, given the hiatus between prime ministerial visits.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>We haven’t had a prime minister in China for six, seven years. We all know why that’s the case, it’s not just COVID. It’s also because Australia’s relationship with China went downhill slowly, then quickly to the point where we didn’t have any political dialogue at all for about two to three years.</p>
<p>Our position in South East Asia, our position in the Pacific and our alliance with the United States all are affected by the China relationship. </p>
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<p>While the government has trodden carefully in rebuilding the relationship, McGregor acknowledges there will be risks in the trip. “There are risks, undoubtedly, we’re going up to another level in what the Chinese call a ‘reset’ [and] we studiously call ‘stabilisation’.” </p>
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<p>The Chinese see value in stabilising relations with Australia inasmuch as it sort of turns off a very bad signal that the bilateral fight was sending to the rest of the world. Australia and China had deep divisions [and] we made a lot of noise about it. </p>
<p>Many countries which normally wouldn’t really take much notice of Australian foreign policy, particularly in Europe and to some extent in a different way in South East Asia, in Japan and South Korea, have all watched Australia closely for lessons about how to manage the downside of the relationship. And I think that for China, it wasn’t working for them as well for all sorts of reasons. </p>
<p>So the election allowed the beginning of the stabilisation and I think the Chinese are taking advantage of that.</p>
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<p>Australia and China have been embroiled in a bitter trade dispute since former Prime Minister Scott Morrison pressed for an investigation into the origin of COVID-19 in 2020. Up to $20 billion worth of Australian exports were targeted by the Chinese government. Recently Trade Minister Don Farrell estimated that has come down to $2.5 billion. On the remaining sanctions McGregor sees a mixed picture. </p>
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<p>On the commodities or sectors which are still affected, wine I think is running on its own track – that’s the subject of a World Trade Organisation complaint by Australia. Until we get a draft report with a resolution to that or a decision – Australia seems to expect it will be in our favour – but until we get that we’ll see no movement from China I think. </p>
<p>In the other areas we might get some sort of flashy opening or partial reopening of the punitive trade measures on areas like lobster, around the time Mr. Albanese is to visit. I think that’s a time honoured Chinese technique, to sort of ‘sweeten the tea before it’s drunk’ But no big change I think. </p>
<p>The bulk of [Australian] trade with China, which is dominated by iron ore, LNG and the like, the bulk of that was not affected. That was the fascinating thing about our trade dispute because during that period both sides tried to diversify, and both sides really failed. We still have complementary economies, we sell them stuff that they still need, and China won’t self harm.</p>
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<p>While Albanese has flagged there are no concessions in place for the visit, McGregor says if he doesn’t make any progress regarding imprisoned Chinese-Australians Cheng Lei and Yang Hengjun, it will be “embarrassing and damaging” for his reputation: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>This is where the risks of the Albanese trip comes in - Australia has constantly said that we would go to China without any preconditions and I think that’s fair enough. But if six months or so after the trip […] there’s been no movement on the two high-profile detainees Cheng Lei and Yang Hengjun, then I think that would be very embarrassing and damaging for Mr Albanese. </p>
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<p>Chinese President Xi Jinping and Albanese have a lot of talking points to cover, and McGregor believes Chinese foreign investment in Australia and climate change will be of particular focus: </p>
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<p>China is a big, complicated country, but it’s a clean energy superpower. 90% of solar panels in the world are manufactured in China. […] Yes, they are struggling to get their emissions down because their economy is still growing. Just one figure, the share of coal-fired power in the Chinese economy has gone down from about the mid 70’s to 50% in recent years. </p>
<p>Foreign investment is a point of conflict. […] I think Australia’s going to be very restrictive in the area of lithium and rare earths. And I think the Chinese will be raising that quite vociferously. I expect the Australian response at the top table will be vague, but we’ve already made it pretty clear that we’re not going to allow, potentially, a country which has been unfriendly and which we we have not a great deal of trust in investing in there and potentially dominating that industry in Australia. </p>
<p>Other than that, both leaders will be laying out, I think, their view of the world, their view of the region, their concerns about instability in the region and the possibility of conflict. There are all sorts of things that Mr. Albanese will have to raise.</p>
</blockquote><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/213471/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michelle Grattan 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>In this podcast, senior fellow from the Lowy Institute and expert on Asia Richard McGregor joins The Conversation to canvass the prime minister's coming trip to China.Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2113282023-09-12T21:45:51Z2023-09-12T21:45:51ZHow zinc-ion batteries may solve our renewable energy storage problem<iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/how-zinc-ion-batteries-may-solve-our-renewable-energy-storage-problem" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p><a href="https://www.economist.com/leaders/2023/07/20/how-cities-can-respond-to-extreme-heat">Hotter summers</a>, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20230612-did-climate-change-cause-canadas-wildfires">drier forests</a>, <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/climate-change-rising-sea-levels-transforming-coastlines-world/story?id=91681973">rising waters</a>: climate change is not just a threat to our future, it’s hurting our world right now. </p>
<p>While there are many ways human activity has brought about climate change, <a href="https://www.iea.org/reports/co2-emissions-in-2022">global electricity generation sources are among the leading culprits</a>. <a href="https://www.iea.org/reports/world-energy-outlook-2022">Despite small upticks in the supply of wind and solar power</a>, we have not yet reached a point where we are able to dislodge the fossil fuels that are entrenched in the power mix of many countries. </p>
<p>But why is this still the case? </p>
<p>Since renewable sources deliver an intermittent supply of power, we also need a way to store this energy to meet the demand of the grid when the sun is not shining, or the wind is not blowing. This is a major challenge, as the switch to renewable power also requires establishing long lasting, safe and affordable energy storage systems. As such, finding a cheap, safe and alternative battery to lithium is the key to moving the needle to a completely renewable power sector. </p>
<h2>Beyond lithium-ion batteries</h2>
<p>As with electric vehicles, lithium-ion batteries have become a popular option for the grid, as they offer a high energy density, modular solution for energy storage. But the use of lithium-ion batteries has also brought along its own challenges with high cost of materials, risk of fire and explosion and lack of recycling practices limiting the widespread adoption of lithium-ion batteries for the grid. </p>
<p>One incredibly promising option to replace lithium for grid scale energy storage is the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joule.2023.06.007">rechargeable zinc-ion battery</a>. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/nenergy.2016.119">Emerging only within the last 10 years</a>, zinc-ion batteries offer many advantages over lithium. These include cheaper material costs, increased safety and easier recycling options. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/batteries-are-the-environmental-achilles-heel-of-electric-vehicles-unless-we-repair-reuse-and-recycle-them-205404">Batteries are the environmental Achilles heel of electric vehicles – unless we repair, reuse and recycle them</a>
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<p>With grid-scale energy storage potential at a considerably cheaper cost — and higher levels of safety — widespread commercialization of zinc-ion batteries could be exactly what is needed to integrate renewables into energy infrastructure in Canada and other countries.</p>
<h2>The cost of a battery</h2>
<p>For Canada to reach the decarbonization targets set in the Canadian <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/services/environment/weather/climatechange/climate-plan/net-zero-emissions-2050/canadian-net-zero-emissions-accountability-act.html">Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act</a>, <a href="https://www.iea.org/reports/canada-2022/executive-summary">including a grid powered by 90 per cent renewable electricity</a>, the deployment of zinc-ion batteries will be crucial. </p>
<p>Studies have shown that for renewables to become the source of 90 to 95 per cent of all electricity, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joule.2019.06.012">the cost of energy storage must be below US$150/kWh</a>. Modern lithium-ion systems are <a href="https://www.pnnl.gov/lithium-ion-battery-lfp-and-nmc">still sitting around US$350/kWh</a>. In part, this is due to high manufacturing costs and their reliance on expensive raw materials to achieve the high energy density needed for <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-018-0130-3">modern electric vehicles</a>.</p>
<p>Zinc-ion batteries on the other hand, could solve the cost and abundance issues. Using inexpensive, abundant materials such as zinc and manganese not only makes them cheaper to produce, but lowers risk from supply chain disruptions or material shortages that affect lithium-ion materials such as lithium and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2020.101505">cobalt</a>. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://natural-resources.canada.ca/our-natural-resources/minerals-mining/minerals-metals-facts/zinc-facts/20534">annual production of zinc</a> globally is <a href="https://natural-resources.canada.ca/our-natural-resources/minerals-mining/minerals-metals-facts/lithium-facts/24009">over 100 times that of lithium</a>. Not to mention that <a href="https://earth911.com/eco-tech/recycling-critical-minerals-for-circular-clean-energy-solutions/">demand for lithium and cobalt is anticipated to outweigh the supply within the next decade</a>.</p>
<h2>Zinc is a safer option</h2>
<p>With <a href="https://www.ul.com/news/ul-9540-energy-storage-system-ess-requirements-evolving-meet-industry-and-regulatory-needs">rigorous safety standards</a> being created for batteries used in homes, factories or within the electrical grid, safety is key to getting the public to embrace them. In this way, zinc-ion batteries offer further advantage. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.pv-magazine.com/2021/04/21/two-firefighters-killed-and-one-missing-after-beijing-battery-blaze/">flammable and toxic solvent based electrolyte of lithium-ion batteries</a> is replaced with a water-based alternative, removing the risk of fire and explosion. </p>
<hr>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/we-could-need-6-times-more-of-the-minerals-used-for-renewables-and-batteries-how-can-we-avoid-a-huge-increase-in-mining-impacts-206864">We could need 6 times more of the minerals used for renewables and batteries. How can we avoid a huge increase in mining impacts?</a>
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<p>Conversely, the safe disposal of lithium-ion batteries can also be a difficult task, as they contain toxic compounds. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/cey2.29">Recycling these batteries is currently economically infeasible due to high costs</a> leading to large numbers of spent cells ending up in landfills. </p>
<p>Fortunately, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/adsu.202100308">zinc-ion batteries simplify end of life treatment</a>. The nontoxic, aqueous electrolyte used in zinc-ion batteries means that <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/sustainable-business/key-facts-about-used-lead-acid-battery-recycling-2021-04-20/">well established methods like those for lead-acid battery disposal</a> can be used. Also, the metallic zinc anode could be easily reused in new batteries. </p>
<h2>The future of energy storage</h2>
<p>To reach its goal of 90 per cent renewable energy by 2030, Canada must look for alternatives to lithium-ion batteries to enable decarbonization of its power sector. Leveraging the cost, abundance and safety benefits of zinc-ion batteries, Canada can accelerate the integration of wind and solar power across the nation. </p>
<p>Zinc-ion batteries support Canada’s decarbonization goals and prove an opportunity to capitalize on a rapidly expanding battery market. While zinc-ion batteries are a relatively new technology, their potential to support grid scale energy storage within Canada and worldwide cannot be understated. </p>
<p>With the help of Canadian research and manufacturing, including efforts from <a href="https://brighterworld.mcmaster.ca/articles/drew-higgins-clean-energy-low-carbon-electricity-canada-green-tech/">McMaster University</a> and Dartmouth, N.S.-based <a href="https://salientenergyinc.com/">Salient Energy Inc.</a>, the integration of zinc-ion batteries could become a reality within the next several years, establishing Canada as an industry leader.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/211328/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Storm William D Gourley receives funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC). </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Drew Higgins' research program at McMaster University receives funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Alliance grant program and Salient Energy Inc. to develop new battery electrode materials. </span></em></p>Lithium-ion batteries are holding back the full-scale decarbonization of Canada’s energy grid. Zinc-ion batteries may be the solution.Storm William D Gourley, PhD Candidate, Chemical Engineering, McMaster UniversityDrew Higgins, Assistant Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering, McMaster UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2111242023-08-31T02:57:53Z2023-08-31T02:57:53ZBipolar disorder isn’t the same for everyone. So people should have more say in how they’re treated<p>Imagine you, or someone you know, is diagnosed with bipolar disorder. One drug is prescribed, but you have heard another drug is better. What are your next steps? Do you seek evidence? And if so, what type of evidence would you consider? </p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1001/archpsyc.64.5.543">Around 2%</a> of the adult population have a bipolar disorder. It can create <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/bdi.12423">high levels of suffering, carry suicide risks</a>, and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eurpsy.2009.11.012">persist for decades</a>. Management options vary, and if you search for information online, it’s easy to become overwhelmed by the many different views and interpretations of “the evidence” obtained from clinical trials. </p>
<p>Some medications can be extremely helpful for stabilising mood, but they can often have <a href="https://doi.org/10.1097/YIC.0b013e32836435e2">side effects</a>. Certain medications may be more <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1039856214568219">beneficial for certain types of bipolar disorder</a>, but how do you know which “type” you or a loved one has?</p>
<p>Clinical specialists, including psychiatrists, often rely on guidelines authored by professional organisations to evaluate the evidence for treatments. However, there is minimal agreement between many of the current guidelines. A new approach is needed that places emphasis on “real-world” effectiveness and respects the observations of people with bipolar disorder.</p>
<h2>Two types of bipolar disorder</h2>
<p>As far back as Hippocrates, <a href="https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/bipolar-disorder#:%7E:text=Bipolar%20I%20disorder%20is%20defined,lasting%20at%20least%202%20weeks.">bipolar disorder</a> has been known to the medical community. Originally called “manic-depressive psychosis”, it is now known as bipolar I disorder. In the mid-1990s, bipolar II disorder was defined. Although this second “sibling” has always existed, it was previously viewed as more of a personality style, and frequently given the label of “cyclothymia”.</p>
<p>Both bipolar I and bipolar II are marked by pronounced mood swings. During “highs”, individuals feel energised and “wired”. They talk more, spend more, and require less sleep but don’t feel tired. They might experience a heightened sex drive, feel more creative, or so “bulletproof” they take more risks. Anxiety seems to melt away.</p>
<p>During “lows”, depression rolls in like a fog. Sufferers may lie in bed for days, lacking any energy. They can’t derive any pleasure in life. Cheerless and battling impaired cognitive capacity, they can be at greater risk of suicide. </p>
<p>The key distinguishing feature between the two bipolar conditions is the presence of psychotic features (delusions and/or hallucinations) in those with bipolar I.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/better-bipolar-diagnosis-may-reduce-suicide-rates-in-boys-new-research-206256">Better bipolar diagnosis may reduce suicide rates in boys – new research</a>
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<h2>Current treatments</h2>
<p>Medication is the main way bipolar disorders are managed. </p>
<p>Melbourne psychiatrist John Cade discovered the effectiveness of lithium as a treatment for manic depression <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2560740/pdf/10885180.pdf">in 1949</a>. This landmark research ushered in the era of condition-specific psychopharmacology. </p>
<p>Psychiatry can proudly claim its status as an evidence-based discipline. Practitioners refer to research-based guidelines to determine the best medications to help stabilise a bipolar disorder. <a href="https://www.canmat.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Yatham-LN-2018-CANMAT-ISBD-guidelines-for-bipolar-disorder-Bipol-Disord.pdf">Options</a> now include lithium, three anti-epileptic drugs, multiple antipsychotic drugs and antidepressants. While most guidelines rate lithium highly for both bipolar types, we personally favour lithium as the first choice medication only for bipolar I, and the anti-seizure drug lamotrigine for bipolar II.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-causes-depression-what-we-know-dont-know-and-suspect-81483">What causes depression? What we know, don’t know and suspect</a>
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<h2>But evidence isn’t everything</h2>
<p>In 2017, our research group <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/acps.12717">examined 11 guidelines</a> published by professional organisations. All were “evidence-based”, but we found minimal agreement between them, thus raising questions about their validity. New guidelines have been published since then but the trend for minimal agreement continues.</p>
<p>Assessing a psychiatric evidence base is difficult. For medical trials, the treatment being tested is compared against a treatment in common use, and/or against a placebo. Results from multiple trials are aggregated to compare their overall impact. </p>
<p>But the way study participants are selected to participate in trials presents a problem. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.297.11.1233">Recruitment is generally limited</a> to those with milder conditions, those without co-existing disorders, or those taking limited medications. Participants might also sign up to obtain medication at no cost, which may affect their motivation and reporting. Finally, the observations made by managing doctors commonly differ from those made by the patients about the benefits and side effect impact of the drugs given.</p>
<p>So there is a strong argument for the need for “real-world” studies prioritising the views of patients with a bipolar disorder, instead of judging drugs via clinical trials and external raters.</p>
<h2>Accounting for side effects</h2>
<p>In addition to evaluating the effectiveness of any drug, we need to assess the side-effects. For instance, lithium can be the right medication for some with a bipolar disorder and, as noted, it is the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/acps.12717">most frequently recommended</a> medication across clinical guidelines. However, it has <a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/s40345-016-0068-y">multiple side effects</a>. </p>
<p>Our 2021 <a href="https://doi.org/10.1097/JCP.0000000000001424">efficacy study</a> compared lithium and lamotrigine in a small sample of patients with bipolar II. For the 28 patients who completed the study, the benefits were similar for the two medications. But 50% of the completers receiving lithium experienced distinctive cognitive impairment – side effects that affected their thinking and reasoning. </p>
<p>This is of particular concern because bipolar disorders are known to be <a href="https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Touched-With-Fire/Kay-Redfield-Jamison/9780684831831">over-represented in creative people</a> and high achievers. We suspect, from clinical observation, that lithium is not the best option for bipolar II, and the first author has long observed it is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1097/JCP.0000000000001424">more cognitively “toxic”</a> for those individuals with a bipolar II condition.</p>
<p>Many of the antipsychotic drugs nominated in guidelines also have major side effects, including <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0094112">weight gain</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.bp.109.076935">diabetes</a>. People who are stable while taking these medications without major side effects should not be alarmed. But these risks support a push for more tailored treatments based on real-life costs and benefits, informed by people’s experiences.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-poo-dose-a-day-may-keep-bipolar-away-when-it-comes-to-mental-health-what-else-could-poo-do-177748">A poo dose a day may keep bipolar away. When it comes to mental health, what else could poo do?</a>
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<h2>We want to hear from people with bipolar disorders</h2>
<p>All these concerns highlight the need for research focused on “real-world” samples to determine the best treatments that consider each person’s responses to any medication. We are conducting such a study now, in collaboration with the Black Dog Institute. If you are interested, you can access the study <a href="https://www.blackdoginstitute.org.au/research-studies/optimising-treatments-for-bipolar-disorder/">here</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/211124/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gordon Parker receives funding from the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael Spoelma 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>Psychiatrists rely on guidelines to prescribe medication for bipolar disorders. But beyond side-effects and clinical trials, ‘real-world’ effectiveness should be considered thoughtfully.Gordon Parker, Scientia Professor, UNSW SydneyMichael Spoelma, PhD Student, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2065802023-08-24T20:20:46Z2023-08-24T20:20:46ZFriday essay: ‘black bile’, malaria therapy and insulin comas – a brief history of mental illness<p>Possibly the earliest account of a disturbed mind is recorded in a 3,500-year-old <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vedas">Hindu text</a> that describes a man who is “gluttonous, filthy, walks naked, has lost his memory and moves about in an uneasy manner”.</p>
<p>In the Bible’s Old Testament, in the first <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Books-of-Samuel">Book of Samuel</a>, we read that King David simulated madness to gain safety: </p>
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<p>And he changed his behaviour … and feigned himself mad in their hands, and scrabbled on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle fall down upon his beard.</p>
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<p>In the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Book-of-Daniel-Old-Testament">Book of Daniel</a>, we find a vivid description of King Nebuchadnezzar’s mental state: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>And he was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles’ feathers, and his nails like birds’ claws.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The ancient Greeks made early attempts to explain madness. In the 5th century BC, <a href="https://fherehab.com/learning/humors-ancient-mental-health">Hippocrates</a> viewed it as seated in the brain and influenced by four bodily fluids: blood, phlegm, black bile and yellow bile. </p>
<p>The Greek physician Galen, who practised in Rome 600 years later, argued that depression was caused by an excess of black bile (hence the term “melancholia”, from <em>melan</em>, black, and <em>khole</em>, bile). </p>
<p>His contemporary, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Aretaeus-of-Cappadocia">Aretaeus of Cappadocia</a>, colourfully described how, if black bile moves upwards in the body, “it forms melancholy; for it produces flatulence and eructations [or, belches] of a fetid and fishy nature, and it sends rumbling wind downwards, and disturbs the understanding”. </p>
<h2>A troubled mind, possessed</h2>
<p>During the Middle Ages, monasteries preserved the view of madness as an illness, and of those afflicted as sick rather than sinful. At the same time, the more sinister belief that the <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25208453/">principal cause</a> of the troubled mind was possession by spirits or the devil prevailed.</p>
<p>Sufferers were taken to sanctioned healers for <a href="https://theconversation.com/exorcisms-have-been-part-of-christianity-for-centuries-107932">exorcisms</a>, a practice still carried out today in some cultures. People who failed to respond to such treatment might then seek out a celebrated expert. </p>
<p>Consider Hwaetred, a young man living in what is now England in the 7th century, who became tormented by an “evil spirit”. So terrible was his madness that he attacked others with his teeth and killed three men with an axe when they tried to restrain him. Taken to several sacred shrines, he obtained no relief. His despairing parents then heard of Guthlac, a monk who lived a hermit life north of Cambridge. After three days of prayer and fasting, Hwaetred was purportedly cured.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/543694/original/file-20230821-29-c0gqfs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/543694/original/file-20230821-29-c0gqfs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/543694/original/file-20230821-29-c0gqfs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=439&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543694/original/file-20230821-29-c0gqfs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=439&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543694/original/file-20230821-29-c0gqfs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=439&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543694/original/file-20230821-29-c0gqfs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=552&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543694/original/file-20230821-29-c0gqfs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=552&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543694/original/file-20230821-29-c0gqfs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=552&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">St Francis Borgia Helping a Dying Impenitent – Goya (1788)</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia Commons</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Over time, the role of religious authorities in mental illness dwindled, and the medical profession claimed the exclusive practice of the healing arts. Insanity once more came to be seen more as a physical malady than a spiritual taint. Even so, life for the mentally ill could be appalling. </p>
<p>During the 17th century, religiously inspired persecution of the mentally ill was justified by the clerical hierarchy, and treatment was often some combination of neglect and bestial restraint. </p>
<p>Psychiatrists Martin Roth and Jerome Kroll <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books/about/The_Reality_of_Mental_Illness.html?id=pCQ4AAAAIAAJ&redir_esc=y">describe</a> the insane in this period as “miserable individuals, wandering around in village and in forest, taken from shrine to shrine, sometimes tied up when they became too violent”.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-invention-of-satanic-witchcraft-by-medieval-authorities-was-initially-met-with-skepticism-140809">The invention of satanic witchcraft by medieval authorities was initially met with skepticism</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>A watershed: asylums</h2>
<p>The late 18th century was a watershed in the history of psychiatry. The insanity of England’s <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-22122407">King George III</a> revealed society’s ambivalence to the mentally ill (vividly captured in the 1994 film <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110428/">The Madness of King George</a>). </p>
<p>In France, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Philippe-Pinel">Philippe Pinel</a> released the chains that had fettered the “lunatic” for centuries, ushering in an unprecedented phase of benevolent institutional care. </p>
<p><a href="https://dictionary.apa.org/moral-therapy">Moral therapy</a>, a form of individualised care in small hospital settings, was promoted by English Quakers at the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Retreat">York Retreat</a> and gradually supplanted inhumane physical treatments such as purging, bleeding and dunking in cold water.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/BHNSAK8d3qc?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">English society’s ambivalence to the mentally ill in the 18th century is depicted in the 1994 film, The Madness of King George.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As populations grew and urbanised, the sheer numbers of mentally ill people in burgeoning city slums demanded action. An institutional solution emerged. </p>
<p>Asylums (from the Greek word meaning “refuge”) were built in rural settings with the best of intentions, planned to be havens in which patients would receive humane care. In the serenity of the countryside, and through carrying out undemanding tasks, they could be distracted from their internal torment and find dignity far from the bustling crowd. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Daniel-Defoe">Daniel Defoe</a>, the English writer, remained unconvinced: “This is the height of barbarity and injustice in a Christian country; it is a clandestine Inquisition, nay worse.”</p>
<p>Although conceived in a spirit of optimism, asylums tended to deteriorate into centres of hopelessness and demoralisation. They soon became overcrowded dumps. Institutions built for a few hundred people were soon holding thousands. Very few residents were discharged; many stayed for decades. Brutal oppression replaced anything that might have resembled treatment; malnutrition and infectious disease became rife.</p>
<p>In the grim environment, people were shut away and forgotten. With them out of sight and out of mind, a loss of public interest and political neglect became the norm.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/543690/original/file-20230821-15-v420lw.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/543690/original/file-20230821-15-v420lw.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/543690/original/file-20230821-15-v420lw.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=483&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543690/original/file-20230821-15-v420lw.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=483&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543690/original/file-20230821-15-v420lw.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=483&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543690/original/file-20230821-15-v420lw.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=607&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543690/original/file-20230821-15-v420lw.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=607&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543690/original/file-20230821-15-v420lw.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=607&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Asylums were conceived optimistically, but more often housed oppression than treatment. Picture: The Hospital of Bethlehem.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wellcome Collection</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The brooding building on the hill came to symbolise the stigma and fear attached to mental illness. By the mid-19th century, critics were voicing concerns that asylums had become human warehouses that entrenched mental illness rather than curing it. </p>
<p>The combination of powerless patients, hospitals run more for the convenience of staff than for the benefit of the sick, inadequate inspection by state bodies, and lack of resources led at times to quite disgraceful conditions. Unwittingly, the spread of asylums also triggered the movement of psychiatry away from the mainstream of medicine.</p>
<p>The conditions of the asylums are evocatively described in Henry Handel Richardson’s Australian novel <a href="https://www.textpublishing.com.au/books/the-fortunes-of-richard-mahony">The Fortunes of Richard Mahony</a>. We read of Richard’s decline, probably from syphilis affecting the brain, which at that time afflicted a large proportion of mental patients.</p>
<p>Towards the end of the novel, his wife comes to visit him in the asylum:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>She hung her head … while the warder told the tale of Richard’s misdeeds. 97B was, he declared, not only disobedient and disorderly, he was extremely abusive, dirty in his habits … he refused to wash himself, or to eat his food … she had to keep a grip on her mind to hinder it from following the picture up: Richard, forced by this burly brute to grope on the floor for his spilt food, to scrape it together, and either eat it or have it thrust down his throat … There was not only feeding by force, the straitjacket, the padded cell. There were drugs and injections, given to keep a patient quiet and ensure his warders their freedom.</p>
</blockquote>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-case-for-the-fortunes-of-richard-mahony-by-henry-handel-richardson-24474">The case for The Fortunes of Richard Mahony by Henry Handel Richardson</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Great and desperate cures</h2>
<p>In the asylum, psychiatry turned into a modern medical discipline. The
accumulation of thousands of patients provided the first opportunity
to study mental illness systematically and to develop theories about its
causes. </p>
<p>The idea that these conditions were due to brain alterations, and especially degenerative processes, became dominant, encouraged by the discovery of the cerebral pathology associated with <a href="https://www.healthline.com/health/neurosyphilis">neurosyphilis</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-causes-alzheimers-disease-what-we-know-dont-know-and-suspect-75847">Alzheimer’s disease</a>. A similar degenerative process was proposed by the great German psychiatrist <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Emil-Kraepelin">Emil Kraepelin</a> to cause <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/computer-science/dementia-praecox">dementia praecox</a> – later renamed “schizophrenia” – leading to pessimism about the possibility of recovery.</p>
<p>But the priority for asylums was to relieve the suffering of overwhelming numbers of disturbed patients. Psychiatrists grasped for “great and desperate cures”. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_R._Rollin">Henry Rollin</a>, an English psychiatrist and medical historian, captures the intense zeal:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The physical treatment of the frankly psychotic during these centuries makes spine-chilling reading. Evacuation by vomiting, purgatives, sweating, blisters, and bleeding were considered essential […] There was indeed no insult to the human body, no trauma, no indignity which was not at one time or other piously prescribed for the unfortunate victim.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Treatments were sometimes based on rational grounds. Malaria therapy, for instance, was launched as a treatment for neurosyphilis by the Viennese psychiatrist <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Julius-Wagner-Jauregg">Julius Wagner-Jauregg</a> in 1917, earning him a Nobel Prize ten years later. </p>
<p>The high fever caused by the malarial parasite disabled the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/spirochete">spirochete</a> that caused neurosyphilis, but the hope that it would be equally effective for other forms of psychosis was soon dashed. The wished-for panacea was not to be.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/543703/original/file-20230821-10846-x44evz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/543703/original/file-20230821-10846-x44evz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/543703/original/file-20230821-10846-x44evz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543703/original/file-20230821-10846-x44evz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543703/original/file-20230821-10846-x44evz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543703/original/file-20230821-10846-x44evz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543703/original/file-20230821-10846-x44evz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543703/original/file-20230821-10846-x44evz.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">Malaria therapy, a treatment for neurosyphilis, earned its inventor a Nobel Prize.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jimmy Chan/Pexels</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/insulin-shock-therapy">Insulin-coma therapy</a> was introduced by Manfred Sakel in the 1930s in Vienna and was soon being used in many countries to treat schizophrenia. An insulin injection was administered six days a week for several weeks, producing a state of light coma lasting about an hour, because of reduced glucose reaching the brain. </p>
<p>Many years later, an investigation carried out in the Institute of Psychiatry in London, a leading research centre at the time, showed conclusively that the coma itself was of no therapeutic value. Any positive change was probably due to the staff’s painstaking care.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/girl-interrupted-interrogates-how-women-are-mad-when-they-refuse-to-conform-30-years-on-this-memoir-is-still-important-199211">Girl, Interrupted interrogates how women are 'mad' when they refuse to conform – 30 years on, this memoir is still important</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>ECT and lithium</h2>
<p>The first widely available and effective biological treatments for mental illness were developed in the asylum. The discovery in 1938 of <a href="https://theconversation.com/electroconvulsive-therapy-a-history-of-controversy-but-also-of-help-70938">electroconvulsive therapy</a> (ECT) by <a href="https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/view/ugo-cerletti">Ugo Cerletti</a> and Lucio Bini, two Italian psychiatrists, led to a dramatically effective treatment for people with severe depression. </p>
<p>ECT was eagerly adopted in practice, but its history illustrates a typical pattern of treatment in psychiatry: unbridled early enthusiasm is later tempered by a protracted process of scientific evaluation. </p>
<p>The same can be said of the use of brain surgery to modify psychiatric symptoms. This was pioneered in 1936 by Portuguese neurologist <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Antonio-Egas-Moniz">António Egas Moniz</a> (another Nobel Prize winner in the field of psychiatry) and surgeon Almeida Lima, and remains controversial in psychiatry to this day.</p>
<p>A momentous breakthrough was the discovery in 1949 by <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-02480-0">John Cade</a>, an Australian psychiatrist, of lithium as a treatment for manic excitement. The lithium story reveals how the incorporation of a new medication into psychiatric practice is not always smooth. </p>
<p>Several US and Danish psychiatrists had experimented with lithium in the 1870s and 1890s, only to have their work ignored until Cade’s rediscovery. It was another 18 years before lithium was shown to prevent the recurrence of severe changes of mood, its primary clinical use now.</p>
<p>Major tranquillisers were added to the growing range of psychiatric medications after being discovered fortuitously in 1953. An antihistamine used to calm patients undergoing surgery was shown to reduce the torment of psychotic patients, but without making them sleepy. </p>
<p>Shortly after this, the US psychiatrist <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1983/02/14/obituaries/nathan-kline-developer-of-antidepressants-dies.html">Nathan Kline</a> discovered that a drug being tested for its effect in patients with tuberculosis had antidepressant properties — the forerunner of medications for depression. All these drugs radically transformed the practice of psychiatry. </p>
<h2>Freud, ‘talking cures’ and shell shock</h2>
<p>A very different aspect of mental health care arose in the 1890s, outside
the asylum. Concerned with neurotic conditions, the new treatment grew chiefly out of neurology but was also influenced by a scientific interest in hypnosis and the unconscious. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/543695/original/file-20230821-25-qtirft.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/543695/original/file-20230821-25-qtirft.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/543695/original/file-20230821-25-qtirft.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=816&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543695/original/file-20230821-25-qtirft.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=816&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543695/original/file-20230821-25-qtirft.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=816&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543695/original/file-20230821-25-qtirft.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1025&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543695/original/file-20230821-25-qtirft.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1025&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543695/original/file-20230821-25-qtirft.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1025&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sigmund Freud.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Max Halberstadt/Wikimedia Commons</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Sigmund Freud conceived a dynamic model of the mind in which, through the mechanism of repression, painful or threatening emotions, memories and impulses are prevented from escaping into conscious awareness. </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/a-dangerous-method-in-defence-of-freuds-psychoanalysis-5989">Psychoanalysis</a> grew to become an integrated set of concepts about normal and abnormal mental functioning and personality development, and spawned a new method of psychologically based treatment. Psychoanalysis emerged as a major theoretical underpinning of contemporary “talking cures” (psychotherapies), and its influence spread far beyond treating mental ill-health.</p>
<p>Both world wars profoundly influenced the field. The high incidence of “<a href="https://theconversation.com/shell-shock-treatments-reveal-the-conflict-in-psychiatrys-heart-29822">shell shock</a>” in World War I drove home the lesson that mental illness could affect not only those genetically predisposed, but even the supposedly robust. It soon emerged that anyone exposed to traumatic experiences was vulnerable. </p>
<p>A positive outcome from World War II was the development of techniques for screening large numbers of recruits, which revealed the substantial prevalence of emotional problems among young adults. </p>
<p>The need to treat numerous psychiatric casualties led to the development of group therapies. These paved the way for the so-called <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Therapeutic_community">therapeutic community</a>, based on the idea that an entire ward of patients could be an integral part of treatment.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ehPcYibzUKc?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Group therapy, as depicted in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The idea of deinstitutionalisation began to gather pace in the 1960s, driven by a burgeoning civil-rights movement. <a href="https://www.penguin.com.au/books/asylums-9780241548004">Asylums</a>, an influential book at the time by sociologist Erving Goffman, containing his minute observations of the sense of oppression experienced by patients in these “total institutions”, was one catalyst for their closure. </p>
<p>Hundreds of thousands of long-stay patients began to be transferred to alternative accommodation and specialist care in the community, a process that is still in progress.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-body-keeps-the-score-how-a-bestselling-book-helps-us-understand-trauma-but-inflates-the-definition-of-it-184735">The Body Keeps the Score: how a bestselling book helps us understand trauma – but inflates the definition of it</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>What is mental illness?</h2>
<p>It is challenging to define what makes a pattern of behaviour and experience a mental disorder. Generally, such a pattern – or “syndrome” – is considered to be a disorder if it is associated with psychological distress, such as intense and prolonged anxiety or sadness, or significant dysfunction, such as a serious impairment in functioning in one or more key areas of daily life. </p>
<p>If the pattern is short-lived, relatively mild, or entirely understandable in light of the trials and tribulations of the person’s life, it should be seen as a problem in living rather than a mental disorder. Such problems may still benefit from consultation with a mental health professional despite not being diagnosable disorders.</p>
<p>This definition of what counts as a mental disorder also clarifies what is not a mental disorder. Merely being unusual or violating social norms does not mean a person has a disorder. </p>
<p>It is difficult sometimes to decide whether a new kind of behaviour is a mental disorder. For instance, should <a href="https://theconversation.com/no-youre-probably-not-addicted-to-your-smartphone-but-you-might-use-it-too-much-89853">excessive smartphone use</a> or <a href="https://theconversation.com/gambling-on-pokies-is-like-tobacco-no-amount-of-it-is-safe-51037">compulsive gambling</a> be counted as diagnosable addictions?</p>
<h2>Troubling cases</h2>
<p>These decisions about what to include under the umbrella of mental illness are fraught, and there have been some troubling historical cases when disturbing decisions were made or proposed. </p>
<p>In the 1850s, for example, Samuel Cartwright, a physician from Alabama, proposed a new diagnosis called “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2000/01/15/arts/bigotry-as-mental-illness-or-just-another-norm.html">drapetomania</a>” to explain why African-American slaves would wish to escape their servitude. </p>
<p>He recommended slaves should be treated kindly and humanely to prevent the disorder, but whipped if this treatment failed. A more patent abuse of the concept of mental illness would be hard to imagine, and it should be noted that other physicians ridiculed Cartwright’s proposal at the time.</p>
<p>Two other controversial cases date to the last century. In the early 1970s, one of us (Sidney) stumbled across disturbing media reports that many political and religious dissenters and human-rights activists in the Soviet Union were being labelled as mentally ill and detained in mental hospitals indefinitely or until they renounced their “disturbed ideas”. </p>
<p>For instance, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petro_Grigorenko">General Pyotr Grigorenko</a> criticised the privileges of the Soviet elite and publicly espoused the rights of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crimean_Tatars">Crimean Tatar</a> ethnic minority group. He was diagnosed with paranoid tendencies, one symptom being his “reformist ideas”, and forcibly committed to a psychiatric facility. </p>
<p>In effect, Soviet psychiatry’s definition of mental illness, and psychosis in particular, was so broad that political beliefs about the desirability of social change were recast as delusions.</p>
<p>The second case comes from the US. <a href="https://daily.jstor.org/how-lgbtq-activists-got-homosexuality-out-of-the-dsm/">Until 1973</a>, homosexuality was defined as a sexual deviation and included in the set of recognised mental disorders. Under pressure from civil, women’s and gay rights activists, it was removed from the diagnostic manual.</p>
<p>Noting such cases, whenever the boundary of a mental illness is expanded to include new diagnoses or loosen old ones, some critics will worry we are treating normal behaviour as a pathology and that we will harm people by labelling them. And whenever the boundary contracts, others will worry that people with psychological troubles are being excluded from clinical care. </p>
<p>Deciding what is and isn’t a mental illness is difficult, but has marked consequences.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>This is an edited extract from <a href="https://scribepublications.com.au/books-authors/books/troubled-mindSees-9781922585875">Troubled Minds: Understanding and treating mental illness</a> by Sidney Bloch and Nick Haslam (Scribe Publications), published 29 August 2023.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/206580/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nick Haslam receives funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sidney Bloch 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>Humans have attempted to understand and treat mental illness for centuries – from ancient Greek medicine, Middle Ages exorcisms and the rise of asylums, to modern medical breakthroughs.Sidney Bloch, Emeritus Professor in Psychiatry, The University of MelbourneNick Haslam, Professor of Psychology, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2085612023-07-05T12:24:00Z2023-07-05T12:24:00Z‘Global China’ is a big part of Latin America’s renewable energy boom, but homegrown industries and ‘frugal innovation’ are key<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534468/original/file-20230627-30373-rvj0lj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=77%2C51%2C8549%2C5691&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Lithium, essential for EV batteries, could be South America's white gold.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/ChileLithium/64ba9a1bc61144b6ae28b5668dd6d07a/photo">AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The story of renewable energy’s rapid rise in Latin America often focuses on Chinese influence, and for good reason. China’s government, banks and companies have propelled the continent’s energy transition, with about <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Z58qGx2rP4">90% of all wind and solar technologies</a> installed there produced by Chinese companies. China’s <a href="https://www.weforum.org/organizations/state-grid-corporation-of-china">State Grid</a> now controls <a href="https://www.wilsoncenter.org/blog-post/its-electric-chinas-power-play-latin-america">over half of Chile’s</a> regulated energy distribution, enough to raise concerns in the Chilean government. </p>
<p>China has also become a major investor in Latin America’s critical minerals sector, a treasure trove of <a href="https://direct.mit.edu/glep/article/23/1/20/111308/The-Security-Sustainability-Nexus-Lithium">lithium</a>, <a href="https://carnegieendowment.org/2023/04/11/how-indonesia-used-chinese-industrial-investments-to-turn-nickel-into-new-gold-pub-89500">nickel</a>, <a href="https://eba.se/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/DDB_2016_9_Malm_webb.pdf">cobalt</a> and <a href="https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501714597/rare-earth-frontiers/#bookTabs=1">rare earth elements</a> that are crucial for developing electric vehicles, wind turbines and defense technologies.</p>
<p>In 2018, the Chinese company Tianqi Lithium purchased a <a href="https://www.iea.org/reports/the-role-of-critical-minerals-in-clean-energy-transitions">23% share</a> in one of Chile’s largest lithium producers, Sociedad Química y Minera. More recently, in 2022, Ganfeng Lithium bought a major evaporative lithium project in Argentina for <a href="https://www.bu.edu/gdp/2023/04/20/china-latin-america-and-the-caribbean-economic-bulletin-2023-edition/">US$962 million</a>. In April 2023, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Chinese President Xi Jinping signed around 20 agreements to <a href="https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/new-atlanticist/what-the-lula-xi-partnership-means-for-the-world/">strengthen their countries’ already close relationship</a>, including in the areas of trade, climate change and the energy transition.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Juan Carlos Jobet and Carolina Schmidt, wearing matching fleece jackets, walk on either side Xie Zhenhua, who is wearing in a suit and tie, along a row of solar panels." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534909/original/file-20230629-25-zguqfv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534909/original/file-20230629-25-zguqfv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534909/original/file-20230629-25-zguqfv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534909/original/file-20230629-25-zguqfv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534909/original/file-20230629-25-zguqfv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534909/original/file-20230629-25-zguqfv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534909/original/file-20230629-25-zguqfv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">China’s interest in South America’s energy resources has been growing for years. In 2019, China’s special representative for climate change, Xie Zhenhua, met with Chile’s then-ministers of energy and environment, Juan Carlos Jobet and Carolina Schmidt, in Chile.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/chilean-energy-minister-juan-carlos-jobet-chinas-special-news-photo/1162986090?adppopup=true">Martin Bernetti/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>China’s growing influence over global clean energy supply chains and its leverage over countries’ energy systems have <a href="https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/china-influence-latin-america-argentina-brazil-venezuela-security-energy-bri">raised international concerns</a>. But the relationship between China and Latin America is also increasingly complicated as Latin American countries try to secure their resources and their own clean energy futures.</p>
<p>Alongside international investments, Latin American countries are fostering energy innovation cultures that are homegrown, dynamic, creative, often grassroots and frequently overlooked. These range from sophisticated innovations with high-tech materials to a phenomenon known as “frugal innovation.” </p>
<h2>Chile looks to the future</h2>
<p>Chile is an example of how Latin America is embracing renewable energy while trying to plan a more self-reliant future.</p>
<p>New geothermal, solar and <a href="https://www.evwind.es/2023/02/13/repsol-and-ibereolica-renovables-start-producing-electricity-at-the-atacama-wind-farm-chile/90178">wind power</a> projects – some built with Chinese backing, <a href="https://www.eulaif.eu/en/news/first-concentrated-solar-power-plant-latin-america-built-support-eu-laif-kfw-and-corfo">but not all</a> – have pushed Chile far past its 2025 renewable energy goal. <a href="https://www.iea.org/countries/chile">About one-third</a> of the country is now powered by clean energy.</p>
<p>But the big prize, and a large part of China’s interest, lies buried in Chile’s Atacama Desert, home to the world’s <a href="https://www.wilsoncenter.org/blog-post/all-eyes-chile-amid-global-scramble-lithium">largest lithium reserves</a>. Lithium, a silvery-white metal, is essential for producing lithium ion batteries that power most electric vehicles and utility-scale energy storage. Countries around the world have been scrambling to secure lithium sources, and the Chilean government is determined to keep control over its reserves, currently about <a href="https://pubs.usgs.gov/periodicals/mcs2021/mcs2021-lithium.pdf">one-half of the planet’s known supply</a> .</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A worker carries a large hose along the edge of a turquoise lithium pond. The worker is wearing a facemask against the dust and reflective gear." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534465/original/file-20230627-25-yw2py4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534465/original/file-20230627-25-yw2py4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534465/original/file-20230627-25-yw2py4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534465/original/file-20230627-25-yw2py4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534465/original/file-20230627-25-yw2py4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534465/original/file-20230627-25-yw2py4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534465/original/file-20230627-25-yw2py4.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">Brine slowly turns into lithium at the Albemarle lithium mine in Chile’s Atacama Desert.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/ChileLithium/7ec3d5fa4a5c4a98a60138eda15146d9/photo">AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In April 2023, Chile’s president announced a <a href="https://www.wilsoncenter.org/blog-post/chiles-national-lithium-strategy-new-beginning">national lithium strategy</a> to ensure that the state holds partial ownership of some future lithium developments. The move, which has yet to be approved, has <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/05/26/chile-lithium-batteries-mining-environment-climate-energy-transition/">drawn complaints</a> that it could slow production. </p>
<p>However, the government aims to <a href="https://www.investchile.gob.cl/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/brochure-litio-.pdf">increase profits from lithium production</a> while strengthening environmental safeguards and sharing more wealth with the country’s citizens, including local communities impacted by lithium projects. Latin America has seen its resources <a href="https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2017/10/05/NA100517-Missed-Opportunities-The-Economic-History-of-Latin-America">sold out from under it</a> before, and Chile doesn’t intend to lose out on its natural value this time.</p>
<h2>Learning from foreign investors</h2>
<p>Developing its own renewable energy industry has been a priority in Chile for well over a decade, but it’s been a rough road at times.</p>
<p>In 2009, the government began establishing national and international centers of excellence – <a href="https://anid.cl/centros-e-investigacion-asociativa/centros-de-excelencia-internacional/">Centros de Excelencia Internacional</a> – for research in strategic fields such as solar energy, geothermal energy and climate resilience. It invited and co-financed foreign research institutes, such as Europe’s influential <a href="https://www.fraunhofer.de/en.html">Fraunhofer institute</a> and France’s <a href="https://www.engie.com/en/innovation-transition-energetique/centres-de-recherche/crigen">ENGIELab</a>, to establish branches in Chile and conduct applied research. The latest is a <a href="https://www.oecd.org/dev/Corfo-Session_7_Chilean-Clean_Technologies_Institute.pdf">center for the production of lithium using solar energy</a>.</p>
<p>The government expected that the centers would work with local businesses and research centers, transferring knowledge to feed a local innovation ecosystem. However, reality hasn’t yet matched the expectations. The foreign institutions brought their own trained personnel. And except for the recently established institute for lithium, officials tell us that low financing has been a major problem.</p>
<h2>Chile’s startup incubator and frugal innovation</h2>
<p>While big projects get the headlines, more is going on under the radar.</p>
<p>Chile is home to one of the largest public incubators and seed accelerators in Latin America, <a href="https://startupchile.org/">StartUp Chile</a>. It has helped several local startups that offer important innovations in food, energy, social media, biotech and other sectors.</p>
<p>Often in South America, this kind of innovation is born and developed in a resource-scarce context and under technological, financial and material constraints. This “frugal innovation” emphasizes sustainability with substantially lower costs.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/wYcRSGDB_d4?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Reborn Electric Motors converts old fossil fuel buses into fully electric versions. They are used in urban areas and also by the mining industry.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For example, the independent Chilean startup <a href="https://rebornelectric.cl/">Reborn Electric Motors</a> has developed a business converting old diesel bus fleets into fully electric buses. Reborn was founded in 2016 when the national electromobility market in Chile was in its early stages, before China’s BYD ramped up electric bus use in local cities. </p>
<p>Reborn’s retrofitted buses are both technologically advanced and significantly cheaper than their Chinese counterparts. While BYD’s new electric bus costs roughly US$320,000, a retrofitted equivalent from Reborn costs roughly half, around $170,000. The company has also secured funding to develop a prototype for <a href="https://rebornelectric.cl/hydra-consortium-of-which-reborn-electric-motors-is-a-part-begins-testing-of-the-green-hydrogen-prototype-for-mining-vehicles/">running mining vehicles on green hydrogen</a>.</p>
<p>Bolivia’s “tiny supercheap EV” developed by homegrown startup <a href="https://tuquantum.com/">Industrias Quantum Motors</a> is another example of frugal innovation in the electric vehicles space. The startup aspires to bring electric mobility widely to the Latin American population. It offers the tiniest EV car possible, one that can be plugged into a standard wall socket. The car costs around $6,000 and has a range of approximately 34 miles (55 kilometers) per charge.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A tiny car big enough for one person, with no passenger seats, drives down a street of brick buildings. Quantum Motors, its maker, is based in Bolivia." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534466/original/file-20230627-34413-fbnmsn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534466/original/file-20230627-34413-fbnmsn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534466/original/file-20230627-34413-fbnmsn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534466/original/file-20230627-34413-fbnmsn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534466/original/file-20230627-34413-fbnmsn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=524&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534466/original/file-20230627-34413-fbnmsn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=524&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534466/original/file-20230627-34413-fbnmsn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=524&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Quantum Motors, a startup in Bolivia, launched its affordable mini-vehicles in 2019.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/BoliviaElectricCars/27f7b88da1d147408aca8fca231b4599/photo">AP Photo/Juan Karita</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://www.phineal.com/en/home_en/">Phineal</a> is another promising Chilean company that offers clean energy solutions, focusing on solar energy projects. Its projects include solar systems installation, electromobility technology and technology using blockchain to improve renewable energy management in Latin America. Many of these are highly sophisticated and technologically advanced projects that have found markets overseas, including in Germany.</p>
<h2>Looking ahead to green hydrogen</h2>
<p>Chile is also diving into another cutting-edge area of clean energy. Using its abundant solar and wind power to <a href="https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/fandd/issues/2022/12/country-case-chile-bet-on-green-hydrogen-Bartlett">produce green hydrogen</a> for export as a fossil fuel replacement has become a government priority.</p>
<p>The government is developing a <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2023/01/how-chile-is-becoming-a-leader-in-renewable-energy/">public-private partnership</a> of an unprecedented scale in Chile for hydrogen production and has committed to cover 30% of an expected <a href="https://energia.gob.cl/sites/default/files/national_green_hydrogen_strategy_-_chile.pdf">$193 million public and private investment</a>, funded in part by its lithium and copper production. Some questions surround the partnership, including Chile’s lack of experience administering such a large project and concerns about the <a href="https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/fandd/issues/2022/12/country-case-chile-bet-on-green-hydrogen-Bartlett">environmental impact</a>. The government claims Chile’s green energy production could <a href="https://energia.gob.cl/sites/default/files/national_green_hydrogen_strategy_-_chile.pdf">eventually rival its mining industry</a>.</p>
<p>With plentiful hydropower and sunshine, Latin America already meets a <a href="https://www.mapfreglobalrisks.com/gerencia-riesgos-seguros/articulos/energias-renovables-tendencias-en-latinoamerica/">quarter of its energy demand</a> with renewables – nearly twice the global average. Chile and its neighbors envision those numbers only rising.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/208561/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Zdenka Myslikova is affiliated with the Climate Policy Lab in The Fletcher School at Tufts University.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nathaniel Dolton-Thornton is affiliated with the Climate Policy Lab in The Fletcher School at Tufts University.</span></em></p>China is a major investor in Latin America’s renewable energy and critical minerals like lithium, but countries like Chile are also taking steps to secure their own clean energy future.Zdenka Myslikova, Postdoctoral Scholar in Clean Energy Innovation, Tufts UniversityNathaniel Dolton-Thornton, Assistant Researcher in Climate Policy, Tufts UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2029952023-05-25T13:51:35Z2023-05-25T13:51:35ZGreenwashing: energy companies make false claims about sustainability – they should be held to account<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/523404/original/file-20230428-14-ecf5ph.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=14%2C22%2C4905%2C3253&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A farmer walks on a marshy shore of a river polluted by oil spills in Nigeria’s Niger delta, region.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/farmer-walks-on-a-marshy-shore-of-a-river-polluted-by-oil-news-photo/1234984177?adppopup=true">Pius Utomi Ekpei/ AFP</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Peacebuilding</p>
<p>Companies implement corporate social responsibility (CSR) as a way to present an environmentally responsible image and therefore gain legitimacy in the eyes of their stakeholders. But some companies don’t actually live up to their claims. </p>
<p>Some businesses claim to be doing good for the environment, but don’t. Often they undertake green projects only for marketing purposes or to brand their products. Or they do only what legislation and stakeholder pressure force them to.</p>
<p>But others use CSR to achieve long-term competitive advantages. They see these “sustainable strategies” as a core part of their overall corporate strategy. They align their social commitments with their business objectives. They commit to responsible business practices that reduce their carbon footprint and minimise negative environmental impact.</p>
<p>To understand better the strategic corporate social responsibility, we <a href="https://www.intechopen.com/chapters/83782">analysed</a> relevant studies and theories on CSR strategies. We concluded that companies disclose positive communication while they undertake irresponsible practices. We distinguish two types of CSR strategies:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>those introduced to cope with environmental and social legislation and the stakeholders’ pressure (responsive CSR); and </p></li>
<li><p>strategies considering CSR as a differentiation process aligning social, environmental and financial performances.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>In a second study, we <a href="https://www.intechopen.com/chapters/83415">examined</a> how corporate lobbying could help businesses overcome their irresponsible actions and improve their CSR strategy, specifically after a greenwashing scandal. We explained how this type of incident could bring opportunities to meet stakeholders’ calls for action and how lobbying could drive a cleaner market image. </p>
<p>We <a href="https://www.intechopen.com/online-first/83415">looked at</a> how big firms such as <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0263596">ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell and BP</a> in the energy sector use CSR to legitimise their bad practices. An example is <a href="https://www.globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/greenwashing/fossil-fuel-greenwash-since-launch-of-green-claims-code/#:%7E:text=The%20fossil%20fuel%20industry's%20insidious%20record%20of%20greenwashing&text=A%202021%20study%20found%20that,action%20over%20misleading%20environmental%20claims.">posting misleading messaging on the social media</a> about investing in low carbon projects, yet <a href="https://www.euronews.com/green/2022/09/23/shell-bp-exxon-seized-emails-reveal-deceptive-climate-tactics-and-greenwashing">increasing exploration</a> rather than decreasing it.</p>
<p>The energy sector is among the biggest polluters in the world. It <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/emissions-by-sector#energy-electricity-heat-and-transport-73-2">produced</a> 73.2% of global greenhouse gas emissions in 2016.</p>
<p>We found that energy companies used CSR projects to mask their environmentally destructive practices. They also misled the public about environmental achievements – a practice referred to as greenwashing. The studies also set out why, and how, civil society can play an active role in promoting sustainable practices.</p>
<h2>The studies</h2>
<p>Based on a survey of the literature reviewing different methodologies of more than 100 studies, we conclude that it is frequent that businesses in different sectors use elementary strategies to comply with social and environmental regulations. They aim to gain legitimacy in the stakeholders’ eyes without making corporate social responsibility a cornerstone of their overall strategy. </p>
<p>Secondly, the studies address how ambiguous claims, sophisticated euphemisms, or pure lies have become frequent in business communication specifically on sustainable and corporate social responsibility activities. </p>
<p>Thirdly, the studies explain how companies accused of greenwashing (misleading the public about environmental achievements) could use the scandals to rethink their social and environmental strategies and introduce effective changes. </p>
<h2>Misleading information</h2>
<p>Energy companies in 55 countries are committed to the Paris Agreement and a net-zero emission world, aiming at keeping global heating under 1.5°C. But <a href="https://oversightdemocrats.house.gov/news/press-releases/oversight-committee-releases-new-documents-showing-big-oil-s-greenwashing">a US congressional investigation</a> that analysed 200 pages of internal corporate memos found oil giants <a href="https://www.euronews.com/green/2022/09/23/shell-bp-exxon-seized-emails-reveal-deceptive-climate-tactics-and-greenwashing#:%7E:text=A%20US%20congressional%20investigation%20into,and%20joke%20about%20climate%20collapse%5D">such as Shell, Chevron and ExxonMobil</a> were paying lip service to the agreement. </p>
<p>We can read, for instance:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Shell has no immediate plans to move to a <a href="https://www.desmog.com/2023/02/09/clientearth-lawsuit-uk-shell-board-directors-energy-transition/">net-zero emissions</a> portfolio over our investment horizon of 10-20 years. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>According to Richard Wiles, president of the Centre for Climate Integrity, these revelations are </p>
<blockquote>
<p>the latest evidence that oil giants keep <a href="https://www.euronews.com/green/2022/09/23/shell-bp-exxon-seized-emails-reveal-deceptive-climate-tactics-and-greenwashing#:%7E:text=Politicians%20and%20campaigners%20have%20slammed,the%20Center%20for%20Climate%20Integrity">lying</a> about their commitments to solve the climate crisis and should never be trusted by policymakers.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>However, we also argue that there are negative as well as potential positive outcomes from <a href="https://www.intechopen.com/chapters/83415">greenwashing</a>. </p>
<h2>Negatives and positives</h2>
<p>The negative effects of greenwashing, such as misleading and manipulating consumers, avoiding concrete actions and blocking green transition, can be significant.</p>
<p>The continuous exposure to green claims inspired by superficial green branding can <a href="https://www.intechopen.com/online-first/83782">shape</a> and establish new social norms. And <a href="https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/JCM-06-2019-3257/full/html">research has found that</a>, greenwashing can ultimately undermine the establishment of sustainable social norms by eroding trust and credibility in green claims.</p>
<p>But there’s the potential for companies to use a negative situation as an opportunity to initiate positive changes. This is particularly the case when stakeholders, policy and market makers and researchers raise awareness of these practices. Consumers can call for more <a href="https://www.intechopen.com/online-first/83782">transparency</a> and hold companies more accountable when they misbehave. </p>
<p>The 2015 Volkswagen case is instructive. The US government found “irregularities” in tests measuring carbon dioxide emissions levels affecting thousands of cars produced by the German company. The <a href="https://www.epa.gov/enforcement/volkswagen-clean-air-act-civil-settlement">settlement</a> with the US Environmental Protection Agency pushed the company to invest in electric vehicle infrastructure and technology. Volkswagen has subsequently become a key player in the <a href="https://www.volkswagen-newsroom.com/en/press-releases/new-auto-volkswagen-group-set-to-unleash-value-in-battery-electric-autonomous-mobility-world-7313">electric vehicle market</a>.</p>
<p>The public commitment made by companies can also inspire employees to work towards these goals and help to <a href="https://www.intechopen.com/online-first/83415">establish a standard</a> for corporate sustainability.</p>
<h2>Role of civil society</h2>
<p>The outcomes of greenwashing can be heavily influenced by civil society.</p>
<p>In February 2023, the international NGO Global Witness accused one of the largest oil company, Shell, of <a href="https://www.globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/fossil-gas/shell-faces-groundbreaking-complaint-misleading-us-authorities-and-investors-its-energy-transition-efforts/">misleading</a> the US authorities and investors on its green transition. In our <a href="https://www.intechopen.com/chapters/83415">study</a>, we conclude that</p>
<blockquote>
<p>when consumers become aware of socially irresponsible behaviour, their positive identification of the company is interrupted.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Shell disclosed in its 2021 annual report that 12% of its capital expenditure was dedicated to the development of renewable and green energy solutions. However, only 1.5% was used to develop solar and wind sources and power plants. Global Witness found that the company was undertaking climate-wrecking gas projects.</p>
<p>The NGO has lodged a complaint with the <a href="https://www.sec.gov/newsroom/sec-stories/chair-gary-gensler-marks-2nd-year-sec">Securities and Exchange Commission</a> in the US to investigate Shell’s claims. </p>
<p>This is not a unique scandal in which Shell is involved. </p>
<p>A Dutch court in 2021 found Shell’s subsidiary responsible for the oil spills between 2004 and 2007 in Nigeria. It ordered the company to pay compensation to the four Nigerian farmers who initiated the lawsuit. Shell’s reputation was severely impaired. </p>
<p>The company has pledged to <a href="https://corpaccountabilitylab.org/calblog/2023/2/8/shell-agrees-to-pay-15-million-euros-to-nigerian-farmers-and-fishermen#:%7E:text=A%20historic%20settlement,compensation%20for%20the%20harm%20caused.">compensate</a> the Nigerian farmers with €15 million and install a leak detection system. </p>
<p>Shell also <a href="https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/about/article/20221017-about-bc-static-SHELL-UK-0">partnered</a> with an environmental activist think tank, British Cycling to deliver a green image and enhance the acceptance and desirability of its products and services. But, very quickly, British Cycling was <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/british-cycling-cycling-shell-british-friends-of-the-earth-b2199756.html">accused</a> of greenwashing. </p>
<p>Ordinary citizens have been part of the increase in greenwashing awareness. For instance, they have launched many environmental “name and shame” campaigns against giants. In July 2020, misleading communication by Air France about its CO₂-neutral flights was <a href="https://www.francetvinfo.fr/economie/transports/greve-a-air-france/vol-neutre-en-co2-la-petite-mention-d-air-france-qui-fait-tiquer-des-scientifiques_4058309.html">retweeted multiple times</a>. </p>
<h2>Next steps</h2>
<p>A carbon footprint can only be evaluated if the consequences and emissions associated with a range of technologies are taken into account. These range from raw material extraction to disposal or recycling. Many renewable energy technologies still rely to some extent on fossil fuels. It is essential to continuously improve their sustainability and efficiency to achieve a low carbon future. </p>
<p>Many businesses are taking advantage of this complexity and marketing to greenwash their business models without making significant changes.</p>
<p>To combat this, the following is needed:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>transparency </p></li>
<li><p>effective regulation</p></li>
<li><p>monitoring </p></li>
<li><p>a genuine and proactive environmental approach to corporate and social responsibility projects.</p></li>
</ul><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/202995/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>Energy firms are likely to lie about their corporate social responsibility to the environment. Their deception can be turned around for good if they are held accountable.Ouidad Yousfi, Associate Professor of Finance, Université de MontpellierMaha El Kateb, Ph.D candidate, Université de MontpellierLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2061992023-05-24T04:35:44Z2023-05-24T04:35:44ZCooperation with the US could drive Australia’s clean energy shift – but we must act fast<p>A <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/05/20/australia-united-states-climate-critical-minerals-and-clean-energy-transformation-compact/">new pact</a> between Australia and the United States highlights the pivotal role our nation’s mineral wealth will play in the clean energy transition. But it also underscores the massive effort now required from Australia.</p>
<p>Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and US President Joe Biden inked the landmark deal in Japan over the weekend. It cements cooperation between the two nations on climate action, including sharing resources and coordinating on clean energy policy and investment.</p>
<p>Australia and the US have been allies since the end of the Second World War. The new agreement adds climate action as a “third pillar” of the alliance between the two nations, along with defence and economic cooperation. </p>
<p>The enhanced partnership could accelerate Australia’s transition from major fossil fuel exporter to clean energy powerhouse. But success is far from assured. Australia must act fast to seize the opportunity now before us. </p>
<h2>Allies in a warming world</h2>
<p>The Australia-US alliance was not established with a warming planet in mind. However, the climate crisis is now recognised as a national security threat in both <a href="https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/8191288/the-new-defence-strategic-review-sees-climate-as-a-security-risk/">Australia</a> and the <a href="https://climateandsecurity.org/2022/11/briefer-climate-change-a-top-tier-threat-in-the-2022-u-s-national-security-strategy/">US</a>. </p>
<p>In both countries, defence agencies have been increasingly involved in disaster relief operations following unprecedented extreme weather events supercharged by climate change. They include the Black Summer bushfires in Australia and <a href="https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/3194085/national-guard-provides-lifesaving-response-to-hurricane-ian/">Hurricane Ian</a> in the US.</p>
<p>Climate change continues to worsen – and Australia and the US must share some blame. The emissions targets and broader climate policies of both nations are <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/may/23/how-big-a-deal-is-us-and-australian-co-operation-on-climate-and-energy">not consistent</a> with achieving the Paris Agreement goal of limiting warming to 1.5°C.</p>
<p>Both Australia and the US need to accelerate the shift from fossil fuels to clean energy technologies. This includes ending coal-fired power, moving beyond gas and investing in renewables infrastructure. It also requires re-thinking personal transport and decarbonising heavy industries such as steel and cement.</p>
<p>The new climate pact between the two countries recognises the urgent task at hand. It could enable Australia and the US to develop a shared response that matches the scale of the climate crisis.</p>
<p>The deal <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/05/20/australia-united-states-statement-of-intent-climate-critical-minerals-and-the-clean-energy-transformation/">aims</a> to drive ambitious action on climate change and clean energy this decade, both domestically and across the world. Australia and the US will now formally work together to expand and diversify clean energy, and develop the supply of critical minerals used in low-emissions technologies. </p>
<p>Biden was effusive when announcing the deal. Taking hold of Albanese’s arm, he <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-05-20/joe-biden-and-anthony-albanese-meet-at-g7/102372694">said the agreement</a> was testament to the close relationship between the two countries. “And I mean that: close”, he said.</p>
<p>Importantly, Biden will ask the US Congress to <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/mining-energy/hydrogen-critical-minerals-projects-wait-on-details-of-access-to-us-inflation-reduction-act/news-story/47fd9b869589d3c39f6cb7c9b44dfff7">designate</a> Australia as a “domestic supplier”, essentially linking the industrial bases of both nations. This would make Australian companies eligible for select US government subsidies.</p>
<p>More broadly, the pact means Australia may benefit from the huge global momentum on clean energy flowing from the Inflation Reduction Act – the biggest climate spend in US history.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/we-want-more-climate-ambition-in-our-foreign-policy-heres-how-we-can-do-it-204124">We want more climate ambition in our foreign policy
– here's how we can do it</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>The race for tomorrow’s economy</h2>
<p>The Inflation Reduction Act allocates $US369 billion (A$555 billion) in subsidies to drive investment in renewable energy infrastructure and clean energy technologies. The investment is equal to about a quarter of the Australian economy.</p>
<p>Already the act has stimulated <a href="https://cleanpower.org/resources/clean-energy-investing-in-america-report/">more than $A220 billion</a> in private investment in clean energy projects in the US, driving a boom in new solar, battery, and electric vehicle manufacturing facilities. Ultimately, the policy is expected to:</p>
<ul>
<li>spur <a href="https://time.com/6207015/clean-climate-technology-inflation-reduction-act/">more than 1,000</a> new clean tech companies</li>
<li>catalyse <a href="https://igcc.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/IGCC-Climate-Innovation-Summary-Deck.pdf">more than A$3 trillion</a> in investment</li>
<li>create <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/energyinnovation/2022/09/28/inflation-reduction-act-benefits-good-paying-jobs-and-revitalized-us-manufacturing/?sh=68c5e3cb6ff9">nine million new jobs</a> by 2030.</li>
</ul>
<p>When the world’s largest economy makes such a move, it changes the game for everyone. Already, other major economies – including the <a href="https://www.afr.com/companies/energy/green-subsidy-war-looms-as-eu-moves-to-match-us-20230310-p5cqzx">European Union</a>, <a href="https://www.allenovery.com/en-gb/global/news-and-insights/publications/japan-unveils-green-subsidy-programme-can-it-compete-with-the-us-inflation-reduction-act">Japan</a> and <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-03-15/battery-makers-plow-31-billion-into-remaking-korean-steel-hub">South Korea</a> – have responded with industry policy and stimulus packages to support their own clean energy industries. </p>
<p>Effectively, the US has turbo-charged the global clean energy transition.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/6-reasons-2023-could-be-a-very-good-year-for-climate-action-197680">6 reasons 2023 could be a very good year for climate action</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Australia’s moment</h2>
<p>The pact signed between Albanese and Biden at the weekend was scant on detail. However, given the billions the US is throwing at clean energy, Australia can expect to <a href="https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/king-to-spearhead-push-to-mobilise-biden-s-billions-20230522-p5dabl">benefit</a> from the pledge to formalise co-operation on policy and investment.</p>
<p>The Inflation Reduction Act is a major opportunity to expand Australia’s critical mineral exports. Consider lithium, a key component in batteries. Australia is already the world’s <a href="https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20221110-how-australia-became-the-worlds-greatest-lithium-supplier">biggest lithium supplier</a>. US battery manufacturers wanting to access subsidies must use minerals sourced domestically, or from countries with which the US has an existing free trade agreement, such as Australia. </p>
<p>So the US policy will stimulate demand for Australian lithium. As early as 2028, the value of Australia’s lithium exports is set to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/australia-critical-mineral-export-revenue-match-coal-by-2028-govt-report-2023-04-03/">overtake</a> our thermal coal exports – a sign of the times.</p>
<p>However the Inflation Reduction Act also presents a challenge for Australia. Its sheer scale threatens to draw investment and talent away from Australia’s own emerging clean energy industries to the US instead in areas such as green hydrogen and steel. </p>
<p>The federal government is taking steps to address this. The May budget, for instance, contained A$2 billion to support the development of a renewable hydrogen industry in Australia. Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen described it as a “<a href="https://www.afr.com/companies/energy/i-m-big-in-rotterdam-bowen-s-plan-to-stay-in-the-hydrogen-game-20230511-p5d7nb">down payment</a>” on a more fulsome response to Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act.</p>
<p>This response must match the scale of this once-in-a-century opportunity to become a clean energy powerhouse. It should include targeted support to develop new green export industries and help Australia move past a “dig and ship” approach to our resources. By processing minerals here, using Australia’s competitive advantage in renewable energy, we can create more benefits at home. </p>
<p>Clean energy commodities and critical minerals could drive investment and jobs at a scale <a href="https://assets.nationbuilder.com/bca/pages/7182/attachments/original/1678757031/230309_-_Sunshot_-_Final_Report_-_vf.pdf?1678757031">comparable to the recent mining boom</a>. But the race is on, and we need to act fast. If we don’t, other nations – including our US allies – will eat our lunch.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/206199/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Wesley Morgan is a senior researcher with the Climate Council</span></em></p>The enhanced partnership could accelerate Australia’s transition from fossil fuel exporter to clean energy powerhouse. But success is far from assured.Wesley Morgan, Research Fellow, Griffith Asia Institute, Griffith UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1998082023-02-17T10:50:34Z2023-02-17T10:50:34ZHome power backup systems – electrical engineers answer your questions<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/510817/original/file-20230217-25-kdw80u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">South Africans are taking their power supply into their own hands with backup systems that don't rely on power utility Eskom.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source"> Ihsaan Haffejee/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>South Africa’s electricity utility Eskom has made it clear that “loadshedding” – rolling scheduled power cuts – <a href="https://ewn.co.za/2023/01/06/eskom-says-stage-3-and-4-load-shedding-pattern-to-continue-indefinitely">isn’t going to end any time soon</a>. This reality, and President Cyril Ramaphosa’s announcement during his annual state of the nation speech on 9 February 2023 that <a href="https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2023-02-09-ramaphosas-tax-incentives-a-ray-of-light-for-solar-panel-roll-out-to-ease-sas-energy-crisis/">tax incentives for solar power use</a> are imminent, mean that many people <a href="https://theconversation.com/power-cuts-in-south-africa-trend-to-get-off-the-grid-is-gathering-pace-but-total-independence-is-still-a-way-off-197924">are considering</a> alternative electricity supply systems for their homes.</p>
<p>But deciding on the best system isn’t a simple matter. There’s a bewildering array of jargon to sift through and many elements to consider, from the right kind of inverter to the size of your solar panels. </p>
<p>We are electrical engineers who are working on a standalone charger for small electric vehicles with the <a href="https://sanedi.org.za/">South African National Energy Development Institute</a> as part of the <a href="https://www.leap-re.eu/">Long-Term Joint European Union - African Union Research and Innovation Partnership on Renewable Energy</a>. The way the charger is designed resembles the sort of system needed for domestic power cut solutions. So, we’re able to answer a few questions for those who feel overwhelmed by the options. Our full and detailed instructions for designing a loadshedding system are <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UGY-cR-HHXbmjFXhyJVvWlrpax9CbAqw/view">available here</a>.</p>
<h2>What is an inverter?</h2>
<p>This is a key component of any alternative power system. It’s an electronic device that changes direct current (like energy stored in a battery) into alternating current (power for your home).</p>
<p>There are a few kinds of inverters. Some are grid-tied (synchronous) with Eskom’s power grid. They are typically used with solar systems that augment the Eskom supply. But they are not suitable for loadshedding solutions. </p>
<p>You also get off-grid (grid-forming) inverters, which form their own mini-grid and can operate during power cuts.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/510818/original/file-20230217-24-ilirdv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A small white box with wires coming out of it" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/510818/original/file-20230217-24-ilirdv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/510818/original/file-20230217-24-ilirdv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=336&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510818/original/file-20230217-24-ilirdv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=336&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510818/original/file-20230217-24-ilirdv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=336&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510818/original/file-20230217-24-ilirdv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=422&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510818/original/file-20230217-24-ilirdv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=422&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510818/original/file-20230217-24-ilirdv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=422&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 inverter system will look something like this.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Suranto W/Shutterstock/Editorial use only</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We recommend a hybrid inverter, which can be grid-tied to augment supply and seamlessly continue operation as an off-grid solution during loadshedding. You want a hybrid inverter that can connect to the grid, battery backup, and to solar panels. To extract the maximum power from the solar panels, be sure to get one that has maximum power point tracking (MPPT). </p>
<h2>What size should the system be?</h2>
<p>This purchase should be a long term investment. The inverter must be able to carry the sum of all the loads that are drawing power at any instant in time and the battery must be able to supply the energy required. </p>
<p>To reduce both the upfront capital cost and operational expenditure, you need to decide what is essential. Lights? Your washing machine? The stove and electric kettle? Then you need to make sure they are as energy efficient as possible before you size the backup system. For example, old incandescent lights use ten times more energy than LED lights do.</p>
<p>This table lists a few typical household items and their power consumption. </p>
<iframe title="[ Power and energy consumption of household appliances ]" aria-label="Table" id="datawrapper-chart-Oc5GY" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/Oc5GY/1/" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="width: 0; min-width: 100% !important; border: none;" height="896" data-external="1" width="100%"></iframe>
<h2>Why do I need batteries for my system?</h2>
<p>It is theoretically possible for an inverter to generate electricity for household use directly from solar panels. But the supply from panels is intermittent and often not powerful enough to reliably supply power to the varying loads in the house. </p>
<p>To overcome this problem, energy is stored in the batteries. This provides a more stable source of power which responds to demand during loadshedding.</p>
<p>Battery capacity is specified as kWh (kilowatt hours) or Ah (ampere hours). This determines the amount of energy it can supply. A battery with a capacity of 5kWh can theoretically supply 5kW for an hour. But if a lithium battery is discharged beyond 20% of its capacity, it loses capacity and ages faster. A 5kWh battery therefore has an effective capacity of only 4kWh. It can supply 4kW for one hour, or 1kW for four hours. </p>
<p>As a practical example, if you want to power only 20 10W LED lights and a medium sized LED TV, drawing a total of 0.5kW, a 3.5kWh battery will suffice for four hours. </p>
<h2>Are solar panels crucial for a backup system?</h2>
<p>No. The batteries store energy to provide a stable supply to the inverter when needed. Technically, you can use the mains power to charge the batteries, rather than rely on solar panels. Solar panels are merely there to augment the supply of electricity and could give you a bit more range during loadshedding if the sun is shining.</p>
<p>But if everyone installs backup systems without solar panels, we are just using batteries to carry us through power cuts. That increases the load on Eskom outside loadshedding periods, as the batteries must be replenished. This will neuter Eskom’s ability to use loadshedding as a grid management tool. It could <a href="https://theconversation.com/south-africas-power-grid-is-under-pressure-the-how-and-the-why-170897">destabilise the grid and lead to a complete blackout</a>.</p>
<p>And if, <a href="https://www.news24.com/fin24/climate_future/energy/tax-breaks-for-rooftop-solar-experts-weigh-in-on-how-it-could-work-20230214">as is expected</a>, the finance minister introduces tax breaks for solar generation expenses in the budget speech on 22 February, solar panels will have to be part of your setup if you want to benefit from these incentives. </p>
<p>No matter what Enoch Godongwana announces, we think this is a good time to make the switch to a solar powered backup system, for your peace of mind and future savings.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/south-africas-power-grid-is-under-pressure-the-how-and-the-why-170897">South Africa's power grid is under pressure: the how and the why</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>How much does it all cost?</h2>
<p>Inverter prices are falling as the market grows, and vary across suppliers. Inverters cost about R3,000 (about US$165) per kW for bottom of the range, and closer to R7,000 (about US$380) per kW for top of the range. Most households will get by with a 3kW to 5kW inverter, if its loads are managed well, costing between R9,000 (around $US490) and R35,000 (about US$1,915). </p>
<p>Lithium (LiFePO4) batteries also vary in cost but normally retail for about R5,000 (about US$270) to R7,000 per kWh. Most households will get by with a 5kWh to 10kWh battery if the loads are optimised and managed well. So you’re looking at a cost of between R25,000 (around US$1,370) and R70,000 (US$3,830 or so) for the batteries.</p>
<p>Solar panels tend to range from R8,000 (about US$440) to R10,000 (around US$550) per kWp (a measure of how high the panels’ power output is). Again, they’re not crucial, but are necessary if you want the system to pay for itself over time. </p>
<h2>Can I install this system myself?</h2>
<p>No, unless you’re a certified electrician. The inverter needs to be installed into the distribution board and the cost will depend on how many of your circuit breakers need to be moved to the backup as well as how easy the solution is to install; installation typically ranges from R10,000 to R20,000 (just about US$1100). The inverter must be approved by the municipality if you want to feed back into the grid. Installing the solar panels is separate, and costs vary widely.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/199808/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>Deciding on the best system isn’t a simple matter. There’s a bewildering array of jargon to sift through and many elements to consider.MJ (Thinus) Booysen, Professor in Engineering, Chair in the Internet of Things, Stellenbosch UniversityArnold Rix, Senior Lecturer, Electronic and Electrical Engineering, Stellenbosch UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1981452023-02-02T13:34:46Z2023-02-02T13:34:46ZThe world’s first environmental clean-up happened 400 million years ago<p>One of the biggest environmental challenges today is to treat land that is contaminated by toxic elements from industrial activity, elements like <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/arsenic-properties-incident-management-and-toxicology/arsenic-general-information">arsenic</a>, <a href="https://www.usgs.gov/centers/national-minerals-information-center/antimony-statistics-and-information">antimony</a> and <a href="https://www.rsc.org/periodic-table/element/74/tungsten">tungsten</a>.</p>
<p>But these same elements can be brought to the Earth’s surface by natural processes such as the bubbling up of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/hot-spring">hot springs</a>. So it is valuable to understand how they were dealt with by the environment before humans came along. A site in Aberdeenshire in Scotland which is famous for early fossil life preserved by hot springs, shows us how it could have happened. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="A round cross section of a fossilised plant stem detailed in cream and brown." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/505725/original/file-20230122-49501-wrokic.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/505725/original/file-20230122-49501-wrokic.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=584&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505725/original/file-20230122-49501-wrokic.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=584&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505725/original/file-20230122-49501-wrokic.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=584&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505725/original/file-20230122-49501-wrokic.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=734&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505725/original/file-20230122-49501-wrokic.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=734&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505725/original/file-20230122-49501-wrokic.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=734&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A cross-section of a stem preserved as a silica petrifaction, detailing its cellular structure, found at Rhynie, Aberdeenshire.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Paleobotany#Media/File:Rhynia_stem.jpg">Wikiwand</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Some of the world’s <a href="https://www.abdn.ac.uk/geosciences/departments/geology/what-is-the-rhynie-chert-1892.php">most well preserved fossilised plants</a> are found in <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/dir//Rhynie,+Huntly+AB54+4GJ/@57.4217189,-3.8006635,8.2z/data=!4m9!4m8!1m0!1m5!1m1!1s0x48844b525cd28473:0x42651503db9b8f55!2m2!1d-2.835357!2d57.333126!3e0">Rhynie</a>, just west of Aberdeen, in deposits thought to have come from the world’s oldest land ecosystem. </p>
<p>Exquisitely detailed plants – as well as spiders, insects, fungi and other life – were preserved there by hot springs about 410 million years ago. These are some of the earliest fossilised plants known, so are important in what they can tell us about plant evolution.</p>
<p>But those hot springs also introduced elements that would have been toxic to most forms of life. Our latest <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2022GC010647">research</a> shows how minerals deposited among the plants extracted the toxic metals from the spring water and limited their impact on the environment.</p>
<h2>Minerals and toxic metals</h2>
<p>The plants at Rhynie were encased in the mineral <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/silica">silica</a>, which deposits around hot springs. At tourist spots like <a href="https://homepages.see.leeds.ac.uk/%7Eearlgb/Publications/Tobler%20et%20al%20Iceland%20geochem_Geobiology.pdf">Iceland</a>, <a href="https://www.nzgeo.com/stories/the-living-crystals-of-dead-geysers/#:%7E:text=of%20New%20Zealand's%20thermal%20centres,water%20discharges%20at%20the%20surface.">New Zealand</a> and <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0377027321002201">Yellowstone National Park</a> in the US, bacteria in the water are involved in producing these silica deposits, and this would have been the same at Rhynie.</p>
<p>As well as silica, the fossils contain certain minerals including <a href="https://geology.com/minerals/pyrite.shtml">pyrite</a> (iron sulphide, so-called fool’s gold), <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.96.7.3447#:%7E:text=Mn%20oxides%20are%20the%20predominant,migration%20and%20reprecipitation%20(4).">manganese oxides</a> and <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780815515784500123">titanium oxides</a>. It’s these minerals, produced by the bacteria and other lifeforms, that would have soaked up the toxic metals. </p>
<p>Pyrite, formed by the bacteria, soaked up arsenic from the spring water. Manganese oxides, <a href="http://awarticles.s3.amazonaws.com/22591055.pdf">commonly deposited by fungi</a>, also absorbed arsenic. Titanium oxides, formed particularly around decomposing plant remains, absorbed tungsten and antimony. </p>
<p>So between them, the minerals formed by biological activity accounted for the main sources of toxicity. The evidence from Rhynie shows how natural processes have helped clean the environment since life first colonised the land.</p>
<h2>The magic of mushrooms</h2>
<p>Our solutions to man-made environmental problems, such as contamination from industry and mining, typically include a range of <a href="https://www.pollutionsolutions-online.com/news/soil-remediation/18/breaking-news/which-chemicals-are-used-for-soil-treatment/58235">chemical treatments</a>. But an exciting “natural” approach is the technique of <a href="https://www.ffungi.org/why-fungi/mycoremediation">mycoremediation</a>, where fungi concentrate and store contaminating elements in their substance. </p>
<p>Fungi can be very resilient, and adapt rapidly to substances we regard as toxic. One strategy is to harvest fungi that live on mining or industrial waste and which are predisposed to cope with it, then use the fungi to clean up waste on other problem sites. In this way, fungi can be used to recover land contaminated by harmful metals.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/w4k5pkL5Me4?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>Biologist <a href="https://www.merlinsheldrake.com/">Merlin Sheldrake</a>, in his award-winning 2020 book <a href="https://www.merlinsheldrake.com/entangled-life">Entangled Life</a>, argues: “Fungi are some of the best-qualified organisms for environmental remediation … fine-tuned over a billion years of evolution.”</p>
<p>Evolution is a key word here. The ecosystem (plants, animals and their habitat, including minerals) does not “intend” to clean up toxic chemicals as humans do. However, life is more likely to thrive and reproduce in ecosystems that strip out harmful substances. Just as particular fungi can be <a href="https://www.ffungi.org/why-fungi/mycoremediation">selected</a> to help deal with contaminated land, evolution favoured the species that adapted to environmental changes in the geological past, as implied at Rhynie.</p>
<h2>Remaining questions</h2>
<p>The deposits at this special geological site were formed by hot springs, whose waters preserved the plant cells. But because the hot springs that formed the Rhynie deposit were rich in arsenic, antimony and other trace elements, there is uncertainty about how representative these fossils may be of early plant communities.</p>
<p>Scientists <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/4142659.pdf">might argue</a>
that the plants found at Rhynie could be an adaptation to an environment that was chemically unusual. There is no clear answer to whether this was so, but our observations do suggest that the ecosystem was able to respond to the water chemistry, so the existence of these plants was not necessarily abnormal.</p>
<p>Visitors to hot springs in New Zealand and Yellowstone today can see orange and yellow crusts containing the harmful arsenic, antimony and so on, but also precious metals like gold and silver, so the springs attract commercial interest. </p>
<p>Hot springs worldwide also contain an element that was pretty much ignored until recently: <a href="https://www.rsc.org/periodic-table/element/3/lithium">lithium</a>. The spring waters provide a renewable supply of this element which is currently fundamental to rechargeable batteries – especially in electric vehicles, which are essential in the quest to achieve carbon emission targets. So hot springs may have more than one role in helping clean up the environment.</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/198145/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John Parnell receives funding from NERC. </span></em></p>When it comes to cleaning up land contaminated by toxic waste, we can follow nature’s example before humans populated the earth.John Parnell, Professor of Geology and Petroleum Geology, University of AberdeenLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1918552023-01-30T19:10:08Z2023-01-30T19:10:08ZThe hype is out of this world, but mining in space won’t save the Earth<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506962/original/file-20230130-14-h5lwde.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=4%2C4%2C2871%2C1612&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Planetary Resources</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>We know the world must move to cleaner energy sources to head off the worst effects of climate change, but the technology required for the transition is very <a href="https://pubdocs.worldbank.org/en/961711588875536384/Minerals-for-Climate-Action-The-Mineral-Intensity-of-the-Clean-Energy-Transition.pdf">mineral-intensive</a>. So where will all these resources come from?</p>
<p>Many in the space industry are pointing beyond Earth. Asteroids and the Moon are thought to contain abundant platinum group elements needed in the transition, as well as other valuable resources. This has prompted <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/10/09/space-mining-business-still-highly-speculative.html">a push</a> towards commercial mining in outer space. </p>
<p>California-based company AstroForge is the latest company to make strides into the space mining rush. The company last week <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-01-24/asteroid-mining-startup-astroforge-plans-first-platinum-refining-space-missions">announced</a> plans to launch two missions this year – one to refine platinum from a sample of asteroid-like material, and another to find an asteroid near Earth to mine.</p>
<p>Proponents of mining in space often point to the potential benefits for Earth and its people. But how certain are these benefits? Our <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921344922003627#ack0001">research</a> casts doubt on many of them.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="three men in suit jackets embrace" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506961/original/file-20230130-22-7k736.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506961/original/file-20230130-22-7k736.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506961/original/file-20230130-22-7k736.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506961/original/file-20230130-22-7k736.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506961/original/file-20230130-22-7k736.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=540&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506961/original/file-20230130-22-7k736.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=540&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506961/original/file-20230130-22-7k736.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=540&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Proponents of mining in space often point to the potential benefits for Earth and its people. Pictured: Officials from the Planetary Resources company in 2012 after announcing a plan to mine nearby asteroids. The company is now defunct.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Elaine Thompson/AP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A very risky bet</h2>
<p>Space mining supporters often claim a bounty of space resources exist, and exploiting them would generate <a href="https://www.mining.com/infographic-the-facts-and-figures-that-make-space-mining-real/">trillions of dollars</a> in mining revenue.</p>
<p>But information on resources in space is scarce, highly varied and uncertain.</p>
<p>Such statements rely strongly on remote-sensing technology and modelling: techniques that use interpretations, estimates, assumptions and probabilities. Whether mineral deposits lying beyond Earth are commercially viable has not yet been proven. </p>
<p>Work on this is underway. The <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/osiris-rex">OSIRIS-REx space mission</a>, for example, gathered a small sample from near-Earth asteroid Bennu, and is bringing it back to Earth this year so it can be studied. </p>
<p>This year’s <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-01-24/asteroid-mining-startup-astroforge-plans-first-platinum-refining-space-missions?leadSource=uverify%20wall">AstroForge</a> missions also aim to firm up the industry’s viability.</p>
<p>But so far, investing in the extraction of space resources is even more speculative than mining on Earth. </p>
<p>Metallic minerals are present in meteorites and other space rocks. But <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0032063322001945">research</a> suggests that, except for platinum group elements, the concentrations of most metals in space materials may be lower than on Earth. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/D95QeTK9bEc?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">NASA’s OSIRIS-REx space mission will arrive back on Earth this year.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Where will the waste go?</h2>
<p>Mining on Earth often requires robust equipment to extract, handle and process large volumes of rock. Most of the rock is disposed of as waste once the material of interest, such as copper, is obtained. </p>
<p>Waste disposal will be even more challenging in space. The full environmental and safety implications are not yet clear. But we know space debris already <a href="https://theconversation.com/space-debris-is-coming-down-more-frequently-what-are-the-chances-it-could-hit-someone-or-damage-property-188062">falls to Earth</a> quite frequently.</p>
<p>For example, space debris found in the Snowy Mountains in New South Wales last year <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/aug/03/spacex-capsule-confirmed-as-source-of-debris-that-landed-on-australian-farm">was confirmed</a> as belonging to a craft owned by Elon Musk’s SpaceX company. And in the US state of Oklahoma in 1997, a woman out exercising was <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=98700&page=1">reportedly hit</a> in the shoulder by a piece of falling space junk.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1617116866740191234"}"></div></p>
<p>Mining on Earth often <a href="https://www.americangeosciences.org/critical-issues/faq/how-can-metal-mining-impact-environment">damages the natural environment</a>, impacting land, waterways, air quality and ecosystems. </p>
<p>In places where mining is tightly regulated, environmental and human safety concerns must be addressed. But there are also countless examples around the world where mining regulation is lax. </p>
<p>To date, there are <a href="https://theconversation.com/space-mining-is-not-science-fiction-and-canada-could-figure-prominently-155855">no regulations</a> or adequate waste management plans for mining off-Earth. Space mining has a lot to learn from the best practices and missteps of mining on Earth. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/space-debris-is-coming-down-more-frequently-what-are-the-chances-it-could-hit-someone-or-damage-property-188062">Space debris is coming down more frequently. What are the chances it could hit someone or damage property?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Space is not a supermarket</h2>
<p>In 2017, US space entrepreneur Jeff Bezos <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921344922003627">stated</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Every kind of element that you need is available in space in very large quantities. And so, over the next couple of hundred years, that will allow us to both continue to have a dynamic, expanding, growing, thriving, interesting civilisation, while still protecting this planet. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>So will space really provide all the minerals Earth needs in coming centuries?</p>
<p>The current hype around off-Earth extraction centres on platinum group elements such as palladium, rhodium and platinum. These elements are present in metallic asteroids.</p>
<p>Platinum is used in catalytic converters to <a href="https://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2014/3064/pdf/fs2014-3064.pdf">decrease emissions in car exhausts</a>, as well as in medical equipment and electronic devices. </p>
<p>But we need a <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-57234610">much broader spectrum of commodities</a> for the low-carbon transition. For example, large quantities of lithium, cobalt and rare earth elements are needed to make batteries and magnets. </p>
<p><a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/PSJ/ac235f">Researchers claim</a> to have uncovered two metal-rich near-Earth asteroids that <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamiecartereurope/2021/10/19/the-age-of-space-mining-just-got-closer-as-scientists-discover-two-asteroids-whose-precious-metals-would-exceed-global-reserves/?sh=54d1f6ca713b">could contain</a> very large quantities of iron, nickel and cobalt.</p>
<p>But the technology for accessing these minerals is still a long way off (if it happens at all). But the renewable energy transition must happen urgently – and for now, the minerals will be extracted on Earth.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="aerial view of a lithium mine" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506967/original/file-20230130-22-2ulu5q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506967/original/file-20230130-22-2ulu5q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506967/original/file-20230130-22-2ulu5q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506967/original/file-20230130-22-2ulu5q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506967/original/file-20230130-22-2ulu5q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506967/original/file-20230130-22-2ulu5q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506967/original/file-20230130-22-2ulu5q.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">Large volumes of lithium are needed in the clean energy transition. Pictured: a lithium mine in the Northern Territory.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Fleet Space Technologies</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A new colonialism</h2>
<p>The current space race reflects a <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-billionaire-space-race-reflects-a-colonial-mindset-that-fails-to-imagine-a-different-world-165235">colonial mindset</a> in which the powerful rush to stake a claim in new territories – and whoever gets there first gets the riches.</p>
<p>This narrative is one of “<a href="https://www.ft.com/content/1c1daa87-c48e-4d19-a574-046eadb5b665">techno-futurism</a>”, where progress is measured by wealth generation, which in turn relies on technology development. </p>
<p>Should this <a href="https://theconversation.com/lunar-gold-rush-is-about-to-start-and-we-could-exhaust-the-solar-system-in-fewer-than-500-years-117450">gold-rush style bonanza</a> prove viable, only a small proportion of people would pocket the profits. The gap between the very rich and the rest of society would only widen.</p>
<h2>Look down, not up</h2>
<p>Viable and responsible space mining is a very distant prospect. But climate change is an urgent problem that needs solutions right now. </p>
<p>Despite the many downsides, mining on Earth remains essential to the transition to a low-carbon energy economy.</p>
<p>Rather than space mining, positive environmental and social outcomes on Earth are better achieved by ensuring terrestrial mining is done in the most <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/su10051429">sustainable</a> way possible. </p>
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<em>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/we-need-lithium-for-clean-energy-but-rio-tintos-planned-serbian-mine-reminds-us-it-shouldnt-come-at-any-cost-167902">We need lithium for clean energy, but Rio Tinto's planned Serbian mine reminds us it shouldn't come at any cost</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/191855/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Juliana Segura-Salazar received funding from European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant No 730411 (2016–2020): IMP@CT, Integrated Mobile modularised Plant and Containerised Tools for selective, low-impact mining of small high-grade deposits. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span><a href="mailto:k.moore@exeter.ac.uk">k.moore@exeter.ac.uk</a> received funding from University of Exeter Global Partnership in Earth Humanities; a NERC Discipline Hopping for Environmental Solutions grant ‘Mining unCommon Ground’; European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant No 730411 (2016–2020): IMP@CT, Integrated Mobile modularised Plant and Containerised Tools for selective, low-impact mining of small high-grade deposits. </span></em></p>Proponents of mining in space often point to the potential benefits for Earth and its people. But this research casts doubt on many of them.Juliana Segura-Salazar, Research Fellow, The University of QueenslandKathryn Moore, Senior Lecturer in Critical and Green Technology Metals, University of ExeterLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1894532022-08-31T12:30:06Z2022-08-31T12:30:06ZMaking EVs without China’s supply chain is hard, but not impossible – 3 supply chain experts outline a strategy<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481667/original/file-20220829-6542-2d2rkb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=1708%2C1785%2C2823%2C1631&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Automaker GMC shows off its Hummer EVs at a plant in Detroit.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/general-view-of-gmc-hummer-evs-is-pictured-on-november-17-news-photo/1236626057">Nic Antaya/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Two electrifying moves in recent weeks have the potential to ignite electric vehicle demand in the United States. First, Congress passed the <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/08/16/1117762225/biden-signs-inflation-reduction-act-into-law">Inflation Reduction Act</a>, expanding federal tax rebates for EV purchases. Then <a href="https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/sites/default/files/barcu/board/books/2022/082522/prores22-12.pdf">California approved rules</a> to ban the sale of new gasoline-powered cars by 2035.</p>
<p>The Inflation Reduction Act extends the <a href="https://www.energy.gov/articles/president-obama-announces-24-billion-funding-support-next-generation-electric-vehicles">Obama-era EV tax credit</a> of up to US$7,500. But it includes some high hurdles. Its <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/08/22/1118052620/tax-credit-electric-cars-vehicles-tesla-gm-inflation-reduction-act-climate">country-of-origin rules</a> require that EVs – and an increasing percentage of their components and critical minerals – be sourced from the U.S. or countries that have free-trade agreements with the U.S. The law expressly forbids tax credits for vehicles with any components or critical minerals sourced from a “<a href="https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R47202">foreign entity of concern</a>,” such as China or Russia.</p>
<p>That’s not so simple when China <a href="https://www.barrons.com/articles/hp-earnings-outlook-51661537161">controls</a> 60% of the world’s lithium mining, 77% of battery cell capacity and 60% of battery component manufacturing. Many American EV makers, including <a href="https://cleantechnica.com/2022/06/04/how-chinas-lithium-leverage-affects-tesla-other-ev-makers/">Tesla</a>, rely heavily on battery materials from China.</p>
<p>The U.S. needs a national strategy to build an EV ecosystem if it hopes to catch up. As experts in <a href="https://www.hy-mak.com/">supply</a> <a href="https://www.anderson.ucla.edu/faculty-and-research/decisions-operations-and-technology-management/faculty/tang">chain</a> <a href="https://tinglongdai.com/">management</a>, we have some ideas.</p>
<h2>Why the EV industry depends heavily on China</h2>
<p>How did the U.S. fall so far behind?</p>
<p>Back in 2009, the Obama administration pledged <a href="https://www.energy.gov/articles/president-obama-announces-24-billion-funding-support-next-generation-electric-vehicles">$2.4 billion</a> to support the country’s fledgling EV industry. But demand grew slowly, and battery manufacturers such as A123 Systems and Ener1 failed to scale up their production. Both succumbed to financial pressure and were acquired by <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/usa-batteries/troubled-u-s-battery-makers-recharge-with-overseas-investors-idUKL2E8J99JL20120809">Chinese and Russian</a> investors.</p>
<p>China took the lead in the EV market through an aggressive mix of carrots and sticks. Its <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/exclusive-china-talks-with-automakers-ev-subsidy-extension-sources-2022-05-18/">consumer subsidies</a> raised demand at home, and Beijing and other major cities set <a href="https://www.climatechangenews.com/2016/11/28/beijing-limits-on-car-registration-boost-electric-vehicles/#:%7E:text=Beijing%27s%202016%20quota%20for%20EVs,happen%20for%20domestically%20produced%20EVs.">licensing quotas</a> mandating a minimum share of EV sales.</p>
<p>China also established a world-dominating battery supply chain by <a href="https://www.stradeproject.eu/fileadmin/user_upload/pdf/STRADE_PB_02-2018_One_Belt_One_Road.pdf">securing overseas mineral supplies</a> and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/22/business/china-catl-electric-car-batteries.html?">heavily subsidizing its battery manufacturers</a>.</p>
<p><iframe id="BpXf5" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/BpXf5/1/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>Today, the U.S. domestic EV supply chain is far from adequate to meet its goals. The new U.S. tax credits are designed to help turn that around, but building a resilient EV supply chain will inevitably entail competing with China for limited resources.</p>
<p>A comprehensive national strategy entails measures for the short, medium and long term.</p>
<h2>Short-term: What can be done now?</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-10-bestselling-evs-in-2022-so-far-11651165570">Six of the 10 best-selling EV</a> models in 2022 are already assembled in the U.S., fulfilling the Inflation Reduction Act’s <a href="https://afdc.energy.gov/laws/inflation-reduction-act">final assembly location clause</a>. The Hyundai-Kia alliance, which has three of the other four bestsellers, plans to open an EV assembly line in <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/hyundai-motor-considers-speeding-up-construction-us-ev-plant-yonhap-2022-08-22/">Georgia</a>. Volkswagen has also started assembling its ID.4 electric SUV in <a href="https://media.vw.com/en-us/releases/1698">Tennessee</a>.</p>
<p>The challenge is batteries. Besides the Tesla-Panasonic factories in <a href="https://www.supplychaindive.com/news/panasonic-to-open-ev-battery-factory-in-kansas/627316/">Nevada and planned in Kansas</a>, U.S.-based battery manufacturers <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/02/11/us-battery-production-china-europe/">trail their Chinese counterparts</a> in both size and growth.</p>
<p>For the U.S. to scale up its own production, it needs to rely on strategic partners overseas. The Inflation Reduction Act allows imports of critical minerals from countries with free trade agreements to still qualify for incentives, but not imports of battery components. This means overseas suppliers like Korea’s “Big Three” – LG Chem, SK Innovation and Samsung SDI – which supply <a href="http://www.businesskorea.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=97705">26%</a> of the world’s EV batteries, are shut out, even though the U.S. and Korea have a free trade agreement. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A Sankey chart, also known as a spaghetti chart, shows the flow of cobalt Congo, with some resources in the rest of the world, through to the production of EVs." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481890/original/file-20220830-19222-r43fk0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481890/original/file-20220830-19222-r43fk0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481890/original/file-20220830-19222-r43fk0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481890/original/file-20220830-19222-r43fk0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481890/original/file-20220830-19222-r43fk0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481890/original/file-20220830-19222-r43fk0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481890/original/file-20220830-19222-r43fk0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The bulk of the world’s cobalt is mined in the Democratic Republic of Congo but processed and turned into lithium-ion battery components by Chinese companies. This chart shows the pathways from mining to EVs.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.nrel.gov/transportation/assets/pdfs/battery-critical-materials-presentation.pdf">Based on an NREL presentation in 2020</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association has <a href="https://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20220817000692">asked Congress</a> to make an exception for Korean-made EVs and batteries.</p>
<p>In the spirit of “<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-06-24/-onshoring-is-so-last-year-the-new-lingo-is-friend-shoring">friend-shoring</a>,” the Biden administration could think of a temporary waiver as a stopgap measure that makes it easier for Korean battery makers to move more of their supply chain to the U.S., such as LG’s planned battery plants in partnerships <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/lg-energy-solution-gm-build-21-bln-battery-factory-us-2022-01-25/">with GM</a> and <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/314d0c95-ceef-492f-8943-06038967ba88">Honda</a>.</p>
<p>The 2021 Infrastructure Act also provided <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/12/13/fact-sheet-the-biden-harris-electric-vehicle-charging-action-plan/">$5 billion</a> to expand charging infrastructure, which <a href="https://article.images.consumerreports.org/image/upload/v1657127210/prod/content/dam/CRO-Images-2022/Cars/07July/2022_Consumer_Reports_BEV_and_LCF_Survey_Report.pdf">surveys show is critical</a> to bolstering demand.</p>
<h2>Medium-term: Diversifying lithium and cobalt supplies</h2>
<p>A strong and concerted effort in trade and diplomacy is necessary for the U.S. to secure critical mineral supplies.</p>
<p>As EV sales rise, the world is expected to face a lithium shortage by <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/07/electric-vehicles-world-enough-lithium-resources">2025</a>. In addition to lithium, cobalt is needed for high-performance battery chemistries.</p>
<p>The problem? The Democratic Republic of the Congo is where 70% of the world’s cobalt is mined, and Chinese companies control <a href="https://globaledge.msu.edu/blog/post/57136/congos-cobalt-controversy">80%</a> of that. The distant second-largest producer is <a href="https://pubs.usgs.gov/periodicals/mcs2022/mcs2022-cobalt.pdf">Russia</a>.</p>
<p>The Biden administration’s “friend-shoring” vision has a chance only if it can diversify the lithium and cobalt supply chains.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Bars on a map show countries with the most critical mineral production." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481904/original/file-20220830-35607-7mu3w2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481904/original/file-20220830-35607-7mu3w2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=365&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481904/original/file-20220830-35607-7mu3w2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=365&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481904/original/file-20220830-35607-7mu3w2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=365&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481904/original/file-20220830-35607-7mu3w2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=458&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481904/original/file-20220830-35607-7mu3w2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=458&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481904/original/file-20220830-35607-7mu3w2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=458&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Lithium, cobalt and nickel are critical components in many EV batteries. The largest 2021 production sources included the Democratic Republic of Congo for cobalt; Australia, Chile and China for lithium; and Indonesia, the Philippines and Russia for nickel.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.usgs.gov/centers/national-minerals-information-center/mineral-commodity-summaries">The Conversation, USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2022</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/electric-cars-batteries-lithium-triangle-latin-america-11660141017?st=vvmy6presyrpspk&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink">“Lithium Triangle”</a> of South America is one region to invest in. Also, Australia, a key U.S. ally, <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/268789/countries-with-the-largest-production-output-of-lithium/">leads the world in lithium production</a> and possesses <a href="https://pubs.usgs.gov/periodicals/mcs2021/mcs2021-cobalt.pdf">rich cobalt deposits</a>. Waste from many of Australia’s <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/d142bb46-1bc0-49bd-8005-0833497b84e0">copper mines also contains cobalt</a>, lowering the cost. GM has reached an agreement with the Australian mining giant <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/d142bb46-1bc0-49bd-8005-0833497b84e0">Glencore</a> to mine and process cobalt in Western Australia for its Ohio battery plant with LG Chem, bypassing China.</p>
<p>A way to avoid cobalt altogether also exists: lithium-iron-phosphate batteries are about <a href="https://www.morningbrew.com/series/battery-tech-for-evs-and-beyond/stories/2022/04/26/a-previously-ignored-battery-chemistry-is-now-surging-in-popularity-here-s-why">30% cheaper</a> to make because they use minerals that are easy to find and plentiful. However, LFP batteries are heavier and have <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/10/20/tesla-switching-to-lfp-batteries-in-all-standard-range-cars.html">less power</a> and range per unit.</p>
<p>For years, Chinese companies like <a href="https://www.onecharge.biz/blog/how-china-came-to-dominate-the-market-for-lithium-batteries-and-why-the-u-s-cannot-copy-their-model/">CATL and BYD</a> were the only ones making LFP batteries. But <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2022/06/26/why-lfp-batteries-are-poised-to-bring-down-entry-level-ev-prices/?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAALB4ZijqV3Jxh5Z1TCOa5rV93l4M6Qu10EW0V1yRHanqmGpTrC6zp3gyS7j1X3e20CHV5z4-3Zmaao334VcwyjN-EufmUz63Z9V8x3z-ecjbH2vJNLZJ2DQfQ50MAuanuEWwmLwX9f8sSQ0e0txwX2XZZ8i0O9OE7bOHWkRb14aD">the patent rights associated with LFP batteries expire this year</a>, opening up an important opportunity for the U.S.</p>
<p>Since not everyone needs a high-end electric supercar, affordable EVs powered by LFP batteries are an option. In fact, Tesla now offers <a href="https://insideevs.com/news/581261/tesla-lfp-battery-nearly-half-deliveries/">Model 3s with LFP</a> batteries that can travel about 270 miles on a charge.</p>
<p>The 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law set aside <a href="https://www.energy.gov/articles/biden-administration-announces-316-billion-bipartisan-infrastructure-law-boost-domestic">$3.16 billion</a> to support domestic battery supply chains. With the Inflation Reduction Act’s emphasis on supporting more affordable EVs – it <a href="https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/treasury-releases-guidance-on-consumer-2136303/">has price caps</a> for vehicles to qualify for incentives – these funds will be needed to help scale up domestic LFP manufacturing.</p>
<h2>Long-term: US critical mineral production</h2>
<p>Replacing overseas critical materials with domestic mining falls under long-term planning.</p>
<p>The scale of current domestic mining is minuscule, and new mining operations can take <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-03-30/despite-biden-battery-metal-push-mine-permits-still-take-years">seven to 10 years</a> to establish because of the lengthy permitting process. Lithium deposits exist in <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/economy/u-s-seeks-new-lithium-sources-as-demand-for-clean-energy-grows">California, Maine, Nevada and North Carolina</a>, and there are cobalt resources in <a href="https://pubs.usgs.gov/periodicals/mcs2020/mcs2020-cobalt.pdf">Minnesota and Idaho</a>.</p>
<p>Finally, to build an <a href="https://hbr.org/2009/07/restoring-american-competitiveness">industrial commons</a> for EVs, the U.S. must continue to invest in research and development of new battery technologies.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A field sectioned into rectangles with bright turquoise water or white salt stretches over several miles of otherwise empty landscape with mountains far in the distance." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481885/original/file-20220830-31761-l1czz6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481885/original/file-20220830-31761-l1czz6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481885/original/file-20220830-31761-l1czz6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481885/original/file-20220830-31761-l1czz6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481885/original/file-20220830-31761-l1czz6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=531&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481885/original/file-20220830-31761-l1czz6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=531&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481885/original/file-20220830-31761-l1czz6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=531&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Pools of brine containing lithium carbonate stretch across a lithium mine in the Atacama Desert of Chile. Local opposition can be a challenge to mining proposals.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/in-this-aerial-view-pools-of-brine-containing-lithium-news-photo/1418002370">John Moore/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Also, end-of-life battery recycling is essential to the sustainability of EVs. The industry has been kicking the can down the road on this, as <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/carltonreid/2022/08/01/electric-car-batteries-lasting-longer-than-predicted-delays-recycling-programs/?sh=4aa2cb675332">recycling demand has been minuscule</a> thus far given the longevity of batteries. Yet, as a proactive step, the Inflation Reduction Act specifically permits battery content recycled in North America to qualify for the critical mineral clause.</p>
<p>To make this happen, the federal and state governments could use takeback legislation similar to producer responsibility laws for electronic waste enacted in <a href="http://www.electronicstakeback.com/promote-good-laws/state-legislation/">more than 20 states</a>, which stipulate that producers bear the responsibility for collecting, transporting and recycling end-of-cycle electronic products.</p>
<h2>What’s ahead</h2>
<p>With the new law, the Biden administration has set its sights on a future transportation system that is built in the U.S. and runs on electricity. But there are supply chain obstacles, and the U.S. will need both incentives and regulations to make it happen.</p>
<p>California’s announcement will help. Under the Clean Air Act, California has a waiver that allows it to set policies more strict than federal law. Other states can choose to follow California’s policies. <a href="https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/sites/default/files/barcu/board/books/2022/082522/prores22-12.pdf">Seventeen other states</a> have adopted California’s emissions standards. At least three, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/new-york-sets-2035-zero-emission-passenger-car-goal-2021-09-09/">New York</a>, <a href="https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/transportation/wa-will-ban-new-gas-powered-cars-by-2035-following-cas-lead/">Washington</a> and <a href="https://nexusmedianews.com/top_story/baker-signs-massachusetts-climate-bill-into-law">Massachusetts</a>, have already announced plans to also phase out new gas-powered cars and light trucks by 2035.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/189453/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 organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>China controls much of the global EV supply chain, but electric vehicles that use its parts and minerals won’t qualify for new US EV tax credits. Can America build its own supply chain?Ho-Yin Mak, Associate Professor in Operations & Information Management, Georgetown UniversityChristopher S. Tang, Professor of Supply Chain Management, University of California, Los AngelesTinglong Dai, Professor of Operations Management & Business Analytics, Carey Business School, Johns Hopkins UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1850692022-06-24T08:34:10Z2022-06-24T08:34:10ZNigeria’s latest lithium find: some key questions answered<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/470593/original/file-20220623-51937-iqaafj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A truck carries lithium carbonate at a lithium mine in the Atacama Desert, Chile.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photographer: Cristobal Olivares/Bloomberg via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>High-grade lithium <a href="https://punchng.com/high-grade-lithium-discovered-in-nigeria-attracting-investors-fg/">has been discovered</a> in Nigeria. In 2019 the total production volume of lithium, not high grade, in Nigeria <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/1271269/production-volume-of-lithium-in-nigeria/#:%7E:text=Volume%20of%20lithium%20produced%20in%20Nigeria%202018%2D2019&text=In%202019%2C%20the%20total%20production,100%20metric%20tons%20of%20lithium.">reached 50 metric tons</a> This is small compared to Zimbabwe which produced <a href="https://investingnews.com/daily/resource-investing/battery-metals-investing/lithium-investing/lithium-production-by-country/">1,200 metric tons</a> the same year. The Conversation Africa’s Wale Fatade asked geologist Ibrahim Garba for his insights.</em></p>
<h2>What is lithium and why is it important?</h2>
<p>The Geological Agency described the lithium as high grade because what’s been found has between 1% - 13% oxide content. Normally exploration begins at levels as low as 0.4%. Grade (in %) is a measure of concentration of the lithium in the minerals and or rocks that contains it. Therefore, the higher the grade the more the economic viability. Higher grades are very rare for metals like lithium.</p>
<p>Lithium is a metallic mineral in very high demand by manufacturing industries.
Seven years ago the bulk of demand for lithium was split between ceramics and glasses (35%) and greases, metallurgical powders, polymers, and other industrial uses (over 35%). <a href="https://miningdigital.com/supply-chain-and-operations/lithium">Less than 30% was for batteries</a>. But by 2030, batteries are expected to account <a href="https://miningdigital.com/supply-chain-and-operations/lithium">for 95% of demand</a>.</p>
<p>Lithium-ion batteries <a href="https://www.electronics-notes.com/articles/electronic_components/battery-technology/li-ion-lithium-ion-advantages-disadvantages.php">are generally more expensive</a> but have better performance and are becoming the preferred technology. The different types are: </p>
<ul>
<li><p><a href="https://inverted.in/blog/types-of-lithium-ion-batteries-available-in-the-market">Lithium-cobalt oxide</a> battery. It is used in consumer electronics and is finding application in electric vehicles. It is relatively cheap.</p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://inverted.in/blog/types-of-lithium-ion-batteries-available-in-the-market">Lithium-nickel-manganese-cobalt</a> is a newer, higher performing range of battery chemistry. It is mainly developed for the electronic vehicle market but is finding a wider use because of its increasing cost effectiveness.</p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://inverted.in/blog/types-of-lithium-ion-batteries-available-in-the-market">Lithium iron phosphate</a>, the safest technology with relatively high performance but relatively expensive. It is very popular in China but is likely to become overtaken by Lithium-nickel-manganese-cobalt over the longer term; and </p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://inverted.in/blog/types-of-lithium-ion-batteries-available-in-the-market">Lithium-nickel-cobalt-aluminium oxide</a> developed to reduce cobalt consumption and is known as a solid performer and of reasonable cost. It is also becoming popular outside China.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Lithium-ion batteries are used in mobile phones, computers, electronics, energy storage systems and electric vehicles. The forecast is that they will dominate the lithium market over the next decades. However, there are <a href="https://inverted.in/blog/types-of-lithium-ion-batteries-available-in-the-market">many different types of lithium-ion battery</a> for different applications.</p>
<p>Lithium and most lithium minerals are mined along with other high-value metallic minerals such as tin, niobium-tantalum (columbite-tantalite) and uranium (in pyrochlore).</p>
<p>Greenbushes mine in Western Australia is <a href="https://www.nsenergybusiness.com/features/greenbushes-lithium-mine-australia/">the largest hard-rock lithium mine</a> in the world. Tantalum is also mined there. In 2019, <a href="https://www.nsenergybusiness.com/features/greenbushes-lithium-mine-australia/">the mine’s output capacity doubled </a>to 1.34 million tonnes of lithium concentrates annually after a second processing plant was added.</p>
<p>Global lithium mine production <a href="https://www.mining.com/global-lithium-production-hits-record-high-on-electric-vehicle-demand/">hit a record high of 100,000 tonnes in 2021</a>, a 21% increase over 2020 (82,500 tonnes).</p>
<p>Due to the growing interest in clean energy, the demand for lithium has skyrocketed as most countries draw plans to phase out fossil fuel vehicles and switch to zero emission electric vehicles. The underlying demand for lithium is expected to rise proportionately to the production and sales of those vehicles. <a href="https://www.visualcapitalist.com/sp/visualizing-the-global-demand-for-lithium/">Lithium production globally grew</a> from 28,100 metric tons in 2010 to 86,000 in 2019. The challenge will be in supplying the market with enough lithium. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.visualcapitalist.com/sp/charted-lithium-production-by-country-1995-2020/">Three countries</a>, Australia (40,000 tonnes), Chile (20,600 tonnes) and China (14,000 tonnes) mine about 86% of the world’s lithium. Others are Argentina (6,200 tonnes), Brazil (1,900 tonnes), Zimbabwe (1,200 tonnes), USA (900 tonnes) and Portugal (900 tonnes), according to 2020 data. </p>
<p><a href="https://oec.world/en/profile/hs/lithium-carbonates#:%7E:text=Exporters%20and%20Importers&text=In%202020%2C%20the%20top%20importers,and%20Belgium%20(%2463.4M).">The largest importers of lithium</a> are South Korea, China, Japan, US and Belgium. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.metalary.com/lithium-price/">Lithium price</a> was averagely US$2,000 per metric ton in 2002 rising to US$18,000 in 2018.</p>
<p>For the moment the find in Nigeria simply points to the potential of Nigerian pegmatites for lithium resource. Full exploration will be necessary.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://clearpath.org/tech-101/supply-chain-for-lithium-and-critical-minerals-is-critical/">lithium supply chain</a> involves converting lithium minerals to lithium concentrates and lithium hydroxides.</p>
<h2>What about the lithium find in Nigeria?</h2>
<p>The first and most important point is that the discovery does not equate to a commercial find. In fact, it should be taken only as a first step in the long journey to be established as a commercially viable deposit that can be mined and extracted to a form that can be sold to the consumer.</p>
<p>In reality only one or two of hundreds of such ‘discoveries’ (finds) may end up being a mine after going through the many stages of exploration and development. Only then can a value be attached to such a ‘discovery’.</p>
<p>It can take 5 - 10 years to fully explore a small to medium sized deposit and take it to production. This is provided there are no unforeseen technical, financial and other challenges.</p>
<p>Only in few very exceptional and highly viable situations we can expect a lesser time frame.</p>
<p>Quite a number of factors can make or mar the development journey. These include proving economic grades and volumes (or tonnages) of the mineral ores, favourable enabling fiscal and other regulatory environments, cost of extraction technology, market forces and other logistical and sociopolitical issues.</p>
<p>An economic amount of lithium metal is known to be associated with two minerals: spodumene and lepidolite. <a href="https://www.rsc.org/periodic-table/element/3/lithium">Lithium is an element</a> and in nature tends to concentrate sufficiently in the two minerals, spodumene and lepidolite. Otherwise it will occur dispersed in minerals but not sufficient enough to be of economic consideration. They are usually found in <a href="https://www.micon-international.com/lithium-pegmatites-is-this-the-right-one/">specialised rocks called rare metal-bearing pegmatites</a> and greisens.</p>
<p>The search for economic deposits of lithium has to be targeted in these rocks. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/230267679_Nigeria_rare_metal_pegmatites_and_their_lithological_framework">In Nigeria</a>, lithium minerals (spodumene and lepidolite) are known to be associated with cassiterite, columbite-tantalite (coltan) and others in the extensive belt of rare metal-bearing rock types called <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/earth-and-planetary-sciences/pegmatite">pegmatite</a>.</p>
<p>These rock pegmatites stretch from the <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/230267679_Nigeria_rare_metal_pegmatites_and_their_lithological_framework">Wamba area</a>, Nasarawa State, north central; through Egbe-Isanlu, Kogi State; north central, Ondo-Ekiti States, south west; to the Ife-Ilesa, Osun State; south west. </p>
<p>Another belt in the western half of Nigeria, stretching from <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/230267679_Nigeria_rare_metal_pegmatites_and_their_lithological_framework">Zamfara</a> and Kaduna States, north west; through Niger and Kwara States, north central; and Oyo State, south west; is known to host the rare metal-bearing pegmatites.</p>
<p>Some have also been found in <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/230267679_Nigeria_rare_metal_pegmatites_and_their_lithological_framework">Obudu</a>, Cross River State, southern Nigeria. </p>
<p>Within these belts, dozens of occurrences of the rare metal-bearing pegmatites are recorded and some are known to have lithium-bearing minerals. However, there are not yet any commercially viable deposits established or developed. This is despite the recent wave of interest shown by many explorers in response to the global demand for lithium. </p>
<h2>Are there environmental concerns?</h2>
<p>All mineral mining, especially <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1755-1315/384/1/012195/pdf">metallic minerals</a> and hydrocarbons like <a href="https://cfpub.epa.gov/ncer_abstracts/index.cfm/fuseaction/display.files/fileID/14522">petroleum</a>, <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/stories/10-threats-canadian-tar-sands-industry">tar sands</a> and <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/sites/default/files/coalmining.pdf">coal</a> are associated with environmental pollution. But there are measures that can be taken to minimise and mitigate these. </p>
<p>Measures include making sure that discharges and mine waster are well planned for. Another is the restoration of the ground (the physical, fauna and flora) affected by mining for future use.</p>
<p>There are also mining laws and regulations that mining operators are required to follow. They set down penalties operational breaches. However, in a country like Nigeria many of the regulations aren’t followed and enforcement is weak.</p>
<p>Also environmental impact assessments have to be made before any mining can start.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/185069/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ibrahim Garba is affiliated with the Nigerian Mining and Geosciences Society, NMGS, and the Nigerian Academy of Science, as a Fellow.
</span></em></p>For the moment the find in Nigeria simply points to the potential for lithium resource. Full exploration will be necessary.Ibrahim Garba, Professor of Geology, Ahmadu Bello UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1835672022-06-16T12:07:50Z2022-06-16T12:07:50ZEco-friendly tech comes with its own environmental costs: that’s why it’s vital to cut energy demand now<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/468012/original/file-20220609-5837-p73uas.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=5%2C0%2C3613%2C2170&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Mining and extracting metals has ecologically damaging consequences.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-illustration/silhouettes-workers-mine-176428352">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>If we want to keep <a href="https://theconversation.com/ipcc-says-earth-will-reach-temperature-rise-of-about-1-5-in-around-a-decade-but-limiting-any-global-warming-is-what-matters-most-165397">global temperature rise</a> below 1.5 or even 2°C, we’ll need a monumental shift in how our energy and transport systems work. The <a href="https://www.iea.org/reports/net-zero-by-2050">International Energy Agency</a> has declared that millions of solar panels, wind turbines and <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-climate-friendly-is-an-electric-car-it-all-comes-down-to-where-you-live-179003">electric vehicles</a> (EVs) will need to be made and deployed around the world in the next three decades. Thankfully, these technologies are constantly improving – as well as becoming cheaper. </p>
<p>However, a key feature of most <a href="https://theconversation.com/these-energy-innovations-could-transform-how-we-mitigate-climate-change-and-save-money-in-the-process-5-essential-reads-180076">eco-friendly tech</a> is that it requires more, and more varied, <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/extractiveindustries/brief/climate-smart-mining-minerals-for-climate-action">materials</a> than those used in the tech it’s replacing. Wind turbines need <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/04/zinc-low-carbon-economy-construction/">iron and zinc</a> for the corrosion-proof steel and motors needed to capture energy from the wind. And <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/iea-mineral-supplies-for-electric-cars-must-increase-30-fold-to-meet-climate-goals/">electric vehicles</a> need lithium, cobalt, nickel and manganese for their batteries, plus neodymium and other rare earth materials for their motors.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="White cars charging electrically from charging points mounted on grey frames" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/468055/original/file-20220609-18-5fcrtg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/468055/original/file-20220609-18-5fcrtg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468055/original/file-20220609-18-5fcrtg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468055/original/file-20220609-18-5fcrtg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468055/original/file-20220609-18-5fcrtg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468055/original/file-20220609-18-5fcrtg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468055/original/file-20220609-18-5fcrtg.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">Electric vehicles require rare materials to run.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/power-supply-electric-car-charging-station-1070497337">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Building lots of these devices will therefore require huge amounts of specific materials, many of which are difficult to mine. Some can come from recycling, but for many materials, such as lithium, there’s just not enough being used today that can be recycled for future use. Instead, most will have to come from mining.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/electric-car-supplies-are-running-out-and-could-drastically-slow-down-the-journey-to-net-zero-182787">Electric car supplies are running out – and could drastically slow down the journey to net-zero</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>This means that if low-carbon tech is to be used around the world, we need to face the less palatable consequences, or trade-offs, of building it. Making a global switch to EVs, for example, may mean <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/2020/dec/08/the-curse-of-white-oil-electric-vehicles-dirty-secret-lithium">damaging forest ecosystems</a> to access lithium or cobalt.</p>
<h2>Trade-offs</h2>
<p>One major trade-off is the environmental damage associated with <a href="https://hackaday.com/2021/12/13/mining-and-refining-from-red-dirt-to-aluminum/">mining and refining</a> materials. An example is <a href="https://www.pv-magazine.com/2020/12/05/the-weekend-read-solar-needs-aluminum-but-it-has-a-carbon-problem/">aluminium</a>, vital for making solar panel frames. Worldwide aluminium production accounts for 2% of all greenhouse gas emissions, with studies estimating future emissions could reach <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-021-00838-9">1.7 gigatonnes</a> of CO₂ by 2050 – equivalent to twice the annual emissions from planes. </p>
<p>There’s potential to cut these emissions significantly, however. Switching the source of electricity for processing aluminium from fossil fuels to hydroelectric can reduce emissions from new aluminium by around 75%. What’s needed to make that happen, though, are better financial incentives for the mining sector to use renewable energy. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Brine pools for lithium mining" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/468051/original/file-20220609-20-nyq0os.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/468051/original/file-20220609-20-nyq0os.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468051/original/file-20220609-20-nyq0os.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468051/original/file-20220609-20-nyq0os.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468051/original/file-20220609-20-nyq0os.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468051/original/file-20220609-20-nyq0os.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468051/original/file-20220609-20-nyq0os.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">Brine extraction has uncertain consequences.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/brine-pools-lithium-mining-1833635461">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Difficulties with sourcing these materials are not limited to the emissions they create. Extracting <a href="https://hir.harvard.edu/lithium-triangle/">lithium from brine</a> – as is done in Argentina, Bolivia and Chile – requires drilling holes in salt flats to bring brine (salt water) to the surface, then evaporating the water using sunlight to leave potassium, manganese, borax and lithium salts behind.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-lithium-mined-from-hot-springs-in-cornwall-could-boost-britains-green-tech-71741">How lithium mined from hot springs in Cornwall could boost Britain's green tech</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>There is a <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-020-00080-9">debate</a> about the extent to which this brine qualifies as water, and therefore how much its extraction is affecting <a href="https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/water-stress-global-problem-thats-getting-worse">water-stressed</a> regions like Chile. For those arguing that it should be classed as water, its extraction is creating unnecessary water scarcity and damaging fragile ecosystems. And even from the perspective of those arguing it’s not water due to its high concentration of minerals, the long-term consequences of its extraction remain unknown. </p>
<p>Cobalt, another vital material used in EV batteries, is mostly mined in the <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-coltan-mining-in-the-drc-costs-people-and-the-environment-183159">Democratic Republic of Congo</a>. A large but unknown quantity of cobalt is extracted by small-scale miners who often employ children and have been <a href="http://resourcefever.com/publications/reports/OEKO_2011_cobalt_mining_congo.pdf">accused</a> of unsafe working conditions, poor safety records and exploitative employment contracts.</p>
<p>These trade-offs are not a justification for avoiding action on climate change, nor for refusing to build the tech we need to decarbonise essential systems. They do, however, justify <a href="https://theconversation.com/its-not-necessary-to-trash-the-environment-to-extract-metals-needed-for-renewable-energy-174271">closer focus</a> on how the materials needed to make eco-friendlier tech are sourced. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A person holds a sign reading '#FreeCongo End Child Mining'" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/468052/original/file-20220609-26-352gf1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/468052/original/file-20220609-26-352gf1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468052/original/file-20220609-26-352gf1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468052/original/file-20220609-26-352gf1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468052/original/file-20220609-26-352gf1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468052/original/file-20220609-26-352gf1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468052/original/file-20220609-26-352gf1.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">Mining can have socially devastating consequences.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/washington-dc-november-14-2020-democratic-1856050648">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Improving recycling of old products and scrap materials is a crucial part of this. However, the sheer increase in demand for these materials, due to the ongoing <a href="https://theconversation.com/fight-or-switch-how-the-low-carbon-transition-is-disrupting-fossil-fuel-politics-122376">low-carbon transition</a> as well as consumers’ growing wealth across the world, means this alone probably won’t be enough to avoid widespread ecosystem damage.</p>
<p>To help reduce this demand, we must increase the energy efficiency of our homes and businesses so they require less energy in the first place. Shifting away from private transport by investing in public transport will also help to cut mining demand. Without such action, achieving a truly sustainable <a href="https://theconversation.com/an-energy-revolution-is-possible-but-only-if-leaders-get-imaginative-about-how-to-fund-it-172427">low-carbon transition</a> will be impossible.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/183567/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Timothy Laing 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>Solar panels and electric cars come with their own environmental trade-offs like increased mining and extraction.Timothy Laing, Senior Lecturer in Economics, University of BrightonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1823312022-05-11T05:28:07Z2022-05-11T05:28:07ZAustralia 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>
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</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>
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</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 UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1800762022-04-04T09:02:32Z2022-04-04T09:02:32ZThese energy innovations could transform how we mitigate climate change, and save money in the process – 5 essential reads<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/454426/original/file-20220325-23-1asrf9z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=367%2C208%2C1465%2C864&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Building solar panels over water sources is one way to both provide power and reduce evaporation in drought-troubled regions.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Robin Raj, Citizen Group & Solar Aquagrid</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>To most people, a solar farm or a geothermal plant is an important source of clean energy. Scientists and engineers see that plus far more potential.</p>
<p>They envision offshore wind turbines capturing and storing carbon beneath the sea, and geothermal plants producing essential metals for powering electric vehicles. Electric vehicle batteries, too, can be transformed to power homes, saving their owners money and also <a href="https://theconversation.com/revolutionary-changes-in-transportation-from-electric-vehicles-to-ride-sharing-could-slow-global-warming-if-theyre-done-right-ipcc-says-179535">reducing transportation emissions</a>.</p>
<p>With scientists worldwide <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/">sounding the alarm</a> about the increasing dangers and costs of climate change, let’s explore some cutting-edge ideas that could transform how today’s technologies <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/report/sixth-assessment-report-working-group-3/">reduce the effects of global warming</a>, from five recent articles in The Conversation.</p>
<h2>1. Solar canals: Power + water protection</h2>
<p>What if solar panels did double duty, protecting water supplies while producing more power?</p>
<p>California is developing the United States’ first solar canals, with solar panels built atop some of the state’s water distribution canals. These canals run for thousands of miles through arid environments, where the dry air boosts evaporation in a state frequently troubled by water shortages.</p>
<p>“In a 2021 study, we showed that <a href="https://theconversation.com/first-solar-canal-project-is-a-win-for-water-energy-air-and-climate-in-california-177433">covering all 4,000 miles of California’s canals</a> with solar panels would save more than 65 billion gallons of water annually by reducing evaporation. That’s enough to irrigate 50,000 acres of farmland or meet the residential water needs of more than 2 million people,” writes engineering professor <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=S2cxf2IAAAAJ&hl=en">Roger Bales</a> of the University of California, Merced. They would also expand renewable energy without taking up farmable land.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/397902/original/file-20210429-23-1q3uacf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Solar panels would form a roof over canals." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/397902/original/file-20210429-23-1q3uacf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/397902/original/file-20210429-23-1q3uacf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=367&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397902/original/file-20210429-23-1q3uacf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=367&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397902/original/file-20210429-23-1q3uacf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=367&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397902/original/file-20210429-23-1q3uacf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=461&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397902/original/file-20210429-23-1q3uacf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=461&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397902/original/file-20210429-23-1q3uacf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=461&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Other countries including China and India are also testing the solar farms over water.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Solar Aquagrid LLC</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/">Research shows</a> that human activities, particularly using fossil fuels for energy and transportation, are <a href="https://theconversation.com/ipcc-climate-report-profound-changes-are-underway-in-earths-oceans-and-ice-a-lead-author-explains-what-the-warnings-mean-165588">unequivocally warming the planet</a> and increasing extreme weather. Increasing renewable energy, currently about <a href="https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.php?id=427&t=3">20% of U.S. utility-scale electricity</a> generation, can reduce fossil fuel demand.</p>
<p>Putting solar panels over shaded water can also improve their power output. The cooler water lowers the temperature of the panels by about 10 degrees Fahrenheit (5.5 Celsius), boosting their efficiency, Bales writes. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/first-solar-canal-project-is-a-win-for-water-energy-air-and-climate-in-california-177433">First solar canal project is a win for water, energy, air and climate in California</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<h2>2. Geothermal power could boost battery supplies</h2>
<p>For renewable energy to slash global greenhouse gas emissions, buildings and vehicles have to be able to use it. Batteries are essential, but the industry has a supply chain problem.</p>
<p>Most batteries used in electric vehicles and utility-scale energy storage are lithium-ion batteries, and most lithium used in the U.S. comes from Argentina, Chile, China and Russia. China is the leader in lithium processing. </p>
<p>Geologist and engineers are working on an innovative method that could boost the U.S. lithium supply at home by <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-a-few-geothermal-plants-could-solve-americas-lithium-supply-crunch-and-boost-the-ev-battery-industry-179465">extracting lithium from geothermal brines</a> in California’s Salton Sea region.</p>
<p>Brines are the liquid leftover in a geothermal plant after heat and steam are used to produce power. That liquid contains lithium and other metals such as manganese, zinc and boron. Normally, it is pumped back underground, but the metals can also be filtered out.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/oYtyEVPGEU8?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">How lithium is extracted during geothermal energy production. Courtesy of Controlled Thermal Resources.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>“If test projects now underway prove that battery-grade lithium can be extracted from these brines cost effectively, 11 existing geothermal plants along the Salton Sea alone could have the potential to produce enough lithium metal to provide about 10 times the current U.S. demand,” write geologist <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=GN_MdtQAAAAJ&hl=en">Michael McKibben</a> of the University of California, Riverside, and energy policy scholar <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=gLrgWW4AAAAJ&hl=en">Bryant Jones</a> of Boise State University.</p>
<p>President Joe Biden <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2022/03/31/memorandum-on-presidential-determination-pursuant-to-section-303-of-the-defense-production-act-of-1950-as-amended/">invoked the Defense Production Act</a> on March 31, 2022, to provide incentives for U.S. companies to mine and process more critical minerals for batteries.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-a-few-geothermal-plants-could-solve-americas-lithium-supply-crunch-and-boost-the-ev-battery-industry-179465">How a few geothermal plants could solve America's lithium supply crunch and boost the EV battery industry</a>
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</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>3. Green hydrogen and other storage ideas</h2>
<p>Scientists are working on other ways to boost batteries’ mineral supply chain, too, including recycling lithium and cobalt from old batteries. They’re also <a href="https://theconversation.com/these-3-energy-storage-technologies-can-help-solve-the-challenge-of-moving-to-100-renewable-electricity-161564">developing designs with other materials</a>, explained <a href="https://www.nrel.gov/research/staff/kerry-rippy.html">Kerry Rippy</a>, a researcher with the National Renewable Energy Lab.</p>
<p>Concentrated solar power, for example, stores energy from the sun by heating molten salt and using it to produce steam to drive electric generators, similar to how a coal power plant would generate electricity. It’s expensive, though, and the salts currently used aren’t stable at higher temperature, Rippy writes. The Department of Energy is funding a similar project that is experimenting with heated sand.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fkX-H24Chfw?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Hydrogen’s challenges, including its fossil fuel history.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Renewable fuels, such as green hydrogen and ammonia, provide a different type of storage. Since they store energy as liquid, they can be transported and used for shipping or rocket fuel.</p>
<p>Hydrogen gets a lot of attention, but not all hydrogen is green. Most hydrogen used today is actually produced with natural gas – a fossil fuel. Green hydrogen, in contrast, could be produced using renewable energy to power electrolysis, which splits water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen, but again, it’s expensive.</p>
<p>“The key challenge is optimizing the process to make it efficient and economical,” Rippy writes. “The potential payoff is enormous: inexhaustible, completely renewable energy.”</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/these-3-energy-storage-technologies-can-help-solve-the-challenge-of-moving-to-100-renewable-electricity-161564">These 3 energy storage technologies can help solve the challenge of moving to 100% renewable electricity</a>
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</p>
<hr>
<h2>4. Using your EV to power your home</h2>
<p>Batteries could also soon turn your electric vehicle into a giant, mobile battery capable of powering your home.</p>
<p>Only a few vehicles are currently designed for vehicle-to-home charging, or V2H, but that’s changing, writes energy economist <a href="https://scholar.google.ca/citations?user=07sAJX8AAAAJ&hl=en">Seth Blumsack</a> of Penn State University. Ford, for example, says its new F-150 Lightning pickup truck will be able to power an average house for three days on a single charge.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/w4XLBOnzE6Q?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">How bidirectional charging allows EVs to power homes.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Blumsack explores the technical challenges as V2H grows and its potential to change <a href="https://theconversation.com/can-my-electric-car-power-my-house-not-yet-for-most-drivers-but-vehicle-to-home-charging-is-coming-163332">how people manage energy use and how utilities store power</a>.</p>
<p>For example, he writes, “some homeowners might hope to use their vehicle for what utility planners call ‘peak shaving’ – drawing household power from their EV during the day instead of relying on the grid, thus reducing their electricity purchases during peak demand hours.”</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/can-my-electric-car-power-my-house-not-yet-for-most-drivers-but-vehicle-to-home-charging-is-coming-163332">Can my electric car power my house? Not yet for most drivers, but vehicle-to-home charging is coming</a>
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</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>5. Capturing carbon from air and locking it away</h2>
<p>Another emerging technology is more controversial.</p>
<p>Humans have put so much carbon dioxide into the atmosphere over the past two centuries that just stopping fossil fuel use won’t be enough to quickly stabilize the climate. Most scenarios, including <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch">in recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reports</a>, show the world will have to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, as well.</p>
<p>The technology to capture carbon dioxide from the air exists – it’s called <a href="https://theconversation.com/these-machines-scrub-greenhouse-gases-from-the-air-an-inventor-of-direct-air-capture-technology-shows-how-it-works-172306">direct air capture</a> – but it’s expensive. </p>
<p>Engineers and geophysicists like <a href="https://www.earth.columbia.edu/users/profile/david-s-goldberg">David Goldberg</a> of Columbia University are exploring ways to cut those costs by combining direct air capture technology with renewable energy production and carbon storage, like offshore wind turbines built above undersea rock formations where captured carbon could be locked away. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Construction of a wind farm off Rhode Island" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/454424/original/file-20220325-21-19jxroc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/454424/original/file-20220325-21-19jxroc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=407&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/454424/original/file-20220325-21-19jxroc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=407&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/454424/original/file-20220325-21-19jxroc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=407&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/454424/original/file-20220325-21-19jxroc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=511&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/454424/original/file-20220325-21-19jxroc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=511&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/454424/original/file-20220325-21-19jxroc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=511&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 U.S. had seven operating offshore wind turbines with 42 megawatts of capacity in 2021. The Biden administration’s goal is 30,000 megawatts by 2030.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/OffshoreWind/933c4adb5d06417c8d42f69986bae5d6/photo">AP Photo/Michael Dwyer</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The world’s largest direct air capture plant, launched in 2021 in Iceland, uses geothermal energy to power its equipment. The captured carbon dioxide is mixed with water and pumped into volcanic basalt formations underground. Chemical reactions with the basalt turn it into a hard carbonate.</p>
<p>Goldberg, who helped developed the mineralization process used in Iceland, sees similar <a href="https://theconversation.com/offshore-wind-farms-could-help-capture-carbon-from-air-and-store-it-long-term-using-energy-that-would-otherwise-go-to-waste-173208">potential for future U.S. offshore wind farms</a>. Wind turbines often produce more energy than their customers need at any given time, making excess energy available. </p>
<p>“Built together, these technologies could reduce the energy costs of carbon capture and minimize the need for onshore pipelines, reducing impacts on the environment,” Goldberg writes. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/offshore-wind-farms-could-help-capture-carbon-from-air-and-store-it-long-term-using-energy-that-would-otherwise-go-to-waste-173208">Offshore wind farms could help capture carbon from air and store it long-term – using energy that would otherwise go to waste</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p><em>Editor’s note: This story is a roundup of articles from The Conversation’s archives.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/180076/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
From pulling carbon dioxide out of the air to turning water into fuel, innovators are developing new technologies and pairing existing ones to help slow global warming.Stacy Morford, Environment + Climate EditorLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1794652022-03-21T12:14:11Z2022-03-21T12:14:11ZHow a few geothermal plants could solve America’s lithium supply crunch and boost the EV battery industry<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/452916/original/file-20220317-15-hhgw71.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=805%2C295%2C2507%2C1690&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A pilot plant near the Salton Sea in California pairs lithium extraction with geothermal energy production.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Michael McKibben</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Geothermal energy has long been the forgotten member of the clean energy family, overshadowed by relatively cheap solar and wind power, despite its proven potential. But that may soon change – for an unexpected reason.</p>
<p>Geothermal technologies are on the verge of unlocking vast quantities of lithium from naturally occurring hot brines beneath places like California’s <a href="https://water.ca.gov/Programs/Integrated-Regional-Water-Management/Salton-Sea-Unit">Salton Sea</a>, a two-hour drive from San Diego.</p>
<p>Lithium is essential for <a href="https://www.energy.gov/eere/articles/how-does-lithium-ion-battery-work">lithium-ion batteries</a>, which power electric vehicles and energy storage. Demand for these batteries is quickly rising, but the <a href="https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/mcs2021">U.S. is currently heavily reliant on lithium imports</a> from <a href="https://pubs.usgs.gov/periodicals/mcs2022/mcs2022-lithium.pdf">other countries</a> – most of the nation’s lithium supply comes from Argentina, Chile, Russia and China. The ability to recover critical minerals from geothermal brines in the U.S. could have important implications for energy and mineral security, as well as global supply chains, workforce transitions and geopolitics.</p>
<p>As a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=GN_MdtQAAAAJ&hl=en">geologist</a> who works with geothermal brines and an <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=gLrgWW4AAAAJ&hl=en">energy policy scholar</a>, we believe this technology can bolster the nation’s critical minerals supply chain at a time when <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-us-is-worried-about-its-critical-minerals-supply-chains-essential-for-electric-vehicles-wind-power-and-the-nations-defense-157465">concerns about the supply chain’s security</a> are rising.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A power plant surrounded by fields with a large lake behind it and mountains in the distance." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/453112/original/file-20220318-25-cnc3ar.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/453112/original/file-20220318-25-cnc3ar.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=370&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453112/original/file-20220318-25-cnc3ar.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=370&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453112/original/file-20220318-25-cnc3ar.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=370&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453112/original/file-20220318-25-cnc3ar.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=465&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453112/original/file-20220318-25-cnc3ar.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=465&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453112/original/file-20220318-25-cnc3ar.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=465&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Elmore geothermal plant near the Salton Sea began operating in 1989.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.eurekalert.org/multimedia/754708">Berkshire Hathaway Energy</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Enough lithium to far exceed today’s US demand</h2>
<p>Geothermal power plants use heat from the Earth to generate a constant supply of steam to run turbines that produce electricity. The plants operate by bringing up a complex saline solution located far underground, where it absorbs heat and is enriched with minerals such as lithium, manganese, zinc, potassium and boron.</p>
<p>Geothermal brines are <a href="https://youtu.be/oYtyEVPGEU8">the concentrated liquid left over</a> after heat and steam are extracted at a geothermal plant. In the Salton Sea plants, these brines contain high concentrations – about 30% – of dissolved solids.</p>
<p>If test projects now underway prove that battery-grade lithium can be extracted from these brines cost effectively, 11 existing geothermal plants along the Salton Sea alone could have the potential to produce enough lithium metal to provide about <a href="https://www.saltonseataskforce.ucr.edu/_files/ugd/0d73bf_02e916684d584127a0cd621ac746348e.pdf">10 times</a> the <a href="https://pubs.usgs.gov/periodicals/mcs2022/mcs2022.pdf">current U.S. demand</a>.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/oYtyEVPGEU8?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">How lithium is extracted during geothermal energy production. Courtesy of Controlled Thermal Resources.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Three geothermal operators at the Salton Sea geothermal field are in various stages of designing, constructing and testing pilot plants for direct lithium extraction from the hot brines.</p>
<p>At full production capacity, the 11 existing power plants near the Salton Sea, which currently generate about 432 megawatts of electricity, could also produce about <a href="https://www.saltonseataskforce.ucr.edu/_files/ugd/0d73bf_02e916684d584127a0cd621ac746348e.pdf">20,000 metric tons of lithium metal</a> per year. The annual market value of this metal would be over $5 billion at current prices.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Satellite image of the Salton Sea showing a wide valley" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/452709/original/file-20220317-7550-1htyiut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/452709/original/file-20220317-7550-1htyiut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452709/original/file-20220317-7550-1htyiut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452709/original/file-20220317-7550-1htyiut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452709/original/file-20220317-7550-1htyiut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=622&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452709/original/file-20220317-7550-1htyiut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=622&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452709/original/file-20220317-7550-1htyiut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=622&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Salton Trough, seen from a satellite with the Salton Sea in the middle, is a rift valley that extends from east of Los Angeles, in the upper left, to the Gulf of California, visible at the bottom right. The San Andreas fault system crosses here, where two tectonic plates meet.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Salton_Trough.jpg">Jesse Allen/NASA Earth Observatory</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Geopolitical risks in the lithium supply chain</h2>
<p>Existing lithium supply chains are rife with uncertainties that put mineral security in question for the United States.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.vox.com/22970918/russia-war-in-ukraine-explained">Russia’s war in Ukraine</a> and competition with China, as well as <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/russia-and-china-unveil-a-pact-against-america-and-the-west">close ties between Russia and China</a>, underscore the geopolitical implications of the mineral-intensive clean energy transformation.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.spglobal.com/marketintelligence/en/news-insights/latest-news-headlines/china-mining-battery-companies-sweep-up-lithium-supplies-in-acquisition-blitz-67205411">China is currently the leader in lithium processing</a> and actively procures lithium reserves from other major producers. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/20/world/china-congo-cobalt.html">Chinese state mining operators often own mines</a> in other countries, which produce other vital clean energy minerals like cobalt and nickel.</p>
<p>There is currently <a href="https://pubs.usgs.gov/periodicals/mcs2022/mcs2022-lithium.pdf">one lithium production facility</a> in the U.S. That facility, in Nevada, extracts saline liquid and concentrates the lithium by <a href="https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/InterimCommittee/REL/Document/16038">allowing the water to evaporate</a> in <a href="https://www.reviewjournal.com/local/local-nevada/nevadas-next-boom-demand-poised-to-spur-silver-states-lithium-production-2451259/">large, shallow ponds</a>. In contrast, the process for extracting lithium while producing geothermal energy returns the water and brines to the earth. Adding another domestic source of lithium could improve energy and mineral security for the United States and its allies.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6Q1A44qtx2o?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">By pairing with geothermal power production, lithium extraction reduces the need for excess water consumption.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A lack of policy support</h2>
<p>Geothermal power today represents <a href="https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/geothermal/use-of-geothermal-energy.php">less than 0.5%</a> of the utility-scale electricity generation in the U.S.</p>
<p>One reason it remains a stagnant energy technology in the U.S. is the lack of strong policy support. Preliminary findings from <a href="https://pangea.stanford.edu/ERE/db/IGAstandard/record_detail.php?id=35412">a research study</a> being conducted by one of us indicate that part of the problem is rooted in disagreements among older and newer geothermal companies themselves, including how they talk about geothermal energy’s benefits with policymakers, investors, the media and the public.</p>
<p>Geothermal power has the ability to complement solar and wind energy as a baseload power source – <a href="https://www.energy.gov/eere/articles/5-common-geothermal-energy-myths-debunked">it is constant</a>, unlike sunshine and wind – and to provide energy and mineral security. It could also offer a professional bridge for oil, gas and coal employees to transition into the clean energy economy. </p>
<p>The industry could benefit from policies like <a href="https://gdflac.com/about/objectives/">risk mitigation funds</a> to lessen drilling exploration costs, grant programs to demonstrate innovations, <a href="https://europeangeothermalcongress.eu/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/CUR-30-Turkey.pdf">long-term power contracts</a> or <a href="https://www.finance.senate.gov/ranking-members-news/crapo-whitehouse-release-energy-innovation-tax-credit-proposal">tax incentives</a>.</p>
<p>Adding the production of critical metals like lithium, manganese and zinc from geothermal brines could provide geothermal electrical power operators a new competitive advantage and help get geothermal onto the policy agenda.</p>
<h2>Geothermal energy gets a boost in California</h2>
<p>Trends might be moving in the right direction for geothermal energy producers.</p>
<p>In February, the California Public Utilities Commission adopted a new <a href="https://www.cpuc.ca.gov/news-and-updates/all-news/cpuc-approves-long-term-plans-to-meet-electricity-reliability-and-climate-goals">Preferred System Plan that encourages the state to develop 1,160 megawatts</a> of new geothermal electricity. That’s on top of a <a href="https://docs.cpuc.ca.gov/PublishedDocs/Published/G000/M389/K155/389155856.PDF">2021 decision to procure 1,000 megawatts</a> from zero emissions, renewable, firm generating resources with an 80% capacity factor – which can only be met by geothermal technologies.</p>
<p>[<em>Over 150,000 readers rely on The Conversation’s newsletters to understand the world.</em> <a href="https://memberservices.theconversation.com/newsletters/?source=inline-150ksignup">Sign up today</a>.]</p>
<p>The California decisions were primarily meant to complement intermittent renewable energy, like solar and wind, and the retirement of the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant. They suggest that the era of geothermal as the forgotten renewable energy may be ending.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/179465/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael McKibben currently receives federal funding from the Department of Energy to research the origins of lithium resources in geothermal brines. He occasionally consults for geothermal companies, but does not own individual shares in those companies.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bryant Jones does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Lithium is essential for batteries that power electric vehicles and store energy from solar and wind farms. A new U.S. source could provide 10 times more lithium than the country uses today.Bryant Jones, Ph.D. Candidate of Energy Policy, Boise State UniversityMichael McKibben, Research Professor of Geology, University of California, RiversideLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1742712022-01-10T16:37:08Z2022-01-10T16:37:08ZIt’s not necessary to trash the environment to extract metals needed for renewable energy<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/439248/original/file-20220103-50268-1565u2h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=17%2C224%2C5973%2C3745&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Off-road vehicles are driven on a property that will be mined for lithium along the Salton Sea, in Niland, Calif., in July 2021. Lithium is critical to rechargeable batteries.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The use of renewable energy systems, such as solar panels, wind turbines, electric cars and hydrogen fuel cells, <a href="https://www.c2es.org/content/what-we-can-do/">will minimize greenhouse gas emissions</a> and reduce global warming. But use of these systems has to increase — and they require a lot of metal.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/extractiveindustries/brief/climate-smart-mining-minerals-for-climate-action">World Bank</a> estimates that about three billion tonnes of metals like graphite, lithium and cobalt will be needed by 2050 to supply enough systems to keep the global temperature rise below 2 C, a goal of the <a href="https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement/the-paris-agreement">2016 Paris Climate agreement</a>. In comparison, only about one billion tonnes of metals would be needed by 2050 to satisfy current usage of renewable energy systems.</p>
<p>Since <a href="https://www.nrcan.gc.ca/our-natural-resources/minerals-mining/minerals-metals-facts/20507">Canada has abundant resources of most of the metals needed</a>, can it become a global leader in the supply of materials needed for renewable energy systems?</p>
<p>It could, but the increase in the <a href="https://www.wired.co.uk/article/lithium-batteries-environment-impact">physical, energy and water footprints associated with extraction of these metals</a> to meet the metal demand could negate any gains made by the use of renewable energy systems.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Large outdoor tanks, one filled with a greenish fluid, at a mineral processing plant." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/439254/original/file-20220103-129369-12jqeln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/439254/original/file-20220103-129369-12jqeln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/439254/original/file-20220103-129369-12jqeln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/439254/original/file-20220103-129369-12jqeln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/439254/original/file-20220103-129369-12jqeln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/439254/original/file-20220103-129369-12jqeln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/439254/original/file-20220103-129369-12jqeln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A lithium processing plant in Australia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Sustainability vs. fossil fuel alternatives</h2>
<p><a href="https://miningwatch.ca/sites/default/files/miningwatch_review_page.pdf">Some say it’s not possible to reconcile these two goals</a> and we must make difficult choices and unfair decisions. The alternative is to find ways to adapt to global warming. </p>
<p>But this ignores a few things, such as the technology developments that could reduce the carbon footprint of extraction, the potential of a reorganization of the metal supply chain and the possibility of a closer relationship between society and the metals it uses.</p>
<p>Can we change mining technology to reduce its footprint? There is an active community of researchers that says yes. Here are some current avenues of investigation:</p>
<ul>
<li>Bacteria have been interacting with minerals for more than two billion years, decomposing the minerals and allowing the metals to dissolve into water. As a result, a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2018.11.039">mineral microbiome</a> has evolved that could be used to develop <a href="https://sfamjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1751-7915.12792">natural ways of extracting metals</a> and to clean up mine waste. </li>
</ul>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-engineered-bacteria-could-clean-up-oilsands-pollution-and-mining-waste-160230">How engineered bacteria could clean up oilsands pollution and mining waste</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<ul>
<li><p>Greenhouse gas emissions at mining operations currently account for about 10 per cent of global emissions. That percentage will increase if we try to meet metals demands using current methods. <a href="https://www.angloamerican.com/investors/annual-reporting/hydrogen-power">Some operations are implementing renewable energy systems</a> in efforts to further reduce this emission level. </p></li>
<li><p>Autonomous systems, some electrified, are in use at some mines, but there is more potential. One possibility is a large number of small machines — a swarm that behaves like an ant colony. This could enable targeted metal extraction with a far smaller footprint.</p></li>
</ul>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/TYaquGrGhfk?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">A look at swarm robots, courtesy of Tech Planet.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<ul>
<li>Metal extraction generates enormous amounts of information on the actual behaviour of a mining operation. <a href="https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/global/Documents/Energy-and-Resources/deloitte-norcat-future-mining-with-ai-web.pdf">Machine learning algorithms could find patterns in these data</a> and use them to guide improvements to the operations and increase the recovery of mineral resources.</li>
</ul>
<p>These are big ideas that will take time to fully develop. But we believe that a reorganization of the metal supply chain and better connections between society and the metals it uses can more quickly lead to sustainable metal supply. The first step is to unwrap the mineral resources industry to make it more transparent, visible and available to anyone.</p>
<h2>Metal supply chains</h2>
<p>The links in the metal value chain are suppliers who perform different services. </p>
<p>A mining company is one collection of suppliers. But an interesting alternative is a network consisting of several sources of metals such as mines, scrap metal, electronic waste, mine tailings and wastewater — all connected to processing plants, refineries, manufacturers and the related suppliers of materials and services. </p>
<p>Networks within networks are possible, and flexibility is required. One network might specialize in processing tailings to extract metals, another on processing mineral concentrates and another may be solely focused on recycling metals from scrap. Ownership and operation of any part of a network would be open to a company, group or community that has the knowledge and expertise. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A graph shows a metal supply network" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/439269/original/file-20220104-19-1wr37kk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/439269/original/file-20220104-19-1wr37kk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/439269/original/file-20220104-19-1wr37kk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/439269/original/file-20220104-19-1wr37kk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/439269/original/file-20220104-19-1wr37kk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/439269/original/file-20220104-19-1wr37kk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/439269/original/file-20220104-19-1wr37kk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">This illustration of a metal supply network shows different sources of metals and different suppliers of services such as mining, energy, recycling and processing. Membership in the network is open to anyone or any group (represented by the people icon in the centre), and the interactions between members are flexible.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Authors)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s13563-021-00251-w">Most innovation in the mining industry takes place among suppliers</a>, and the presence of different suppliers in a network would be advantageous. A combination of competition among suppliers to take part in a network, and collaboration among suppliers in those networks, would promote innovation. </p>
<p>Many opportunities exist for the public to contribute to a flexible open metal supply network. Barriers to entry do exist, but they aren’t insurmountable, and there are advantages to removing them. </p>
<p>For example, in Canada, many mineral deposits are located on Indigenous lands. Parts of a network related to these mineral deposits could be operated/financed by a mining company or group of companies owned by an Indigenous community.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/439251/original/file-20220103-48250-btnoso.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/439251/original/file-20220103-48250-btnoso.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=445&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/439251/original/file-20220103-48250-btnoso.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=445&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/439251/original/file-20220103-48250-btnoso.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=445&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/439251/original/file-20220103-48250-btnoso.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=559&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/439251/original/file-20220103-48250-btnoso.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=559&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/439251/original/file-20220103-48250-btnoso.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=559&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A girl walks along the streets as the sun rises in December 2012, on the Fort Hope First Nation in northern Ontario, in an area with rich mineral and metal deposits.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Some of the metals needed for renewable energy systems reside in small deposits that are geographically dispersed. <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2021/12/9/22825948/gm-ev-motor-rare-earth-metal-magnet-mp-materials">Rare earth metals used in the magnets of motors in electric cars</a> are one example. It’s too expensive to develop a mine for these deposits, but a flexible open network that uses services only as needed might be able to do economically. </p>
<h2>Tough to separate metals</h2>
<p>Recycling is another source of metals, but the combinations of materials in some products makes it difficult to separate the metals in them. </p>
<p>This calls for some innovation in processing. But the logistics of recycling are cumbersome, especially for clunky items containing metals such as an aircraft engine, an electric car or a few thousand disk drives. An open network that includes communities and logistics specialists in partnership with advanced recycling operations could be a sustainable source of metals. </p>
<p>Reuse or refurbishment of devices that contain metals is also possible as part of <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/services/environment/conservation/sustainability/circular-economy.html">the circular economy</a>. Co-ordination between device users and manufacturers would be required. But an open network of partnerships can accomplish this.</p>
<p>If we want to use renewable energy to keep the atmosphere cool, then mining processes and our current relationship with metals must change. Governments should implement policies that encourage those changes. Industry can also contribute by encouraging business partnerships and engagement with communities and other interested parties.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/174271/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Scott Dunbar receives funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) under a Discovery Grant and from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) under an Insight Grant. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span><a href="mailto:delmo@mining.ubc.ca">delmo@mining.ubc.ca</a> receives funding from NSERC (Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada) and MITACS</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>John Steen owns shares in various mining companies as part of a personal investment portfolio. He currently receives research funding from a wide range of industry and government sources including NSERC, MITACS, Canadian Digital Technology Supercluster, EY, Vale, Rio Tinto, Teck, Allonia, FL Smidth and the Project Management Institute</span></em></p>Canada could become a global leader in the supply of materials needed for renewable energy systems if it finds ways to control the environmental footprints associated with their extraction.W. Scott Dunbar, Professor and Head of Department of Mining Engineering, University of British ColumbiaDavide Elmo, Associate Professor, Rock Mechanics, University of British ColumbiaJohn Steen, EY Distinguished Scholar in Global Mining Futures, University of British ColumbiaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1679022021-09-22T04:06:10Z2021-09-22T04:06:10ZWe need lithium for clean energy, but Rio Tinto’s planned Serbian mine reminds us it shouldn’t come at any cost<p><a href="https://www.dw.com/en/serbia-thousands-rally-in-belgrade-for-environmental-causes/a-59155904">Thousands of demonstrators</a> rallied across the Serbian capital Belgrade this month, protesting the US$2.4 billion (A$3.3 billion) Jadar lithium mine proposed by global mining giant Rio Tinto. The project, Rio Tinto’s flagship renewable energy initiative, is set to become the largest lithium project in the European Union.</p>
<p>Lithium is a crucial component of energy storage, both for <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-08-19/surging-lithium-demand-outstrips-forecast-of-major-producer-sqm">renewable energy technologies</a> and electric vehicles. <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2020/05/11/mineral-production-to-soar-as-demand-for-clean-energy-increases">Forecast demand</a> has prompted efforts by companies and governments worldwide to tap into this market – a scramble dubbed the “white gold rush”.</p>
<p>As lithium projects have multiplied across Australia, Europe, Latin America and the US in recent years, so too have <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/jun/14/electric-cost-lithium-mining-decarbonasation-salt-flats-chile">concerns over their environmental and social impacts</a>. Communities near proposed and existing lithium mines are some of the loudest opponents. <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/sustainable-business/rio-tinto-led-plan-major-lithium-mine-stirs-protests-serbia-2021-08-26/">In a town</a> near the proposed mine in Serbia, a banner reads: “No mine, yes life”.</p>
<p>Lithium extraction serves legitimate global environmental needs. But the industry must not ignore local social and environmental risks, and community voices must be included in decision making. The harsh lessons of mining to date need not be learned again in new places. </p>
<h2>Weighing the risks</h2>
<p>According to the <a href="https://pubs.usgs.gov/periodicals/mcs2021/mcs2021.pdf">latest estimates</a>, the world’s resources of lithium sit at 86 million tonnes, a number that continues to grow as new deposits are found every year. Australia is the main producer of lithium, where it’s mined from hard rock called “spodumene”. The largest deposits are <a href="https://hir.harvard.edu/lithium-triangle/">found in South America</a>, where lithium is extracted from brines underneath salt flats. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/422314/original/file-20210921-21-acyuuy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/422314/original/file-20210921-21-acyuuy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/422314/original/file-20210921-21-acyuuy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422314/original/file-20210921-21-acyuuy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422314/original/file-20210921-21-acyuuy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422314/original/file-20210921-21-acyuuy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422314/original/file-20210921-21-acyuuy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422314/original/file-20210921-21-acyuuy.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">Lithium mining operates beneath the salt flats in the Atacama, Chile.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In many cases, lithium mines are relatively new operations, yet complex and adverse social and environmental impacts have already been observed. More <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/aae9b1/meta">research</a> and better targeted policy are needed to help understand and manage the socio-environmental impacts. </p>
<p>In Chile, lithium has been mined since the 1980s. It has been shown to interfere with cultural practices of <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0962629821000421">local Indigenous communities</a>, alter traditional economic <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959652620308854">livelihoods</a> and <a href="https://journals.librarypublishing.arizona.edu/jpe/article/id/2139/">exacerbate the fragility</a> of surrounding ecosystems. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/afghanistan-has-vast-mineral-wealth-but-faces-steep-challenges-to-tap-it-166484">Afghanistan has vast mineral wealth but faces steep challenges to tap it</a>
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<p>The Jadar lithium project is operated by Rio Sava, a subsidiary of Rio Tinto. It’s expected to become one of Serbia’s largest mines, occupying around 387 hectares, and contribute to at least <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/sustainable-business/rio-tinto-led-plan-major-lithium-mine-stirs-protests-serbia-2021-08-26/">1% of Serbia’s GDP</a>. </p>
<p>An environmental impact study commissioned by Rio Tinto, and obtained by Reuters, found the project would cause “<a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/sustainable-business/rio-tinto-led-plan-major-lithium-mine-stirs-protests-serbia-2021-08-26/">irredeemable damage</a>” to the environment, concluding the project should not go ahead. Environmental impacts are expected for any mine proposal. Yet some are manageable, so such a grave assessment in this case is not encouraging. </p>
<p>The extent to which a project shows best practice in mine management can depend on pressure from communities, investors and governments. Promises to adhere to all regulations are a common response from the industry. </p>
<p>But as we’re seeing <a href="https://journals.uair.arizona.edu/index.php/JPE/article/view/23169/0">in Chile</a>, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/jun/14/electric-cost-lithium-mining-decarbonasation-salt-flats-chile">significant</a> environmental damage and socio-environmental impacts can still occur within established regulations. Here, communities living on the salt flats are concerned about the effect of removing groundwater for lithium extraction on their livelihoods and surrounding ecosystems.</p>
<p>Communities near the Jadar Mine project hold <a href="https://you.wemove.eu/campaigns/stop-rio-tinto-mine">similar concerns</a>. They <a href="http://www.marssadrine.org/?lang=en">have gathered</a> in formal organisation to reject the project and stage demonstrations. A petition against the project has <a href="https://peticije.kreni-promeni.org/petitions/stop-rudniku-litijuma-rio-tinto-mars-sa-drine?source=homepage&utm_medium=promotion&utm_source=homepage">gained over 130,000 signatures</a>, and a <a href="https://www.sanu.ac.rs/en/jadar-project-what-is-known/">report by the Serbian Academy of Arts and Sciences</a> has protested the project’s approval. </p>
<p>The communities fear the potential risks of air and waterborne pollution from the lithium mine, destruction of biodiversity, and the loss of land to mine infrastructure. These risks could affect the livelihoods of local landholders, farmers and residents. </p>
<p>Of particular concern is that the proposed locations for mine waste (tailings) are in a valley prone to flash flooding and may lead to toxic waste spills. This <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/sustainable-business/rio-tinto-led-plan-major-lithium-mine-stirs-protests-serbia-2021-08-26/">previously occurred</a> in the same region when the abandoned Stolice antimony mine <a href="https://serbia-energy.eu/tailing-spill-landslide-and-mine-waste-failures-in-serbia/">flooded in 2014</a>. Rio Tinto has said it will try to mitigate this risk by converting the liquid waste into so-called “<a href="https://www.riotinto.com/news/releases/2021/Rio-Tinto-commits-funding-for-Jadar-lithium-project">dry cakes</a>”. </p>
<p>In response to this article, a Rio Tinto spokesperson said it has been working through the project requirements for 20 years, with a team of over 100 domestic experts studying the possible cumulative impacts in accordance with Serbian law, adding:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The study will consider all potential environmental effects of proposed actions and define measures to eliminate or reduce them […] including water, noise, air quality, biodiversity and cultural heritage.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Can we decarbonise without sacrifice?</h2>
<p>The Jadar Mine project is touted for its potential to bring significant profits to both Rio Tinto and <a href="https://cordmagazine.com/mining/vesna-prodanovic-rio-sava-exploration-jadar-project-development-opportunity-for-serbia/">the Serbian state</a>, while helping usher in the era of decarbonisation. </p>
<p>Rio Tinto plans to <a href="https://www.riotinto.com/news/releases/2021/Rio-Tinto-commits-funding-for-Jadar-lithium-project%22%22">begin construction by 2022</a>, “subject to receiving all relevant approvals, permits and licences and ongoing engagement”, with first saleable production expected in 2026.</p>
<p>But relatively fast timelines like this can sometimes be a sign of regulatory governance instability, including weak regulatory frameworks or regulatory capture (when agencies are increasingly dominated by the interests they regulate). We have seen this in <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214790X16300776">Guyana</a>, <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/article/760941%22%22">Peru</a> and <a href="https://www.economist.com/the-americas/2019/02/02/brazils-worst-ever-dam-disaster-follows-years-of-regulatory-capture">Brazil</a>. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/rio-tinto-just-blasted-away-an-ancient-aboriginal-site-heres-why-that-was-allowed-139466">Rio Tinto just blasted away an ancient Aboriginal site. Here’s why that was allowed</a>
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<p>In Australia, Rio Tinto’s recent destruction of the culturally invaluable Juukan Gorge — which, <a href="https://theconversation.com/rio-tinto-just-blasted-away-an-ancient-aboriginal-site-heres-why-that-was-allowed-139466%22%22">notably, occurred legally</a> — also demonstrates regulatory governance risks. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/422313/original/file-20210921-13-fkx5t7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/422313/original/file-20210921-13-fkx5t7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/422313/original/file-20210921-13-fkx5t7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422313/original/file-20210921-13-fkx5t7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422313/original/file-20210921-13-fkx5t7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422313/original/file-20210921-13-fkx5t7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422313/original/file-20210921-13-fkx5t7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422313/original/file-20210921-13-fkx5t7.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"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Jadar River Valley in western Serbia, home to a huge deposit of lithium.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Rio Tinto’s spokesperson said its Environmental Impact Assessment process includes a public consultation period including, for example, meetings with non-government organisations, adding:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>We have established information centres in Loznica and Brezjak and, since 2019, have hosted over 20 public open day events in these centres focusing on aspects of the project including environment studies, cultural heritage and land acquisition.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Although the Serbian government indicated that it’s prepared to hold a referendum to <a href="https://www.spglobal.com/platts/en/market-insights/latest-news/electric-power/061021-opposition-to-rio-tintos-jadar-lithium-project-gains-momentum-in-serbia">find out the will of citizens</a> about the Jadar mine project, the community protests suggest the project hasn’t obtained any social license to operate. </p>
<p>A “social license to operate” is, despite its corporatised name, increasingly key to sustainable or responsible mining projects. It centres on ongoing acceptance by stakeholders, the public, and local communities of a company’s standard business practices. Building such trust takes time, and a social license is only a minimum requirement. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/renewable-energy-can-save-the-natural-world-but-if-were-not-careful-it-will-also-hurt-it-145166">Renewable energy can save the natural world – but if we're not careful, it will also hurt it</a>
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<p>In Argentina, for example, <a href="https://globalpressjournal.com/americas/argentina/mining-firms-seek-argentinas-white-gold-local-approval-proves-elusive/">Indigenous communities</a> living near the lithium mines have developed their own protocol for giving their informed consent. </p>
<p>Similarly, processes of <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/bc-first-nation-shapes-a-new-approach-with-lngproject/article33625413/">community-based impact assessment</a> or <a href="https://www.cngov.ca/environment/mining/">self-government structures</a> led by First Nations in Canada offer insight into potential collaborative relationships. </p>
<p>These processes cannot be rushed to ensure voices are heard, rights are respected, and environmental protection is possible. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/422315/original/file-20210921-21-1iazr7o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/422315/original/file-20210921-21-1iazr7o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/422315/original/file-20210921-21-1iazr7o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422315/original/file-20210921-21-1iazr7o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422315/original/file-20210921-21-1iazr7o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422315/original/file-20210921-21-1iazr7o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422315/original/file-20210921-21-1iazr7o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422315/original/file-20210921-21-1iazr7o.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">Lithium is essential for the transition away from fossil fuels, but it shouldn’t come at any cost.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A new frontier</h2>
<p>Like many other communities negotiating proposed mine projects, local communities and residents in Serbia should not become another <a href="https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/env.2015.0015">zone of sacrifice</a>, shouldering the socio-environmental costs of supporting a renewable energy transition. </p>
<p>Lithium deposits are often seen as “new frontiers” in the places they’re discovered. Yet we must learn from historical lessons of frontier expansion, and remember that places imagined as “undiscovered” aren’t actually empty. </p>
<p>The people who live there must not bear the brunt of a so-called “green” future. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/although-we-didnt-produce-these-problems-we-suffer-them-3-ways-you-can-help-in-naidocs-call-to-heal-country-163362">'Although we didn’t produce these problems, we suffer them': 3 ways you can help in NAIDOC's call to Heal Country</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/167902/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ana Carballo receives funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gillian Gregory has previously received funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tim Werner has received funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p>Local communities near lithium deposits shouldn’t become zones of sacrifice, shouldering the socio-environmental costs of supporting a renewable energy transition.Ana Estefanía Carballo, Research Fellow in Mining and Society, School of Geography, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, The University of MelbourneGillian Gregory, Research Fellow in Mining Governance, School of Geography, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, The University of MelbourneTim Werner, ARC DECRA Fellow, School of Geography, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1664842021-08-31T19:16:03Z2021-08-31T19:16:03ZAfghanistan has vast mineral wealth but faces steep challenges to tap it<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418489/original/file-20210830-20-q3xfb8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C3000%2C1998&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Afghanistan has mineral resources that include precious gems and minerals such as copper and rare earth elements.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/an-afghan-miner-works-in-a-makeshift-emerald-mine-in-the-news-photo/102915792?adppopup=true">Majid Saeedi/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The official ending of the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan leaves a number of long-term questions, including how the country can build a <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-58328246">functioning economy</a>. Now that U.S. assistance has evaporated and international aid is <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/08/30/russia-afghanistan-taliban-aid/">largely shut off</a>, what options does Afghanistan have? </p>
<p>One possibility resides in natural resources. Afghanistan possesses a <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.1126/science.328.5986.1620">wealth of nonfuel minerals whose value</a> has been estimated at more than <a href="https://www.livescience.com/47682-rare-earth-minerals-found-under-afghanistan.html">US$1 trillion</a>. For <a href="https://www.gia.edu/doc/SP91A2.pdf">millennia</a> the country was renowned for its gemstones – rubies, emeralds, tourmalines and lapis lazuli. <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-18882996">These minerals</a> continue to be locally extracted, both legally and illegally, in mostly <a href="https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/item/5d3b358be4b01d82ce8d766e">small, artisanal mines</a>. Far more value, however, lies with the country’s endowments of iron, copper, lithium, rare earth elements, cobalt, bauxite, mercury, uranium and chromium. </p>
<p>While the total abundance of minerals is certainly vast, scientific understanding of these resources is still at an exploratory stage. Even with a better understanding of how rewarding their extraction might be, the presence of these resources will not provide a jump-start to a new economy. As <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=dCRySjIAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">a geologist who has studied the extent of their resources</a>, I estimate a minimum of seven to 10 years will be needed for large-scale mining to become a major new source of revenue. </p>
<h2>USGS follows the Soviets</h2>
<p>British and German geologists conducted the earliest modern surveys of Afghanistan’s minerals in the 19th and early 20th centuries. But it was the Soviets in the 1960s and 1970s who performed the most <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/20671949">systematic exploratory work</a> throughout the country, producing a large body of detailed information that stood as the backbone to more recent studies. </p>
<p>From 2004 to 2011, the U.S. Geological Survey conducted a <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/40656146?mag=war-has-made-afghanistans-1-trillion-in-minerals-worthless&seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents">detailed review of available data</a>, adding new information from its own aerial survey, limited field checking and from the Afghanistan Geological Survey. <a href="https://www.nap.edu/read/13302/">This work</a> better identified mineral sites, richness and abundance. </p>
<p>No one who examines this work, as I have, can ignore the large-scale exploratory effort by Soviet scientists. Detailed field mapping and massive sampling, including tens of thousands of meters of borehole drilling, and lab analyses were performed. Given the time and money invested, it would appear high-level plans were in play to develop Afghanistan’s minerals once the country was under Soviet influence. </p>
<p>Based largely on this information, the <a href="https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/ofr02110">USGS delineated 24 areas in the country</a> and estimated their mineral abundance. Data packages were prepared on all 24 areas for companies to use as a basis for making bids to exploit any resources. </p>
<p><a href="https://carnegieendowment.org/files/china_role_afghanistan.pdf">Chinese</a> and <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-15936402">Indian</a> companies expressed strong interest, and actual concessions were granted. Arguments over contract terms and concerns about security, however, have stalled activity since the late 2010s. </p>
<h2>Mineral abundance</h2>
<p>How much mineral abundance does Afghanistan actually have? I’ll try to answer this with a brief summary of USGS estimates for <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/what-are-afghanistans-untapped-minerals-resources-2021-08-19/">metals of special interest</a>: copper, iron, lithium and rare earth metals. Geoscientists who were part of the USGS effort <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/afghanistan-holds-enormous-bounty-of-rare-earths/">have noted</a> that their figures are “conservative” but also “preliminary.” </p>
<p>Regardless, it’s safe to say the resources in total are huge. Total copper resources for all known deposits sum to about 57.7 million metric tons. At <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/commodities/copper-price">current prices</a>, the resource value is $516 billion. These are “undiscovered” resources – identified but not fully explored and assessed. If further study were to judge them recoverable at a profit, they would rank Afghanistan <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/273637/copper-reserves-by-country/">among the top five nations</a> for copper reserves in the world. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418684/original/file-20210831-19-mzp0y6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="map of Afghanistan mineral resources done by the USGS" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418684/original/file-20210831-19-mzp0y6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418684/original/file-20210831-19-mzp0y6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=457&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418684/original/file-20210831-19-mzp0y6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=457&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418684/original/file-20210831-19-mzp0y6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=457&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418684/original/file-20210831-19-mzp0y6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=575&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418684/original/file-20210831-19-mzp0y6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=575&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418684/original/file-20210831-19-mzp0y6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=575&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 map of mineral resources published by the United States Geological Survey in 2007.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.usgs.gov/media/images/map-afghanistan-mineralized-areas">United States Geological Survey</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The largest copper deposit, which also contains significant amounts of cobalt, is the Aynak ore body, located about 18 miles (30 kilometers) southeast of Kabul. After the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979, the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/30/world/asia/30mine.html">Soviets began development of the mine</a> but <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/su12041569">it was suspended in 1989</a> following Soviet withdrawal from the country. The high-grade portion of the total Aynak deposit is estimated at 11.3 million metric tons of copper, worth $102 billion at current market prices. </p>
<p>Afghanistan also has world-class iron ore resources, concentrated in the Haji Gak deposit of Bamiyan Province. Haji Gak has an estimated 2,100 million metric tons of high-grade ore that is 61%-69% iron by weight. At <a href="https://tradingeconomics.com/commodity/iron-ore">current price levels</a>, this represents a value of $336.8 billion, placing Afghanistan among <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/267381/world-reserves-of-iron-ore-by-country/">the top 10 nations worldwide</a> in extractable iron. </p>
<p>Lithium resources in Nuristan Province, which occur as <a href="https://geology.com/rocks/pegmatite.shtml">veins</a>, impressed Soviet geoscientists with the amount of hard rock ore (lithium is also mined from brine). Based on USGS estimates, it is a significant but modest resource in today’s terms, as exploration for such deposits has increased around the world in the past decade. </p>
<p>Finally, <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-are-rare-earths-crucial-elements-in-modern-technology-4-questions-answered-101364">rare earth elements</a> exist in southern Helmand Province. These deposits mainly contain cerium, with smaller amounts of more valuable lanthanum, praseodymium and neodymium, totaling perhaps 1.4 million metric tons. Two of these, praseodymium and neodymium, are at high price levels – more than $45,000 per metric ton – and make exceptional magnets used in motors for hybrid and electric cars, but the abundance of these elements is not large relative to how much other countries have. </p>
<h2>Above-ground factors and geopolitics</h2>
<p>Mining wisdom holds that what’s in the ground is less important than what’s above ground. Market realities, security, contract terms, infrastructure and environmental concerns matter more than sheer abundance to whether resources can be developed. </p>
<p>Among these factors, perhaps the most relevant at present is strong global demand for the metals, particularly copper, lithium and rare earth elements, which are <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-us-is-worried-about-its-critical-minerals-supply-chains-essential-for-electric-vehicles-wind-power-and-the-nations-defense-157465">essential to the growing markets in renewable energy and electric vehicles</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418333/original/file-20210829-17-113n7vc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Mining camp built by a Chinese company in Mes Aynak, Afghanistan." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418333/original/file-20210829-17-113n7vc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418333/original/file-20210829-17-113n7vc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418333/original/file-20210829-17-113n7vc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418333/original/file-20210829-17-113n7vc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418333/original/file-20210829-17-113n7vc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418333/original/file-20210829-17-113n7vc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418333/original/file-20210829-17-113n7vc.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">A Chinese company built this mining camp at Mes Aynak in Afghanistan about 10 years ago to house workers for a planned copper mine that never began production. The people in the front were taking part in an archaeological dig.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/jeromestarkey/6349904680/in/album-72157628014100509/">Jerome Starkey/flicrk</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Whether or not Afghanistan can begin mining these elements will depend on what the new Taliban government does. Under the former Ministry of Mines, a $2.9 billion contract for a portion of the Aynak copper deposit was granted <a href="http://thediplomat.com/2017/01/the-story-behind-chinas-long-stalled-mine-in-afghanistan/">to two state-owned Chinese companies</a>. The 30-year contract signed in 2007 had a high royalty rate by global standards and required that ore smelting and processing be done locally. Other conditions included building a 400-megawatt coal power plant and a railway to the Pakistan border. Also stipulated was that 85%-100% of employees, from skilled labor to managerial personnel, be Afghan nationals within eight years of the date work begins. Though originally agreed to, these terms were <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/4/1569/htm">later declared onerous by the companies</a>, halting development. </p>
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<p>Though roads exist to many ore deposit areas, Afghanistan lacks good-quality roadways, railways and electricity. Mining companies are no stranger to such challenges, yet the situation is heightened in this case by rugged terrain and the landlocked nature of the country. Railways, in particular, would be essential for transporting ore, raw or refined, to foreign markets.</p>
<p>There are also environmental and cultural concerns. Mining can result in major impacts to land and air quality, as well as watersheds – a particular concern in water-poor Afghanistan – if not regulated to best practices. No less, enforcement of such standards is required and has been <a href="https://sdg.iisd.org/news/environmental-laws-impeded-by-lack-of-enforcement-first-ever-global-assessment-finds/">a problem in many lower-income countries</a>. </p>
<p>Close to the Aynak copper deposit is a large site of <a href="https://www.archinternational.org/projects/mes-aynak/">Buddhist relics</a>, statues, temples and stupas. There are also Bronze Age mining sites that constitute important archaeological resources. Here, too, no clarity yet exists about how Taliban leaders, who ordered the destruction of the <a href="https://www.pri.org/stories/2015-06-11/they-were-destroyed-taliban-now-giant-buddha-statues-bamiyan-have-returned-3-d">great Buddhist statues at Bamiyan in 2001</a>, might view these sites. </p>
<p>For Afghanistan, its resources could mean a source of long-term foreign investment, skill-building and infrastructure expansion, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/21/business/afghanistan-economy.html">all essential for a sustainable economy</a>. But a major question is which companies would be involved. Afghanistan is also at the center of geopolitical struggles, involving both India and Pakistan, as well as China, Iran and the U.S. That the Taliban are now in control does not make the country’s minerals any less invested with large significance.</p>
<p><em>Author’s note: In 2015, I was the instructor for a task force class in the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington that <a href="https://digital.lib.washington.edu/researchworks/bitstream/handle/1773/33278/Task%20Force%20F%202015_FINAL-Montgomery.pdf">produced a report</a> on Afghanistan’s natural resources and the possibility of their acting as a basis for economic development. This article is devoted to the excellent work done by students on that task force.</em></p>
<p><em>This article was updated to correct details about development of mining operations by the Soviets.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/166484/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Scott L. Montgomery does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Afghanistan has vast mineral resources that have long attracted interest from outside countries, but a lack of infrastructure and political instability means they’re unlikely to aid its economy now.Scott L. Montgomery, Lecturer, Jackson School of International Studies, University of WashingtonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.