tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/cobalt-49687/articlesCobalt – 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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<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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<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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<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/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/2147642023-11-05T13:01:50Z2023-11-05T13:01:50ZCobalt nanoparticles could become a significant player in the pursuit of clean energy<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/555884/original/file-20231025-19-xeztbl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C3%2C2492%2C1645&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Cobalt nanoparticles can be used in fuel cells and increase their applications.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><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/cobalt-nanoparticles-could-become-a-significant-player-in-the-pursuit-of-clean-energy" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>To help address climate change, we urgently need to transition to clean energy. The energy sector is a <a href="https://www.wri.org/insights/4-charts-explain-greenhouse-gas-emissions-countries-and-sectors">significant contributor</a> to greenhouse gas emissions, which are <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg3/downloads/report/IPCC_AR6_WGIII_SPM.pdf">the primary drivers of global warming</a>. </p>
<p>Our research team at Western University is innovating ways to generate clean electricity. Fuel cells are at the forefront of this endeavour, offering numerous advantages in the pursuit of sustainable energy solutions. </p>
<p>These devices offer a promising pathway to clean energy by efficiently converting chemical energy into electricity with only <a href="https://www.energy.gov/eere/fuelcells/fuel-cell-basics">water and heat as byproducts</a>. This makes them an environmentally friendly choice for electricity generation.</p>
<p>One of the most promising types of fuel cells is the <a href="https://www.energy.gov/eere/fuelcells/types-fuel-cells">polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC)</a> because of its applications in transportation, and portable and stationary power sources, where efficiency, responsiveness and reduced emissions are crucial factors.</p>
<h2>Platinum as a catalyst</h2>
<p>One of the major challenges hindering the widespread adoption of PEMFCs lies with the <a href="https://www.energy.gov/eere/fuelcells/fuel-cells">use of platinum</a>, which is problematic due to its <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/01352385-372f-4b79-9446-a03c518ba28a">scarcity</a>. This dependency on platinum is due to its ability to facilitate the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-84800-936-3_2">oxygen reduction reaction (ORR)</a>, which is a fundamental process in producing electrical energy within PEMFCs. </p>
<p>The ORR involves the reduction of oxygen molecules into water through a series of complex reactions. This process is responsible for generating the electrical power these fuel cells provide. The presence of platinum as a catalyst lowers the energy required for the reduction of oxygen molecules. Without platinum, the ORR would occur too slowly to yield practical and efficient electricity production.</p>
<p>However, the <a href="https://www.hydrogeninsight.com/analysis/analysis-will-rising-platinum-and-iridium-prices-restrict-the-growth-of-pem-hydrogen-electrolysers-and-fuel-cells-/2-1-1460113">high cost and scarcity</a> of platinum present substantial challenges to the commercial viability of PEMFCs. The <a href="https://www.ief.org/news/energy-transition-to-trigger-huge-growth-in-platinum-for-hydrogen">increasing price</a> of platinum has made it economically prohibitive to use it in large-scale fuel cell production, preventing PEMFCs from becoming <a href="https://www.anl.gov/partnerships/enabling-fuel-cell-adoption">a mainstream clean energy solution</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/556866/original/file-20231031-19-rbll9z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="a truck on a pile of rocks and dirt, three people in safety gear are in the foreground" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/556866/original/file-20231031-19-rbll9z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/556866/original/file-20231031-19-rbll9z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=349&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556866/original/file-20231031-19-rbll9z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=349&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556866/original/file-20231031-19-rbll9z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=349&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556866/original/file-20231031-19-rbll9z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=439&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556866/original/file-20231031-19-rbll9z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=439&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556866/original/file-20231031-19-rbll9z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=439&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The high cost and scarcity of platinum present substantial challenges to its use in large-scale fuel cell production.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Our research works on creating catalysts that can replace platinum effectively. Our research team leverages cutting-edge facilities like the <a href="https://www.lightsource.ca/">Canadian Light Source</a>, <a href="https://www.aps.anl.gov/">Advanced Photon Source</a>, and the <a href="https://www.nsrrc.org.tw/English/tps.aspx">Taiwan Photon Source</a>. </p>
<p>By harnessing these resources and technologies, we explore various strategies for catalyst development, gain profound insights into their structural and chemical characteristics, and better understand how they can advance our goal of reducing dependence on platinum. </p>
<h2>Intricate realm of catalyst design</h2>
<p>Our research explores catalyst design, with a specific focus on two fundamental techniques: alloying platinum with transition metals and crafting complex core-shell structures. </p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-21017-6">Alloying platinum</a> is the process of mixing platinum with other transition metals, to enhance catalytic performance. This approach results in catalysts with <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/cnma.201900319">improved reactivity and durability</a>, rendering them highly effective across a broad spectrum of applications, including fuel cells.</p>
<p>In addition to alloying, our research also delves into the development of intricate <a href="https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.accounts.2c00057">core-shell structures</a>. In this approach, a cost-effective metallic core is enveloped by several layers of shell made of another material, providing protection while further enhancing catalytic efficiency. </p>
<p>This design allows for precise control over catalytic reactions, surface property optimization and minimization of material wastage.</p>
<h2>Persistent challenges</h2>
<p>Despite our advancements, <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/catal5031622">the durability of these catalysts</a> poses a challenge. Their inherent instability, which refers to their tendency to degrade, diminish in effectiveness or undergo undesirable alterations, is a substantial roadblock for real-world applications.</p>
<p>Our research team has found a potential solution: <a href="https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.3c04274">the infusion of cobalt dopants into the surface and near-surface region of catalysts</a>. This creates platinum-based catalysts capable of withstanding harsh conditions and the passage of time. This significantly enhances the durability and effectiveness of these catalysts.</p>
<p>Our team developed novel particles — cobalt-doped palladium-platinum core-shell — which possess a distinctive octahedral structure and exceptional resilience to both harsh chemical environments and prolonged use. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1718689162940014831"}"></div></p>
<p>This innovative nanoscale structure, featuring a core of palladium and an outer shell of platinum, with the addition of cobalt atom into the platinum shell, provides these nanoparticles with exceptional durability. They exhibit a remarkable ability to withstand degradation and maintain their catalytic activity over extended periods.</p>
<p>Following a thorough examination involving 20,000 accelerated durability test cycles, designed to provide a better understanding of how catalysts degrade in carefully controlled laboratory conditions, their performance only saw a minimal decrease of two per cent when compared to their initial state at the beginning of the testing.</p>
<h2>Potential future</h2>
<p>Cobalt-doped palladium-platinum core-shell nanoparticles have the potential to revolutionize fuel cell technology. Their promise as highly efficient and enduring ORR catalysts points the way toward a more sustainable energy future.</p>
<p>Our research aligns with the urgent need to combat <a href="https://www.un.org/en/global-issues/climate-change">climate change as a global crisis</a>. By replacing fossil fuels with cleaner energy alternatives, we can contribute to a more sustainable and resilient future.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/214764/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tsun-Kong (T.K.) Sham receives funding from Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), Canada Research Chair (CRC), Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI)</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ali Feizabadi 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>Nanoparticles can help address a dependency on platinum — a rare and expensive material — to generate clean power.Tsun-Kong (T.K.) Sham, Distinguished University Professor, Chemistry, Western UniversityAli Feizabadi, Research Assistant, Chemistry, Western UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1932732023-01-17T13:32:55Z2023-01-17T13:32:55ZDeep seabed mining plans pit renewable energy demand against ocean life in a largely unexplored frontier<p>As companies race to expand renewable energy and the batteries to store it, finding sufficient amounts of rare earth metals to build the technology is no easy feat. That’s leading mining companies to take a closer look at a largely unexplored frontier – the deep ocean seabed. </p>
<p>A wealth of these metals can be found in manganese nodules that look like cobblestones scattered across wide areas of deep ocean seabed. But the fragile ecosystems deep in the oceans are little understood, and the mining codes to sustainably mine these areas are in their infancy.</p>
<p>A fierce debate is now playing out as a Canadian company makes plans to launch the first commercial deep sea mining operation in the Pacific Ocean. </p>
<p>The Metals Company completed an <a href="https://www.juniorminingnetwork.com/junior-miner-news/press-releases/3013-nasdaq/tmc/131137-nori-and-allseas-lift-over-3-000-tonnes-of-polymetallic-nodules-to-surface-from-planet-s-largest-deposit-of-battery-metals-as-leading-scientists-and-marine-experts-continue-gathering-environmental-data.html">exploratory project</a> in the Pacific Ocean <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/03/world/deep-sea-mining.html">in fall 2022</a>. Under a treaty governing the deep sea floor, the international agency overseeing these areas could be forced to approve provisional mining there as soon as spring 2023, but several countries and companies are urging a delay until more research can be done. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jul/01/stop-deep-sea-mining-says-macron-in-call-for-new-laws-to-protect-ecosystems">France</a> and <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/government-backs-seabed-mining-ban-in-international-waters-until-strong-environmental-rules-in-place/F7RANMLZIFA3FLWC4JLAEN5TXU/">New Zealand</a> have called for a ban on deep sea mining. </p>
<p>As scholars who have long focused on the <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-benefit-cost-analysis/article/abs/addressing-fundamental-uncertainty-in-benefitcost-analysis-the-case-of-deep-seabed-mining/75801881799BD7EB2D3CF7B33C4DDAC6">economic</a>, <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-poseidon-project-9780190265649?cc=us&lang=en&">political</a> and <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3790524">legal</a> <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/governing-new-frontiers-in-the-information-age/conclusion/3FD2DF4571D325624C012301C94EDF7F">challenges</a> posed by deep seabed mining, we have each studied and written on this economic frontier with concern for the regulatory and ecological challenges it poses.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501179/original/file-20221214-15837-osjj0p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A view looking across a sea floor with nodules looking like cobblestones on a street." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501179/original/file-20221214-15837-osjj0p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501179/original/file-20221214-15837-osjj0p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501179/original/file-20221214-15837-osjj0p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501179/original/file-20221214-15837-osjj0p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501179/original/file-20221214-15837-osjj0p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501179/original/file-20221214-15837-osjj0p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501179/original/file-20221214-15837-osjj0p.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">Manganese nodules on the seafloor in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone, between Hawaii and Mexico, captured on camera by a remote vehicle in 2015.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2015-04-14_18-20-14_Sonne_SO239_157ROV11_Logo_original(1).jpg">ROV KIEL 6000, GEOMAR</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What’s down there, and why should we care?</h2>
<p>A curious journey began in the summer of 1974. Sailing from Long Beach, California, a revolutionary ship funded by eccentric billionaire Howard Hughes set course for the Pacific to open a new frontier — <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt-sh/deep_sea_mining">deep seabed mining</a>. </p>
<p>Widespread media coverage of the expedition helped to focus the attention of businesses and policymakers on the promise of deep seabed mining, which is notable given that the expedition was actually an <a href="https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/document/0005301269">elaborate cover for a CIA operation</a>.</p>
<p>The real target was a Soviet ballistic missile submarine that had sunk in 1968 with all hands and what was believed to be a treasure trove of Soviet state secrets and tech onboard.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/DOC_0005301269.pdf">expedition, called Project Azorian by the CIA</a>, <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/during-cold-war-ci-secretly-plucked-soviet-submarine-ocean-floor-using-giant-claw-180972154/">recovered at least part</a> of the submarine – and it also brought up several manganese nodules from the seafloor.</p>
<p>Manganese nodules are <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/264763450_The_Geology_of_Manganese_Nodules">roughly the size of potatoes</a> and can be found across vast areas of seafloor in parts of the Pacific and Indian oceans and <a href="https://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/okeanos/explorations/ex2104/features/nodule/welcome.html">deep abyssal plains in the Atlantic</a>. They are valuable because they are exceptionally rich in 37 metals, including nickel, cobalt and copper, which are essential for most large batteries and several renewable energy technologies.</p>
<p>These nodules <a href="https://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/okeanos/explorations/ex2104/features/nodule/welcome.html">form over millennia</a> as metals nucleate around shells or broken nodules. The Clarion-Clipperton Zone, between Mexico and Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean, where the mining test took place, has been estimated to have over 21 billion metric tons of nodules that could provide <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/264763450_The_Geology_of_Manganese_Nodules">twice as much nickel and three times more cobalt</a> than all the reserves on land.</p>
<p>Mining in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone could be some <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/governing-new-frontiers-in-the-information-age/conclusion/3FD2DF4571D325624C012301C94EDF7F">10 times richer</a> than <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt-sh/deep_sea_mining">comparable</a> mineral deposits on land. All told, estimates place the value of this new industry at some US$30 billion annually by 2030. It could be instrumental in feeding the surging global demand for cobalt that lies at the <a href="https://www.energy.gov/eere/vehicles/articles/reducing-reliance-cobalt-lithium-ion-batteries">heart of lithium-ion batteries</a>.</p>
<p>Yet, as several scientists have noted, we still know more about the surface of the moon than what lies at the bottom of the deep seabed.</p>
<h2>Deep seabed ecology</h2>
<p>Less than 10% of the deep seabed has been <a href="https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/exploration.html">mapped</a> thoroughly enough to understand even the basic features of the structure and contents of the ocean floor, let alone the life and ecosystems therein.</p>
<p>Even the <a href="https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/fact-sheets/2017/12/the-clarion-clipperton-zone">most thoroughly studied region</a>, the Clarion-Clipperton Zone, is still best characterized by the persistent novelty of what is found there.</p>
<p>Between <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2022.105006">70% and 90% of living things</a> collected in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone have never been seen before, leaving scientists to speculate about what percentage of all living species in the region has never been seen or collected. Exploratory expeditions regularly return with images or samples of creatures that would richly animate science fiction stories, like a <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/nearly-six-foot-glowing-shark-discovered-deep-sea-new-zealand-180977163/">6-foot-long bioluminescent shark</a>.</p>
<p>Also <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2022.105006">unknown is the impact that deep sea mining</a> would have on these creatures.</p>
<p>An experiment in 2021 in water about 3 miles (5 kilometers) deep off Mexico found that seabed mining equipment <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abn1219">created sediment plumes</a> of up to about 6.5 feet (2 meters) high. But <a href="https://scripps.ucsd.edu/news/study-gives-new-insights-nature-deep-sea-sediment-plumes">the project authors stressed that they didn’t study</a> the ecological impact. A similar earlier experiment was conducted off Peru in 1989. When scientists returned to that site in 2015, they found <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-44492-w">some species still hadn’t fully recovered</a>.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/SR6o2WqX6uo?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Video from MIT shows the sediment plume created by a nodule-collecting machine during an experiment.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/articles/2022/12/08/momentum-builds-to-halt-the-commencement-of-seabed-mining-in-international-waters">Environmentalists have questioned</a> whether seafloor creatures could be smothered by sediment plumes and whether the sediment in the water column could effect island communities that rely on healthy oceanic ecosystems. The Metals Company has argued that its <a href="https://www.mining.com/the-metals-company-reigniting-race-to-mine-the-ocean-floor/">impact is less</a> than terrestrial mining.</p>
<p>Given humanity’s <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2022.105006">lack of knowledge</a> of the ocean, it is not currently possible to set environmental baselines for oceanic health that could be used to weigh the economic benefits against the environmental harms of seabed mining.</p>
<h2>Scarcity and the economic case for mining</h2>
<p>The economic case for deep seabed mining reflects both possibility and uncertainty.</p>
<p>On the positive side, it could displace some highly destructive terrestrial mining and augment the global supply of minerals used in clean energy sources such as wind turbines, photovoltaic cells and electric vehicles. </p>
<p>Terrestrial mining imposes significant environmental damage and costs to human health of both the miners themselves and the surrounding communities. Additionally, mines are sometimes located in politically unstable regions. The <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/20/world/china-congo-cobalt.html">Democratic Republic of Congo produces 60%</a> of the global supply of cobalt, for example, and China owns or finances 80% of industrial mines in that country. China also accounts for <a href="https://www.brinknews.com/china-is-moving-rapidly-up-the-rare-earth-value-chain/">60% of the global supply</a> of rare earth element production and much of its processing. Having one nation able to exert such control over a critical resource has <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/21/world/us-china-energy.html">raised concerns</a>.</p>
<figure>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">The Metals Company shared video of its first collection mission.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Deep seabed mining comes with significant uncertainties, however, particularly given the technology’s relatively early state.</p>
<p>First are the risks associated with commercializing a new technology. Until deep sea mining technology is demonstrated, discoveries cannot be listed as “reserves” in firms’ asset valuations. Without that value defined, it can be difficult to line up the significant financing needed to build mining infrastructure, which lessens the first-mover advantage and incentivizes firms to wait for someone else to take the lead. </p>
<p>Commodity prices are also difficult to predict. Technology innovation can reduce or even eliminate the projected demand for a mineral. New mineral deposits on land can also boost supply: Sweden announced in January 2023 that it had <a href="https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/swedens-lkab-finds-europes-biggest-deposit-rare-earth-metals-2023-01-12/">just discovered</a> the largest deposit of rare earth oxides in Europe.</p>
<p>In all, embarking on deep seabed mining involves sinking <a href="https://investors.metals.co/news-releases/news-release-details/metals-company-provides-q3-corporate-update">significant costs</a> into new technology for uncertain returns, while posing risks to a natural environment that is likely to rise in value.</p>
<h2>Who gets to decide the future of seafloor mining?</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www.imo.org/en/OurWork/Legal/Pages/UnitedNationsConventionOnTheLawOfTheSea.aspx">United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea</a>, which came into force in the early 1990s, provides the basic rules for ocean resources.</p>
<p>It allows countries to control economic activities, including any mining, within 200 miles of their coastlines, accounting for approximately 35% of the ocean. Beyond national waters, countries around the world established the <a href="https://www.isa.org.jm/">International Seabed Authority</a>, or ISA, based in Jamaica, to regulate deep seabed mining.</p>
<p>Critically, the ISA framework calls for some of the profits derived from commercial mining to be shared with the international community. In this way, even countries that did not have the resources to mine the deep seabed could share in its benefits. This part of the ISA’s mandate was controversial, and it was one reason that the <a href="https://www.cfr.org/blog/international-treaties-united-states-refuses-play-ball">United States did not join</a> the Convention on the Law of the Sea.</p>
<p>With little public attention, the ISA worked slowly for several decades to develop regulations for exploration of undersea minerals, and those rules still aren’t completed. More than a dozen companies and countries have received <a href="https://www.isa.org.jm/exploration-contracts">exploration contracts</a>, including The Metals Company’s work under the sponsorship of the island nation of Nauru.</p>
<p>ISA’s work has started to draw criticism as companies have sought to initiate commercial mining. A <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/29/world/deep-sea-mining.html">recent New York Times investigation</a> of <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/22266044-seabed-mining-selected-documents-2022">internal ISA documents</a> suggested the agency’s leadership has downplayed environmental concerns and shared confidential information with some of the companies that would be involved in seabed mining. The ISA <a href="https://isa.org.jm/iwg-inspection-compliance-and-enforcement-part-3">hasn’t finalized environmental rules for mining</a>.</p>
<p>Much of the coverage of deep seabed mining has been framed to highlight the climate benefits. But this overlooks the dangers this activity could pose for the Earth’s largest pristine ecology – the deep sea. We believe it would be wise to better understand this existing, fragile ecosystem better before rushing to mine it.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/193273/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Scott Shackelford is a principal investigator on grants from the Hewlett Foundation, Carnegie Corporation of New York, National Science Foundation, and the Microsoft Corporation supporting both the Ostrom Workshop Program on Cybersecurity and Internet Governance and the Indiana University Cybersecurity Clinic.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Bosco has received funding from the Pew Charitable Trusts for research on the work of the International Seabed Authority.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kerry Krutilla was the principal investigator for a World-Bank sponsored project on deep seabed mining. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christiana Ochoa 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>Mining nodules from the deep ocean seabed could provide the metals crucial for today’s EV batteries and renewable energy technology, but little is known about the harm it could cause.Scott Shackelford, Professor of Business Law and Ethics, Indiana UniversityChristiana Ochoa, Professor of Law, Indiana UniversityDavid Bosco, Associate Professor of International Studies, Indiana UniversityKerry Krutilla, Professor of Environmental and Energy Policy, Indiana UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1886372022-09-01T17:19:00Z2022-09-01T17:19:00ZWhy Canadians should be concerned about intensifying violence in Congo<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481583/original/file-20220829-9084-u3jh7b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C1033%2C6907%2C3691&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">People walk on the road near Kibumba, north of Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, as they flee fighting between Congolese forces and M23 rebels in May 2022. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/07/25/dr-congo-resurgent-m23-rebels-target-civilians">Escalating violence</a> in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) stems from <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2022/6/21/explainer-what-is-the-latest-conflict-in-the-drc">deep economic, political and geopolitical conflict</a> spanning almost three decades. </p>
<p>At the height of what’s been called by experts “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/03056244.2011.631329">Africa’s World War</a>” at the turn of the 21st century, the conflict pitted Congolese government forces <a href="https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker/conflict/violence-democratic-republic-congo">supported by Angola, Namibia and Zimbabwe</a> against several opposition armed groups backed by Rwanda and Uganda. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.science.org/content/article/how-many-have-died-due-congos-fighting-scientists-battle-over-how-estimate-war-related">Numbers were difficult to verify</a>, ranging from 2.5 million to 5.4 million, but this period is often cited as the largest loss of life since the Second World War. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A soldier carrying a large weapon is seen against a backdrop of green mountains and clouds." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481581/original/file-20220829-17-ceklrp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481581/original/file-20220829-17-ceklrp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481581/original/file-20220829-17-ceklrp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481581/original/file-20220829-17-ceklrp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481581/original/file-20220829-17-ceklrp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481581/original/file-20220829-17-ceklrp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481581/original/file-20220829-17-ceklrp.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">In this October 2013 photo, a Congolese army soldier walks near the front line during fighting with rebels north of Goma, eastern Congo.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Joseph Kay)</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>There was also widespread <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2014/06/10/democratic-republic-congo-ending-impunity-sexual-violence">rape and sexual violence</a>, <a href="https://www.unicef.org/drcongo/en/press-releases/thousands-children-continue-be-used-child-soldiers">child soldiering</a>, <a href="https://www.unhcr.org/558c0e039.pdf">forced displacement</a> and <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Documents/Countries/CD/UNJHROAccountabiliteReport2016_en.pdf">human rights abuses</a>. </p>
<p>Recent violence threatens <a href="https://reliefweb.int/report/democratic-republic-congo/rwanda-and-drc-risk-war-new-m23-rebellion-emerges-explainer">fragile peace in the DRC</a> and the <a href="https://www.globalgreatlakes.org/agl/">African Great Lakes region</a>. But despite escalating death, displacement and fear, Canadian media have largely ignored the DRC conflict. </p>
<p>In addition to concern for human life, Canadians should care for three key reasons.</p>
<h2>1. Mineral extraction</h2>
<p>The increasing demand for mobile phones and electric vehicles is linking consumers to violent extraction in the DRC.</p>
<p>The country is rich in minerals and is the source of <a href="http://cegemi.com/index.php/environmental-threats-and-respiratory-health-in-kivu/">60 per cent of the world’s reserves of coltan</a>, which powers our cellular phones. It also <a href="https://www.mining-technology.com/analysis/kinshasa-africa-democratic-republic-congo-cobalt/#:%7E:text=The%20DRC%20produces%20more%20than,calling%20the%20%22new%20oil%22.">produces more than 70 per cent of the world’s cobalt</a>, used in electric car batteries. </p>
<p>The extraction of these minerals comes at great human cost. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-coltan-mining-in-the-drc-costs-people-and-the-environment-183159">What coltan mining in the DRC costs people and the environment</a>
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<p>Researchers have documented the use of <a href="https://issafrica.org/iss-today/child-miners-the-dark-side-of-the-drcs-coltan-wealth">child labour</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-018-0139-4">environmental degradation</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.exis.2016.01.010">sexual violence</a> and <a href="https://reliefweb.int/report/democratic-republic-congo/coltan-and-conflict-drc">economic rationale for war</a> — meaning some have profited from mineral exploitation and war <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/drc/overview">while the majority of the Congolese population lives in poverty</a>.</p>
<p>As consumers, Canadians should care about how our purchases are linked to violence and human rights abuses in a globalized world.</p>
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<h2>2. Canada supports peacekeeping in the DRC</h2>
<p>Canada <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/department-national-defence/services/operations/military-operations/current-operations/operation-crocodile.html">has contributed human</a> <a href="https://www.international.gc.ca/country-pays/democratic_republic_congo-republique_democratique_congo/relations.aspx?lang=eng">and financial</a> resources to peacekeeping in the DRC.</p>
<p>Once <a href="https://www.lawfareblog.com/militarizing-peace-un-intervention-against-congos-terrorist-rebels">the largest and most expensive peacekeeping operation in the United Nations’ history</a>, the UN’s <a href="https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/mission/monusco">current mandate</a> in the DRC has been scaled back. </p>
<p>Ongoing allegations of UN personnel involved in <a href="https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/09/1101562">sexual exploitation</a>, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/apr/28/congo.unitednations">economic profiteering</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/protests-against-un-in-eastern-congo-highlight-peace-missions-crisis-of-legitimacy-187932">ineffectiveness</a> have turned the Congolese people against the UN.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/sexual-exploitation-by-un-peacekeepers-in-drc-fatherless-children-speak-for-first-time-about-the-pain-of-being-abandoned-188248">Sexual exploitation by UN peacekeepers in DRC: fatherless children speak for first time about the pain of being abandoned</a>
</strong>
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<p><a href="https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/news-feature/2022/08/18/DRC-MONUSCO-protests-peacekeeping?utm_source=The+New+Humanitarian&utm_campaign=2b6d4f9e15-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_ENGLISH_AFRICA&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_d842d98289-2b6d4f9e15-29256293">Recent protests</a> have <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/7/31/un-peacekeepers-open-fire-in-dr-congo-causing-several-casualties">been violent</a>, resulting in <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2022/aug/05/death-toll-reaches-36-in-eastern-drc-as-protesters-turn-on-un-peacekeepers">the deaths of 36 people, including four UN peacekeepers</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Police and protesters fight in a city street. Smoke is visible." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481579/original/file-20220829-18-cbnn39.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C242%2C3000%2C1508&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481579/original/file-20220829-18-cbnn39.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481579/original/file-20220829-18-cbnn39.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481579/original/file-20220829-18-cbnn39.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481579/original/file-20220829-18-cbnn39.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481579/original/file-20220829-18-cbnn39.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481579/original/file-20220829-18-cbnn39.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">Demonstrators clash with police during a protest against the United Nations peacekeeping force deployed in Congo.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The UN has temporarily withdrawn from Butembo, a <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/uns-congo-peacekeeping-mission-pulls-out-major-eastern-city-2022-08-18/">major city</a> in eastern Congo. The Congolese government has also expelled the <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/8/3/congo-expels-u-n-peacekeeping-mission-spokesman-after-protests">UN mission’s spokesperson</a>.</p>
<p>Given Canada’s investments in peacekeeping operations in the DRC, Canadians should demand accountability for alleged human rights violations by UN officials.</p>
<p>Canadian multilateral diplomacy also has a vested interest in ensuring the credibility of UN peacekeeping to maintain and promote peace. The DRC is central to regional stability as the second-largest country in Africa bordering nine neighbours.</p>
<h2>3. Canadian-Congolese connections</h2>
<p>Ongoing violence in the DRC has caused <a href="https://news.un.org/en/story/2022/07/1122162">people to flee Congo</a> to <a href="https://reporting.unhcr.org/drcsituation">neighbouring countries</a> and to Canada. The DRC consistently ranks among the <a href="https://www.irb-cisr.gc.ca/en/statistics/protection/pages/index.aspx">top countries in terms of alleged persecution</a> in refugee claims in Canada. </p>
<p>Congolese refugees are resettled to Canada through private sponsorship or government assistance streams, and Canada is a destination for <a href="https://workstudyvisa.com/study-canada-congo-drc/">Congolese international students</a>. At a time of <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/2021-canada-language-census-data-1.6553477">declining French-language speakers</a> in Canada, Congolese-Canadians make up an important percentage of francophones.</p>
<p>These human connections can be leveraged by the Canadian government for expertise on the situation in the DRC, and Canada’s response.</p>
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<h2>How should Canadians respond?</h2>
<p>Canada is connected to the DRC through the global economy, international peacekeeping efforts and migration. We must not ignore violence because it’s far away.</p>
<p>As consumers, we need to hold companies accountable for ethical sourcing of materials in our cellular telephones and electric vehicles.</p>
<p>We need accurate and timely information on events unfolding in the DRC. If Canadian media do not have resources for dedicated reporting, they should amplify stories from credible local, regional and international news organizations.</p>
<p>As constituents, we need to call on our MPs and the ministers of Foreign Affairs, Defence and International Cooperation for accountability for Canadian and UN peacekeeping in the DRC. </p>
<p>While <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/canadian-peacekeepers-safe-sheltering-as-deadly-anti-un-protests-rock-the-drc-1.6003138">Canadian officials have said</a> no Canadian personnel were injured in the recent anti-UN violence, they have not publicly commented on the underlying reasons for the protests. </p>
<p>The Canadian government should convene a group of experts, including Congolese-Canadians, to review Canada’s role in the DRC and propose a strategy for current and future peace support operations in the country. </p>
<p>As a long-standing contributor to peacekeeping in the DRC, Canada has a responsibility to ensure that our interventions respect human rights and contribute to lasting peace.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/188637/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christina Clark-Kazak 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>Canada is connected to the Democratic Republic of Congo through the global economy, international peacekeeping efforts and migration. We must not ignore violence because it’s far away.Christina Clark-Kazak, Associate Professor, Public and International Affairs, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of OttawaLicensed 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>
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<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>
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<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>
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<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>
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<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>
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<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>
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<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>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Our large resources of the minerals coupled with high environmental, social and governance standards mean the sector is well placed to respond to demand, especially where we could replace supplies from areas where mining is more destructive or dangerous. Think of the “blood cobalt” often <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-02-24/cobalt-mining-in-the-congo-green-energy/100802588#:%7E:text=Beneath%20Congo's%20rich%20red%20earth,closest%20competitors%2C%20Australia%20and%20Russia.">mined by children</a> in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. </p>
<p>In March, the federal government <a href="https://www.industry.gov.au/sites/default/files/March%202022/document/2022-critical-minerals-strategy.pdf">released its plan</a> to grow the sector through boosting onshore processing to create high-wage, high-skill jobs and to offer our trading partners secure supplies of these sought-after minerals. This is a worthwhile goal, particularly the aim to make Australia the “major powerhouse of the world in critical minerals by 2030”. </p>
<p>A plan, however, is one thing and delivery is another. We will need to tackle some key challenges for the mining sector to make us a powerhouse. </p>
<h2>Bottlenecks, tailings and major miners</h2>
<p>While the demand for critical minerals is growing, there are challenges in production. </p>
<p>Around the world, critical minerals such as cobalt, gallium, molybdenum and germanium are produced as by-products of major commodities such as bauxite, zinc, copper and iron ore. </p>
<p>So why are we discarding most of these critical minerals by dumping them in tailings storage? We can, of course, recover these minerals later, but only if the value exceeds the costs of extraction and processing.</p>
<p>If we were smart about this, we would encourage the extraction of these minerals as a way to add value to existing commodities. </p>
<p>One issue is that while the demand is rising, the overall market size for many of these minerals is small relative to our export giants, iron ore and coal. That’s one reason our major miners have not shown much interest in these minerals. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/critical-minerals-are-vital-for-renewable-energy-we-must-learn-to-mine-them-responsibly-131547">Critical minerals are vital for renewable energy. We must learn to mine them responsibly</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>If the majors aren’t interested, that leaves the door open for small and mid-tier mining and exploration companies such as Cobalt Blue, Iluka, VHM, Australian Vanadium, Australian Strategic Minerals and Critical Minerals Group which have seen the opportunity. </p>
<p>For many smaller miners, however, it can be very difficult to raise capital. That’s where the government’s <a href="https://www.exportfinance.gov.au/criticalminerals">A$2 billion fund</a> should help, by allowing small and medium miners access to capital to scale up domestic production. </p>
<h2>What else do we need to do?</h2>
<p>If we get this right, Australia could play a major role in stabilising the markets for several critical mineral supply chains such as rare earth elements, lithium and cobalt. </p>
<p>For us to create this future-focussed industry, we have to plan ahead. The government should look to policies and programs such as: </p>
<p>● stronger domestic processing and refining sectors for metals like cobalt where our high environmental, social and governance reputation would give us an edge </p>
<p>● introducing incentive schemes to encourage mining companies and smelters to retrofit their facilities so they can produce critical minerals as well as process their main ores </p>
<p>● expand the sector’s proposed $50 million <a href="https://www.ga.gov.au/news-events/news/latest-news/virtual-national-critical-minerals-research-and-development-centre">research and development centre</a> and regional hubs to include universities, especially the critical mineral research groups. </p>
<hr>
<p><em>Acknowledgements: David Whittle contributed to the research base, and Stuart Walsh, Sue Smethurst and Lilian Khaw reviewed the article.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/182331/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mohan Yellishetty receives funding from
Australian Government
He is affiliated with the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy
</span></em></p>Critical minerals like cobalt, lithium and rare earth elements abound in Australia. But we’re not making the most of these in-demand resources.Mohan Yellishetty, Associate Professor, Resources Engineering, Monash UniversityLicensed 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/1615642021-08-26T12:16:35Z2021-08-26T12:16:35ZThese 3 energy storage technologies can help solve the challenge of moving to 100% renewable electricity<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/417677/original/file-20210824-26-16q4yv3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=35%2C5%2C3958%2C2862&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Energy storage can make facilities like this solar farm in Oxford, Maine, more profitable by letting them store power for cloudy days.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/BidenRenewables/8521ad964886489ab3f679636d564ddb/photo">AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In recent decades the cost of <a href="https://www.irena.org/costs/Power-Generation-Costs/Wind-Power">wind</a> and <a href="https://www.nrel.gov/news/program/2021/documenting-a-decade-of-cost-declines-for-pv-systems.html">solar</a> power generation has dropped dramatically. This is one reason that the U.S. Department of Energy projects that renewable energy will be the <a href="https://www.eia.gov/outlooks/aeo/pdf/AEO_Narrative_2021.pdf">fastest-growing U.S. energy source through 2050</a>.</p>
<p>However, it’s still relatively expensive to store energy. And since renewable energy generation <a href="https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/plugged-in/renewable-energy-intermittency-explained-challenges-solutions-and-opportunities/">isn’t available all the time</a> – it happens when the wind blows or the sun shines – storage is essential. </p>
<p>As a <a href="https://www.nrel.gov/research/staff/kerry-rippy.html">researcher at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory</a>, I work with the federal government and private industry to develop renewable energy storage technologies. In a recent <a href="https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy21osti/77449.pdf">report</a>, researchers at NREL estimated that the potential exists to increase U.S. renewable energy storage capacity by <a href="https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy21osti/77449.pdf">as much as 3,000% percent by 2050</a>. </p>
<p>Here are three emerging technologies that could help make this happen.</p>
<h2>Longer charges</h2>
<p>From alkaline batteries for small electronics to lithium-ion batteries for cars and laptops, most people already use batteries in many aspects of their daily lives. But there is still lots of room for growth. </p>
<p>For example, high-capacity batteries with long discharge times – up to 10 hours – could be valuable for storing solar power at night or increasing the range of electric vehicles. Right now there are very few such batteries in use. However, according to <a href="https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy21osti/77449.pdf">recent projections</a>, upwards of 100 gigawatts’ worth of these batteries will likely be installed by 2050. For comparison, that’s <a href="https://powerauthority.org/about-us/history-of-hoover/">50 times the generating capacity of Hoover Dam</a>. This could have a major impact on the viability of renewable energy.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9OVtk6G2TnQ?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Batteries work by creating a chemical reaction that produces a flow of electrical current.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>One of the biggest obstacles is limited supplies of lithium and cobalt, which currently are essential for making lightweight, powerful batteries. According to <a href="https://www.mining.com/electric-cars-dreams-may-shattered-2050-lack-cobalt-lithium-supplies/">some estimates</a>, around 10% of the world’s lithium and nearly all of the world’s cobalt reserves will be depleted by 2050. </p>
<p>Furthermore, nearly 70% of the world’s cobalt is mined in the Congo, under conditions that have long been documented as <a href="https://www.cfr.org/blog/why-cobalt-mining-drc-needs-urgent-attention">inhumane</a>. </p>
<p>Scientists are working to develop techniques for <a href="https://cen.acs.org/materials/energy-storage/time-serious-recycling-lithium/97/i28">recycling lithium and cobalt batteries</a>, and to design batteries based on other materials. Tesla plans to produce <a href="https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/CES-2021/Cheaper-Tesla-Panasonic-to-develop-cobalt-free-battery">cobalt-free</a> batteries within the next few years. Others aim to <a href="https://spectrum.ieee.org/energywise/energy/batteries-storage/sodium-ion-batteries-poised-to-pick-off-large-scale-lithium-applications">replace lithium with sodium</a>, which has properties very similar to lithium’s but is much more abundant. </p>
<h2>Safer batteries</h2>
<p>Another priority is to make batteries safer. One area for improvement is electrolytes – the medium, often liquid, that <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OVtk6G2TnQ">allows an electric charge to flow</a> from the battery’s anode, or negative terminal, to the cathode, or positive terminal. </p>
<p>When a battery is in use, charged particles in the electrolyte move around to balance out the charge of the electricity flowing out of the battery. Electrolytes often contain flammable materials. If they leak, the battery can overheat and catch fire or melt.</p>
<p>Scientists are developing solid electrolytes, which would make batteries more robust. It is much harder for particles to move around through solids than through liquids, but <a href="https://news.mit.edu/2019/enriching-solid-state-batteries-jennifer-rupp-mit-0711">encouraging lab-scale results</a> suggest that these batteries could be ready for use in electric vehicles in the coming years, with target dates for <a href="https://www.spglobal.com/marketintelligence/en/news-insights/latest-news-headlines/shift-to-solid-state-batteries-could-be-seamless-experts-say-64837445">commercialization</a> as early as 2026.</p>
<p>While solid-state batteries would be well suited for consumer electronics and electric vehicles, for large-scale energy storage, scientists are pursuing all-liquid designs called <a href="https://flowbatteryforum.com/what-is-a-flow-battery/">flow batteries</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/417679/original/file-20210824-19094-cbzuf8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Flow battery diagram." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/417679/original/file-20210824-19094-cbzuf8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/417679/original/file-20210824-19094-cbzuf8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417679/original/file-20210824-19094-cbzuf8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417679/original/file-20210824-19094-cbzuf8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417679/original/file-20210824-19094-cbzuf8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=529&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417679/original/file-20210824-19094-cbzuf8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=529&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417679/original/file-20210824-19094-cbzuf8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=529&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 typical flow battery consists of two tanks of liquids that are pumped past a membrane held between two electrodes.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://doi.org/10.1116/1.4983210">Qi and Koenig, 2017</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
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<p>In these devices both the electrolyte and the electrodes are liquids. This allows for super-fast charging and makes it easy to make really big batteries. Currently these systems are very expensive, but research continues to <a href="https://cleantechnica.com/2021/01/25/researchers-claim-redox-flow-battery-breakthrough-will-cost-25-per-kwh-or-less/">bring down the price</a>. </p>
<h2>Storing sunlight as heat</h2>
<p>Other renewable energy storage solutions cost less than batteries in some cases. For example, <a href="https://www.power-technology.com/projects/crescent-dunes-solar-energy-project-nevada/">concentrated solar power plants</a> use mirrors to <a href="https://www.energy.gov/eere/solar/concentrating-solar-thermal-power-basics">concentrate sunlight</a>, which heats up hundreds or thousands of tons of salt until it melts. This molten salt then is used to drive an electric generator, much as coal or nuclear power is used to heat steam and drive a generator in traditional plants. </p>
<p>These heated materials can also be stored to produce electricity when it is cloudy, or even at night. This approach allows concentrated solar power to work around the clock. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/417670/original/file-20210824-17317-151xkgy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Man examines valve at end of large piping network." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/417670/original/file-20210824-17317-151xkgy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/417670/original/file-20210824-17317-151xkgy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417670/original/file-20210824-17317-151xkgy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417670/original/file-20210824-17317-151xkgy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417670/original/file-20210824-17317-151xkgy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417670/original/file-20210824-17317-151xkgy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417670/original/file-20210824-17317-151xkgy.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">Checking a molten salt valve for corrosion at Sandia’s Molten Salt Test Loop.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://flic.kr/p/2jRm5fQ">Randy Montoya, Sandia Labs/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This idea could be adapted for use with nonsolar power generation technologies. For example, electricity made with wind power could be used to heat salt for use later when it isn’t windy. </p>
<p>Concentrating solar power is still relatively expensive. To compete with other forms of energy generation and storage, it needs to become more efficient. One way to achieve this is to increase the temperature the salt is heated to, enabling more efficient electricity production. Unfortunately, the salts currently in use aren’t stable at high temperatures. Researchers are working to develop new salts or other materials that can withstand temperatures as high as 1,300 degrees Fahrenheit (705 C). </p>
<p>One leading idea for how to reach higher temperature involves heating up sand instead of salt, which can withstand the higher temperature. The sand would then be moved with conveyor belts from the heating point to storage. The Department of Energy recently announced funding for a <a href="https://www.energy.gov/eere/solar/generation-3-concentrating-solar-power-systems-gen3-csp">pilot concentrated solar power plant</a> based on this concept.</p>
<h2>Advanced renewable fuels</h2>
<p>Batteries are useful for short-term energy storage, and concentrated solar power plants could help stabilize the electric grid. However, utilities also need to store a lot of energy for indefinite amounts of time. This is a role for renewable fuels like <a href="https://www.energy.gov/eere/fuelcells/hydrogen-fuel-basics">hydrogen</a> and <a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/07/ammonia-renewable-fuel-made-sun-air-and-water-could-power-globe-without-carbon">ammonia</a>. Utilities would store energy in these fuels by producing them with surplus power, when wind turbines and solar panels are generating more electricity than the utilities’ customers need.</p>
<p>Hydrogen and ammonia contain more energy per pound than batteries, so they work where batteries don’t. For example, they could be used <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-53238512">for shipping heavy loads and running heavy equipment</a>, and for <a href="https://spaceaustralia.com/feature/renewable-rocket-fuels-going-green-and-space">rocket fuel</a>. </p>
<p>Today these fuels are mostly made from natural gas or other nonrenewable <a href="https://www.energy.gov/eere/fuelcells/hydrogen-resources#:%7E:text=Currently%2C%20most%20hydrogen%20is%20produced,more%20directly%20to%20generate%20hydrogen.">fossil fuels</a> via extremely inefficient reactions. While we think of it as a green fuel, most hydrogen gas today is made from natural gas. </p>
<p>Scientists are looking for ways to produce hydrogen and other fuels using renewable electricity. For example, it is possible to make hydrogen fuel by <a href="https://www.technologynetworks.com/applied-sciences/news/a-recipe-for-entirely-renewable-clean-energy-350656">splitting water molecules</a> using electricity. The key challenge is optimizing the process to make it efficient and economical. The potential payoff is enormous: inexhaustible, completely renewable energy.</p>
<p>[<em>Understand new developments in science, health and technology, each week.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/science-editors-picks-71/?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=science-understand">Subscribe to The Conversation’s science newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/161564/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kerry Rippy 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>The US is generating more electricity than ever from wind and solar power – but often it’s not needed at the time it’s produced. Advanced energy storage technologies make that power available 24/7.Kerry Rippy, Researcher, National Renewable Energy LaboratoryLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1537362021-02-11T13:47:04Z2021-02-11T13:47:04ZWhy African countries must invest more in earth sciences<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/382702/original/file-20210205-20-1duobq8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A copper mine in Phalaborwa, South Africa. The African continent is home to vast mineral resources.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mark Schwettmann/Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The African continent contains some of the world’s richest mineral resources. For instance, the Democratic Republic of Congo produces most of <a href="https://www.cfr.org/blog/why-cobalt-mining-drc-needs-urgent-attention">the world’s cobalt</a>; Rwanda, Ethiopia and Mozambique are <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301420720309272">major contributors</a> to global tantalum output. These minerals are important constituents in modern electronics. </p>
<p>The continent also has the bulk of global reserves of platinum and palladium, metals which are critical in the rapidly evolving market for renewable energy and electric vehicles.</p>
<p>With such resources to hand, African researchers should be contributing significantly to the academic discipline of earth science – the physical and chemical makeup of the solid Earth, the oceans and atmosphere. </p>
<p>A robust earth science discipline has positive effects: the South African minerals industry employs almost 500,000 people directly and <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/1121214/mining-sectors-value-added-to-gdp-in-south-africa/">contributes</a> about R350 billion to the country’s GDP annually. </p>
<p>But exactly how much local knowledge and expertise in the earth sciences is developed by Africans, in Africa? That is what we set out to establish in a recent <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0012825220303081">journal article</a>. We surveyed 182,996 articles published in high-impact international earth science journals. These are prestigious journals that publish work by world leaders in research. </p>
<p>Our findings were alarming: 70% of research articles about some aspect of earth science in Africa do not contain a single African author. This compares very unfavourably to other regions. The five countries producing the most earth science research are the US, China, Australia, Japan and Canada, all of which also produce at least 60% of the research on their own countries.</p>
<p>We also found that the average contribution of African-authored earth science articles to the international literature has been 2.3% since 1973. This is extremely low; the US, a country with one-quarter of Africa’s population, produces 47% of the literature.</p>
<p>It seems the production of earth science knowledge in Africa is simply not progressing, despite the world’s interest in (and exploitation of) the continent’s mineral wealth.</p>
<p>We argue that the reasons are preparedness, research expenditure and “parachute” science.</p>
<h2>Preparedness</h2>
<p>Nearly all countries around the world have a geological survey whose task is to examine and map basic geology, mineral resources and geohazards, and maintain databases related to geology and minerals. </p>
<p>However, two studies, by <a href="https://ecat.ga.gov.au/geonetwork/srv/eng/catalog.search#/metadata/74580">Geoscience Australia</a> and the <a href="https://www.uneca.org/archive/publications/desktop-review-african-geological-survey-organisation-capacities-and-gaps">African Minerals Development Centre</a>, have shown that most geological surveys in Africa lack capacity and geological information. Only six countries are able to undertake active geoscientific work: South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Morocco, Namibia and Tanzania. These countries are within the top seven producers of earth science research in Africa. This suggests there is a link between a national survey’s functionality and a country’s research output. Although we have no information on why these countries have more active surveys, it might relate to their abundant mineral wealth.</p>
<p>Other work related to scientific publishing in the developing world <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1475158508000271#!">has shown</a> that relatively poor research output is linked to governments’ perceptions that research is peripheral to meeting basic needs like food and health care. Research often needs laboratories, specialised equipment, substantial funding and technicians. </p>
<p>Many African scientists also tend to submit research articles to relatively low-impact, Africa-centric journals and are reluctant to collaborate on high-impact work. The main reason for this is <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/24486132?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents">overloading</a> with teaching and service obligations, which has been <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1745499915571721">documented</a> at many African institutions. </p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/paying-commission-to-academics-reduces-the-value-of-research-146498">Paying commission to academics reduces the value of research</a>
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<p>There is also a well-documented “brain drain” of scientists from Africa. The International Organisation for Migration <a href="https://www.idrc.ca/en/research-in-action/brain-drain-and-capacity-building-africa">indicates</a> that Africa has lost about 20,000 trained professionals each year since 1990, 30% of whom are academics.</p>
<h2>Spending and investment</h2>
<p>One of the most enlightening findings in <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0012825220303081">our research</a> is the link between spending on research, and research output and impact. </p>
<p>In Africa, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0012825220303081">research spending</a> has increased from US$4 (1996) to US$42 (2017) per capita. The global average has increased from US$100 to US$300 per capita over the same period. The figures for high-income countries are significantly higher: about US$450 per capita in 1996, which more than doubled over the past 20 years to US$1,064. If these trends are plotted over trends in earth science research output, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0012825220303081">clear parallels emerge</a> between research funding input and research output.</p>
<p>If there wasn’t a lot of earth science research happening in African countries, this would explain the lower figures. But this is not the case.</p>
<p>By examining individual articles, we found a great deal of earth science research happens in Africa. But much of it appears to be “parachute” science.</p>
<p>This is when researchers from developed nations work in Africa (for example, doing field work and collecting samples) without involving in-country scientists. African scientists may be excluded altogether, or left out when articles are being written for publication. </p>
<p>In the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S2214-109X(18)30239-0">medical and health science fields</a>, practitioners are becoming very aware of the negative impacts this can have. Some journals are becoming stricter in accepting this type of work, because it continues old colonial patterns in science and marginalises the prospects of in-country researchers. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/locals-must-lead-the-way-to-african-scientific-capacity-and-solutions-145117">Locals must lead the way to African scientific capacity and solutions</a>
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<h2>Future directions</h2>
<p>If African economies wish to build geoscience capacity, develop their own knowledge and use their own mineral resources, they must spend more on developing and retaining earth scientists and increasing research resources. </p>
<p>Researchers visiting and working in Africa ought to collaborate with their African counterparts, to develop skills and output that has impact. Funding bodies and universities in high-income countries should reevaluate their funding and reward policies to promote this.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-africas-academic-diaspora-can-help-revive-higher-education-back-home-133831">How Africa's academic diaspora can help revive higher education back home</a>
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<p>Journals should avoid condoning the types of “parachute” science that marginalise researchers in developing countries through their publication of such articles. </p>
<p>Within Africa, it is critical that research institutes and universities reward meaningful research and international collaboration, retain high-quality staff and bolster investment.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/153736/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>It seems the production of Earth science knowledge in Africa is simply not progressing, despite the world’s interest in (and exploitation of) the continent’s mineral wealth.Michelle A. North, Postdoctoral Researcher, University of KwaZulu-NatalLauren Hoyer, Lecturer in Economic Geology, University of KwaZulu-NatalWarwick William Hastie, Senior Lecturer, University of KwaZulu-NatalLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1494862020-11-25T14:36:45Z2020-11-25T14:36:45ZAs cobalt demand booms, companies must do more to protect Congolese miners<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/368899/original/file-20201111-17-185lyem.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A "creuseur," or digger, descends into a tunnel at the mine in Kawama, Democratic Republic of Congo.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Michael Robinson Chavez/The Washington Post via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Democratic Republic of Congo is the major source of some of the minerals used to manufacture components in household appliances, mobile phones, electric vehicles and jewellery.</p>
<p>The mineral extraction industry is the backbone of the Congolese economy. Copper and cobalt, which is a by-product of copper, accounts for 85% of the country’s exports. Because of the huge mineral deposits available in the country, it is often the only sourcing option for companies.</p>
<p>Cobalt is an essential mineral for the lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles, laptops and smart phones. It offers the highest energy density and is key for boosting battery life.</p>
<p>The Katanga region in the south of the Democratic Republic of Congo is home to <a href="https://pubs.usgs.gov/periodicals/mcs2020/mcs2020-cobalt.pdf">more than half</a> of the world’s cobalt resources, and over <a href="https://pubs.usgs.gov/periodicals/mcs2020/mcs2020-cobalt.pdf">70%</a> of the current cobalt production worldwide takes place in the country. Demand for cobalt is <a href="http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_A_Vision_for_a_Sustainable_Battery_Value_Chain_in_2030_Report.pdf">projected</a> to surge fourfold by 2030 in pace with the electric vehicle boom.</p>
<p>However, mining in the Democratic Republic of Congo is risky because of the prevalence of artisanal small-scale mining. Artisanal mining is often carried out by hand, using basic equipment. It’s a largely informal and labour-intensive activity on which more than <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/5b37b5f5-a8c0-4047-8b4a-bc9914518ab8">two million Congolese miners</a> depend for income.</p>
<p>And this mining method comes with major human rights risks such as child labour and dangerous working conditions. Fatal accidents in unsafe tunnels <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-54132354">occur frequently</a>. And there are detailed <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/afr62/3183/2016/en/">reports</a> such as the one by <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/afr62/3183/2016/en/">Amnesty International</a> on the prevalence of child labour in these operations.</p>
<p>Because artisanal miners frequently extract cobalt illegally on industrial mining sites, human rights issues cannot be excluded from industrial production. Artisanally mined cobalt also often gets mixed with the industrial production when it is sold to intermediaries in the open market. Typically, it is then shipped to refineries in China for further processing and then sold to battery manufacturers around the world. In this complex supply chain, separating, tracking and tracing artisanally mined cobalt is almost impossible.</p>
<p>International human rights organisations have flagged human rights abuses, putting pressure on multinational corporations that buy Congolese cobalt. In response to these pressures, some automotive and electronics companies are currently not sourcing cobalt from the Democratic Republic of the Congo because they want to avoid tainting their brand image. </p>
<p>But that strategy won’t work for long, as no other country will be able to satisfy the rising demand for cobalt. The production of other cobalt-exporting countries such as Russia, Canada, Australia and the Philippines accounts for less than 5% of the global production.</p>
<p>How companies in the cobalt supply chain can source responsible cobalt from the Democratic Republic of the Congo amid these human rights risks is a question worth exploring. We address this question in a recent <a href="http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Making_Mining_Safe_2020.pdf">study</a>, in which we suggest companies should acknowledge the need for common standards for responsibly mined cobalt.</p>
<h2>Common standards</h2>
<p>Currently, there is no common understanding of what “responsible” artisanal cobalt should entail. The quest for responsible mineral sourcing is not a cobalt-specific challenge. The Congolese mining code establishes certain basic standards such as the prohibition of miners under the age of 18. There are also requirements to register as an artisanal miner and become a member of a mining cooperative.</p>
<p>One approach towards common standards is to mount “artisanal and small-scale mining formalisation projects”. The few existing projects establish rules for the mining site that are defined and enforced by the project partners. These usually consist of cooperatives, mine operators and buyers.</p>
<p>One of us visited two active formalisation projects in Kolwezi in Katanga province. Based on the observations during the September 2019 visit, we believe that formalisation is a viable path to making artisanal mining safe and fair.</p>
<p>Formalisation works because operational measures are put in place to mitigate safety risks. For example, the extraction is supervised by mining engineers. Also, the project site is fenced off and has exit and entry controls. This ensures that no underage, pregnant or drunk miners can work on site.</p>
<p>But for formalisation projects to yield “responsible” artisanal cobalt, common standards and consistent enforcement are necessary. Currently, formalisation means different things in different sites.</p>
<p>National standards for mine safety exist, but they need to be enforced uniformly. Where current standards fall short of reassuring buyers, further measures need to be developed by a consortium of the key players. This should involve mining cooperatives, concession holders, the government, civil society organisations, and other companies along the battery supply chain.</p>
<p>The 2018 amendments to the mining code introduced a legal basis for the subcontracting of artisanal miners by industrial mining companies. In January 2020, the Congolese government created an <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/congo-mining-cobalt-idUSL8N2E26D0">entity</a> that will oversee artisanal and small-scale mining activities. These are positive steps.</p>
<p>The development of artisanal mining standards through a process involving key players needs to build on and strengthen these existing national laws and strategies. Furthermore, private actors should support government efforts by identifying parameters and means of evaluation to ensure the consistent enforcement of these standards. A discussion about responsible sourcing strategies and practices is indispensable for all brands that care about the human rights implications of their operations.</p>
<h2>The way forward</h2>
<p>To illustrate how a multi-stakeholder discussion over responsible sourcing standards translates into practice, we can examine tunnel construction to extract the ores underground at artisanal and small-scale mining sites.</p>
<p>The first issue is whether tunnels should be allowed at all or whether responsible artisanal cobalt should take place exclusively from open pits. Open pits are considered significantly safer. If only open pits are considered responsible, who will pay for the earth-moving machines needed to create open pits?</p>
<p>If tunnels are allowed, how deep can they be? While relevant mining regulations limit tunnel depth to 30 metres and tunnel inclination to 15%, international buyers of cobalt do not consider this safe.</p>
<p>Given that horizontal tunnel construction is particularly dangerous, should horizontal tunnels be banned entirely from sites? If tunnels are permitted, should miners receive training on construction safety, and if so, who will pay for these programmes?</p>
<p>These processes and regulations must be standardised and widely adopted. Only when this happens will automotive and electronics companies be reassured that they are not contributing to human rights violations. And only then will they feel confident buying Congolese cobalt.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/149486/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Responsible sourcing of cobalt from the DRC is a fully independent research project.
The travel cost of the field research in the DRC were reimbursed by the World Economic Forum's Global Battery Alliance.
All other funding for this research came from the University of Geneva, where I direct the Geneva Center for Business and Human Rights, and from the NYU Stern School of Business, where I am research director of the NYU Stern Center for Business and Human Rights.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Our Center has received funding from the World Economic Forum's Global Battery Alliance solely for the travel expenses related to the research trip to the DRC. I am a consultant at the Geneva Center for Business and Human Rights at the University of Geneva. </span></em></p>Companies can’t verify that their source didn’t involve artisanal mining. A discussion over responsible sourcing strategies and practices is needed.Dorothee Baumann-Pauly, Adjunct Professor and Director of the Geneva Center for Business and Human Rights, Université de GenèveSerra Cremer Iyi, Researcher, Université de GenèveLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1451662020-09-01T19:58:40Z2020-09-01T19:58:40ZRenewable energy can save the natural world – but if we’re not careful, it will also hurt it<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/355710/original/file-20200901-18-rxpx93.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5238%2C3500&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>A vast transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy is crucial to slowing climate change. But building solar panels, wind turbines and other renewable energy infrastructure requires <a href="https://www.resourcepanel.org/reports/green-energy-choices-benefits-risks-and-trade-offs-low-carbon-technologies-electricity">mining for materials</a>. If not done responsibly, this may damage species and ecosystems.</p>
<p>In <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-17928-5">our research</a>, published today, we mapped the world’s potential mining areas and assessed how they overlap with biodiversity conservation sites. </p>
<p>We found renewable energy production will exacerbate the threat mining poses to biodiversity – the world’s variety of animals and plants. It’s fair to assume that in some places, the extraction of renewables minerals may cause more damage to nature than the climate change it averts.</p>
<p>Australia is well placed to become a leader in mining of renewable energy materials and drive the push to a low-carbon world. But we must act now to protect our biodiversity from being harmed in the process.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A wind farm" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/355711/original/file-20200901-18-1bcz015.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/355711/original/file-20200901-18-1bcz015.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/355711/original/file-20200901-18-1bcz015.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/355711/original/file-20200901-18-1bcz015.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/355711/original/file-20200901-18-1bcz015.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/355711/original/file-20200901-18-1bcz015.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/355711/original/file-20200901-18-1bcz015.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">Renewable energy infrastructure such as wind farms are good for the planet – but it requires minerals extraction.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Mining to prevent climate change</h2>
<p>Currently, <a href="http://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/207371500386458722/pdf/117581-WP-P159838-PUBLIC-ClimateSmartMiningJuly.pdf">about 17%</a> of current global energy consumption is achieved through renewable energy. To further reduce greenhouse gas emissions, this proportion must rapidly increase. </p>
<p>Building new renewable energy infrastructure will involve mining minerals and metals. Some of these include:</p>
<ul>
<li>lithium, graphite and cobalt (mostly used in battery storage)</li>
<li>zinc and titanium (used mostly for wind and geothermal energy)</li>
<li>copper, nickle and aluminium (used in a range of renewable energy technologies).</li>
</ul>
<p>The World Bank <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/extractiveindustries/brief/climate-smart-mining-minerals-for-climate-action">estimates</a> the production of such materials could increase by 500% by 2050. It says more than 3 billion tonnes of minerals and metals will be needed to build the wind, solar and geothermal power, and energy storage, needed to keep global warming below 2°C this century.</p>
<p>However, mining can seriously damage species and places. It <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rspb.2018.1926">destroys natural habitat</a>, and <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-017-00557-w">surrounding environments</a> can be harmed by the construction of transport infrastructure such as roads and railways. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="An evaporation pond used to measure lithium and in the Uyuni salt desert in Bolivia." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/355698/original/file-20200901-16-1f31kdv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/355698/original/file-20200901-16-1f31kdv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/355698/original/file-20200901-16-1f31kdv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/355698/original/file-20200901-16-1f31kdv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/355698/original/file-20200901-16-1f31kdv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/355698/original/file-20200901-16-1f31kdv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/355698/original/file-20200901-16-1f31kdv.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">An evaporation pond used to measure lithium and in the Uyuni salt desert in Bolivia. Mining can damage the environment if not done sustainably.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Dado Galdieri/AP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What we found</h2>
<p>We mapped areas around the world potentially affected by mining. Our analysis involved 62,381 pre-operational, operational, and closed mines targeting 40 different materials.</p>
<p>We found mining may influence about 50 million km² of Earth’s land surface (or 37%, excluding Antarctica). Some 82% of these areas contain materials needed for renewable energy production. Of this, 12% overlaps with protected areas, 7% with “<a href="http://www.keybiodiversityareas.org/home">key biodiversity areas</a>”, and 14% with remaining <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-07183-6">wilderness</a>.</p>
<p>Our results suggest mining of renewable energy materials may increase in currently untouched and “biodiverse” places. These areas are considered <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nclimate2918">critical</a> to helping species overcome the challenges of climate change. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/355924/original/file-20200902-16-1mntn0l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Areas around the world potentially influenced by mining" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/355924/original/file-20200902-16-1mntn0l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/355924/original/file-20200902-16-1mntn0l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=317&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/355924/original/file-20200902-16-1mntn0l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=317&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/355924/original/file-20200902-16-1mntn0l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=317&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/355924/original/file-20200902-16-1mntn0l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/355924/original/file-20200902-16-1mntn0l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/355924/original/file-20200902-16-1mntn0l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Areas potentially influenced by mining, including for the minerals needed in renewable energy production (shown in blue). See paper for detailed methodology and limitations.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Authors provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Threats here and abroad</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.ga.gov.au/about/projects/resources/critical-minerals">Australia is well positioned</a> to become a leading supplier of materials for renewable energy. We are also <a href="https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/ecologically-megadiverse-countries-of-the-world.html">one of only 17 nations</a> considered ecologically “megadiverse”.</p>
<p>Yet, many of the minerals needed for renewable energy exist in important conservation areas.</p>
<p>For example, Australia is rich in lithium and already accounts for <a href="https://www.ga.gov.au/scientific-topics/minerals/mineral-resources-and-advice/australian-resource-reviews/lithium#heading-6">half of world production</a>. <a href="http://www.pilbaraminerals.com.au/site/content/">Hard-rock</a> lithium mines operate in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.</p>
<p>This area has also been <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/conservation/hotspots/national-biodiversity-hotspots#hotspot14">identified</a> as a national biodiversity hotspot and is home to many native species. These include small marsupials such as the little red antechinus and the pebble-mound mouse, and reptiles including gecko and goanna species. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/world-first-mining-standard-must-protect-people-and-hold-powerful-companies-to-account-144285">World-first mining standard must protect people and hold powerful companies to account</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Australia is also <a href="https://www.ga.gov.au/scientific-topics/minerals/mineral-resources-and-advice/australian-resource-reviews/rare-earth-elements#heading-6">ranked sixth</a> in the world for deposits of rare earth elements, many of which are needed to produce magnets for wind turbines. We also have large resources of other renewables materials such as cobalt, manganese, tantalum, tungsten and zirconium. </p>
<p>It’s critical that mining doesn’t damage Australia’s already vulnerable biodiversity, and harm the natural places valued by <a href="https://theconversation.com/rio-tinto-just-blasted-away-an-ancient-aboriginal-site-heres-why-that-was-allowed-139466">Indigenous</a> people and other communities.</p>
<p>In many cases, renewables minerals are found in countries where the resource sector is not strongly regulated, posing an even greater environmental threat. For example, the world’s <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2018-12-03/bolivia-s-almost-impossible-lithium-dream">second-largest</a> untouched lithium reserve exists in Bolivia’s Salar de Uyuni salt pan. This naturally diverse area is mostly <a href="https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1755-263X.2011.00166.x">untouched</a> by mining. </p>
<p>The renewables expansion will also require iron and steel. To date, mining for iron in Brazil has almost wiped out an entire <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10531-007-9156-8">plant community</a>, and recent <a href="https://theconversation.com/dam-collapse-at-brazilian-mine-exposes-grave-safety-problems-110666">dam failures</a> devastated the environment and communities.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A little red antechinus" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/355700/original/file-20200901-22-17nnyi7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/355700/original/file-20200901-22-17nnyi7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/355700/original/file-20200901-22-17nnyi7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/355700/original/file-20200901-22-17nnyi7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/355700/original/file-20200901-22-17nnyi7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=522&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/355700/original/file-20200901-22-17nnyi7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=522&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/355700/original/file-20200901-22-17nnyi7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=522&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Pilbara has large lithium deposits and is also home to the little red antechinus.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Needpix</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>We need proactive planning</h2>
<p>Strong planning and conservation action is needed to avoid, manage and prevent the harm mining causes to the environment. However global conservation efforts are often naive to the threats posed by significant growth in renewable energies. </p>
<p>Some protected areas around the world prevent mining, but more than 14% contain metal mines in or near their boundaries. Consequences for biodiversity may extend many kilometres from mining sites.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, other areas increasingly important for conservation are focused on the needs of biodiversity, and don’t consider the distribution of mineral resources and pressures to extract them. Conservation plans for these sites must involve strategies to manage the mining threat.</p>
<p>There is some good news. <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-17928-5">Our analyses</a> suggest many required materials occur outside protected areas and other conservation priorities. The challenge now is to identify which species are most at risk from current and future mining development, and develop strong policies to avoid their loss. </p>
<p><em>The map in this article has been updated, because due to a technical issue the previous version omitted some information.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/145166/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Laura Sonter receives funding from the Australian Research Council and The University of Queensland. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>James Watson receives funding from National Environmental Science Program, the Australian Research Council and The University of Queensland. He is Director of the Science and Research Initiative at the Wildlife Conservation Society and serves as a volunteer on Bush Heritage Australia and BirdLife Australia science committees. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Richard K Valenta receives funding from the Queensland State Government, The Northern Territory Government and the University of Queensland. He is chair of the research working group of the Queensland Exploration Council.</span></em></p>Building renewable energy infrastructure involves mining for materials such as lithium, graphite and cobalt. If not done responsibly, that could cause huge environmental damage.Laura Sonter, Lecturer in Environmental Management, The University of QueenslandJames Watson, Professor, The University of QueenslandRichard K Valenta, Director - WH Bryan Mining and Geology Research Centre - The Sustainable Minerals Institute, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1371962020-07-27T12:13:31Z2020-07-27T12:13:31ZThe road to electric vehicles with lower sticker prices than gas cars – battery costs explained<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/342992/original/file-20200619-43201-onbuwl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=45%2C0%2C5020%2C3321&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Replacing carbon-emitting gas-powered cars with EVs requires whittling away EVs' price premium, and that comes down to one thing: battery cost.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/car-park-for-electric-vehicle-electric-vehicle-royalty-free-image/1163445787">Westend61 via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://www.woodmac.com/press-releases/global-electric-vehicle-sales-to-drop-43-in-2020/">Electric vehicle sales</a> have grown exponentially in recent years, accompanied by dropping prices. However, adoption of EVs remains limited by their <a href="https://www.digitaltrends.com/cars/even-elon-musk-thinks-tesla-cars-too-expensive/">higher sticker price</a> relative to comparable gas vehicles, even though <a href="https://cleantechnica.com/2020/03/28/check-out-this-electric-vehicle-total-cost-of-ownership-calculator/">overall cost of ownership for EVs is lower</a>. </p>
<p>EVs and internal combustion engine vehicles are likely to reach sticker price parity sometime in the next decade. The timing hinges on one crucial factor: battery cost. An EV’s battery pack accounts for about <a href="https://theicct.org/sites/default/files/publications/EV_cost_2020_2030_20190401.pdf">a quarter of total vehicle cost</a>, making it the most important factor in the sales price.</p>
<p>Battery pack prices have been falling fast. A typical EV battery pack stores 10-100 kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity. For example, the Mitsubishi i-MIEV has a battery capacity of 16 kWh and a range of 62 miles, and the Tesla model S has a battery capacity of 100 kWh and a range of 400 miles. In 2010, the price of an EV battery pack was over $1,000 per kWh. That fell to <a href="https://about.bnef.com/blog/battery-pack-prices-fall-as-market-ramps-up-with-market-average-at-156-kwh-in-2019/">$150 per kWh in 2019</a>. The challenge for the automotive industry is figuring out how to drive the cost down further.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.energy.gov/eere/vehicles/batteries">Department of Energy goal</a> for the industry is to reduce the price of battery packs to less than $100/kWh and ultimately to about $80/kWh. At these battery price points, the sticker price of an EV is likely to be lower than that of a comparable combustion engine vehicle.</p>
<p>[<em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p>
<p>Forecasting when that price crossover will occur requires models that account for the cost variables: design, materials, labor, manufacturing capacity and demand. These models also show where researchers and manufacturers are focusing their efforts to reduce battery costs. <a href="https://www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/venkatv/">Our group</a> at Carnegie Mellon University has developed a model of battery costs that accounts for all aspects of EV battery manufacturing.</p>
<h2>From the bottom up</h2>
<p>Models used for analyzing battery costs are classified either as “top down” or “bottom up.” Top-down models predict cost based primarily on demand and time. One popular top-down model that can <a href="https://ark-invest.com/analyst-research/wrights-law-predicts-teslas-gross-margin/">forecast battery cost</a> is Wright’s law, which predicts that costs go down as more units are produced. Economies of scale and the experience an industry acquires over time drive down costs. </p>
<p>Wright’s law is generic. It works <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0052669">across all technologies</a>, which makes it possible to predict <a href="https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2019/8/9/20767886/renewable-energy-storage-cost-electricity">battery cost declines based on solar panel cost declines</a>. However, Wright’s law - like other top-down models - doesn’t allow for the analysis of the sources of the cost declines. For that, a bottom-up model is required.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/342994/original/file-20200619-43229-14lkc43.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/342994/original/file-20200619-43229-14lkc43.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/342994/original/file-20200619-43229-14lkc43.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/342994/original/file-20200619-43229-14lkc43.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/342994/original/file-20200619-43229-14lkc43.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/342994/original/file-20200619-43229-14lkc43.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/342994/original/file-20200619-43229-14lkc43.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">The battery pack, the large gray block filling the chassis in this diagram of an electric car, contributes the most of any component to the price of an EV.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/generic-electric-car-with-battery-visible-x-ray-royalty-free-image/1199388333">Sven Loeffler/iStock via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>To build a bottom-up cost model, it’s important to understand what goes into making a battery. Lithium-ion batteries consist of a positive electrode, the cathode, a negative electrode, the anode and an electrolyte, as well as auxiliary components such as terminals and casing. </p>
<p>Each component has a cost associated with its materials, manufacturing, assembly, expenses related to factory maintenance, and overhead costs. For EVs, batteries also need to be integrated into small groups of cells, or modules, which are then combined into packs. </p>
<p>Our <a href="https://github.com/battmodels/BatteryCost">open source, bottom-up battery cost model</a> follows the same structure as the battery manufacturing process itself. The model uses inputs to the battery manufacturing process as inputs to the model, including battery design specifications, commodity and labor prices, capital investment requirements like manufacturing plants and equipment, overhead rates and manufacturing volume to account for economies of scale. It uses these inputs to calculate manufacturing costs, material costs and overhead costs, and those costs are summed to arrive at the final cost.</p>
<p><iframe id="LPCDa" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/LPCDa/3/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<h2>Cost-cutting opportunities</h2>
<p>Using our bottom-up cost model, we can break down the contributions of each part of the battery to the total battery cost and use those insights to analyze the impact of battery innovations on EV cost. Materials make up the largest portion of the total battery cost, around 50%. The cathode accounts for around 43% of the materials cost, and other cell materials account for around 36%.</p>
<p>Improvements in cathode materials are the most important innovations, because the cathode is the largest component of battery cost. This drives strong <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/%7E/media/mckinsey/industries/metals%20and%20mining/our%20insights/lithium%20and%20cobalt%20a%20tale%20of%20two%20commodities/lithium-and-cobalt-a-tale-of-two-commodities.ashx">interest in commodity prices</a>.</p>
<p>The most common cathode materials for electric vehicles are nickel cobalt aluminum oxide <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-autos-tesla-batteries-exclusive/exclusive-teslas-secret-batteries-aim-to-rework-the-math-for-electric-cars-and-the-grid-idUSKBN22Q1WC">used in Tesla vehicles</a>, nickel manganese cobalt oxide used in <a href="https://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/types_of_lithium_ion">most other electric vehicles</a>, and lithium iron phosphate <a href="https://www.sustainable-bus.com/news/lfp-battery-industry-is-driven-by-chinese-electric-bus-market-reasons-for-a-dominance-bus/">used in most electric buses</a>. </p>
<p>Nickel cobalt aluminum oxide has the lowest cost-per-energy-content and highest energy-per-unit-mass, or specific energy, of these three materials. A low cost per unit of energy results from a high specific energy because fewer cells are needed to build a battery pack. This results in a lower cost for other cell materials. Cobalt is the most expensive material within the cathode, so formulations of these materials with less cobalt typically lead to cheaper batteries. </p>
<p>Inactive cell materials such as tabs and containers account for roughly 36% of the total cell materials cost. These other cell materials do not add energy content to the battery. Therefore, reducing inactive materials reduces the weight and size of battery cells without reducing energy content. This drives interest in improving cell design with innovations such as <a href="https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/a32433420/elon-musk-tesla-battery-cell-patent/">tabless batteries</a> like those being teased by Tesla.</p>
<p>The battery pack cost also decreases significantly with an increase in the number of cells manufacturers produce annually. As more EV battery factories <a href="https://www.benchmarkminerals.com/ev-battery-arms-race-enters-new-gear-with-115-megafactories-europe-sees-most-rapid-growth/">come on-line</a>, economies of scale and further improvement in battery manufacturing and design should lead to further cost declines. </p>
<h2>Tesla’s revamped EV batteries</h2>
<p>On Sept. 22, Tesla <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-battery-day-announcements-highlights-elon-musk-annual-shareholder-meeting-2020-9">revealed a series of innovations</a> in manufacturing lithium-ion batteries. Each change has an effect on the eventual cost of the battery cells and their performance. Our battery cost model shows that changes Tesla is making to the size and form of the battery cell will result in the battery’s two electrodes, the anode and the cathode, accounting for 80% of the battery’s cost.</p>
<p>One change is a larger size for the battery cell, which reduces the amount of packing material and increases the amount of energy each cell can store. The new form reduces the contribution of ancillary materials to the battery cell’s total cost to 15%, down from 35%. Ancillary materials are everything but the anode, cathode and the energy-storing electrolyte.</p>
<p>This puts the focus of reducing cost on the electrodes. The cathode alone now accounts for 55% of the cell’s cost. Tesla described several changes to the process for producing cathodes, which should lower costs but it’s not clear yet by how much.</p>
<p>Another change the company unveiled is a <a href="https://cleantechnica.com/2020/09/22/everything-you-need-to-know-about-teslas-new-4680-battery-cell/">battery design that removes tabs</a>, which are strips of metal that link the anode and cathode to the outside of the cell. Removing tabs lowers cost and increases the hourly throughput of the manufacturing plant. The more cells that can be made, the lower the cost due to economies of scale and improvements in manufacturing.</p>
<p>It will probably take <a href="https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a34112343/tesla-battery-day-cutting-battery-cost/">about three years</a> for all of these changes to go into production and the new batteries to appear in lower-price EVs, according to the company.</p>
<h2>Road to price-parity</h2>
<p>Predicting a timeline for price parity with ICE vehicles requires forecasting a future trajectory of battery costs. We estimate that reduction in raw material costs, improvements in performance and learning by manufacturing together are likely to lead to batteries with pack costs below $80/kWh by 2025. </p>
<p>Assuming batteries represent <a href="https://about.bnef.com/blog/electric-cars-reach-price-parity-2025/">a quarter of the EV cost</a>, a 100 kWh battery pack at $75 per kilowatt hour yields a cost of about $30,000. This should result in EV sticker prices that are lower than the sticker prices for comparable models of gas-powered cars.</p>
<p><em>Abhinav Misalkar contributed to this article while he was a graduate student at Carnegie Mellon University.</em></p>
<p><strong><em>This article has been updated on September 25 with details on Tesla’s new EV battery design.</em></strong></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/137196/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Venkat Viswanathan is a technical consultant for QuantumScape and owns stock options. He is also a technical consultant for Form Energy. His research group receives funding from Volkswagen, Toyota Research Institute, QuantumScape and collaborates with 24M Technologies.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alexander Bills and Shashank Sripad 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>EVs will have lower sticker prices than gas vehicles when batteries are cheaper. Getting there comes down to knowing where to cut costs.Venkat Viswanathan, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon UniversityAlexander Bills, Ph.D. Candidate in Mechanical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon UniversityShashank Sripad, Ph.D. Candidate in Mechanical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1153582019-05-02T09:43:53Z2019-05-02T09:43:53ZBlockchain can help break the chains of modern slavery, but it is not a complete solution<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/272403/original/file-20190503-103053-ammmc6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Global supply chains have struggled to deal with poor working conditions including child labour, forced labour and debt slavery. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>There’s a good chance the device on which you are reading this contains cobalt. It’s an essential metal for batteries in phones and laptops. There’s also a chance the cobalt was mined by slaves. </p>
<p><a href="https://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/cobalt/mcs-2019-cobal.pdf">Almost two-thirds of the cobalt</a> mined around the world comes from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The central African country has a notorious recent history of human rights abuses, including <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2018/oct/12/phone-misery-children-congo-cobalt-mines-drc">slave labour</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/269899/original/file-20190418-139097-1c2ge5a.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/269899/original/file-20190418-139097-1c2ge5a.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/269899/original/file-20190418-139097-1c2ge5a.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/269899/original/file-20190418-139097-1c2ge5a.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/269899/original/file-20190418-139097-1c2ge5a.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/269899/original/file-20190418-139097-1c2ge5a.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/269899/original/file-20190418-139097-1c2ge5a.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/269899/original/file-20190418-139097-1c2ge5a.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Democratic Republic of the Congo highlighted in green.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Democratic_Republic_of_the_Congo_%28orthographic_projection%29.svg">Connormah/Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Right now it is all but impossible to know if cobalt from the country is slave-free. It’s the same around the world for many other commodities, from tuna to coffee.</p>
<p>Some businesses see a solution in blockchain, the technology behind bitcoin, to verify global supply chains. </p>
<p>It is the latest promise for a technology that is touted as a solution for <a href="https://www.cellblocks.io/">unregulated prison economies</a>, <a href="https://climatecoin.io/">climate change</a> and <a href="https://seal.network/">counterfeiting</a>. Maybe it will prove part of the solution. But we can’t put all our hopes on any technology solving a complex social problem. </p>
<h2>Modern slavery in supply chains</h2>
<p>Figuring out if goods are sourced and produced ethically gets increasingly difficult as <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?hl=en&lr=&id=zBqJDwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA319&ots=SZb5mjjtry&sig=5b1zksIBTyMg0Dtj4CbwGjQHPlo#v=onepage&q&f=false">supply chains become more complex</a>. </p>
<p>In the case of cobalt, <a href="http://www.mining.com/congo-miners-buying-cobalt-artisanal-operators-balance-market/">the supply chain</a> can consist of <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mining-blockchain-cobalt/blockchain-to-track-congos-cobalt-from-mine-to-mobile-idUSKBN1FM0Y2">countless middlemen</a> who buy and mix cobalt from countless different mines. This means it is almost impossible for a cobalt buyer such as a battery maker to trace where the metal comes from. </p>
<p>The DRC’s cobalt industry encompasses a wide range of working conditions. Some miners are paid relatively well and work in safe conditions. </p>
<p>But around a fifth of the cobalt is dug up by about <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/AFR6231832016ENGLISH.PDF">110,000 to 150,000 workers in small “artisanal” mines</a>. Those who work in this unregulated sector often earn a pittance and work in unsafe conditions. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/271687/original/file-20190430-136797-1mbijsc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/271687/original/file-20190430-136797-1mbijsc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/271687/original/file-20190430-136797-1mbijsc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/271687/original/file-20190430-136797-1mbijsc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/271687/original/file-20190430-136797-1mbijsc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/271687/original/file-20190430-136797-1mbijsc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/271687/original/file-20190430-136797-1mbijsc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/271687/original/file-20190430-136797-1mbijsc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">For impoverished artisanal miners, cobalt is an alluring prospect despite the treacherous conditions.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/16935515@N00/1872000955/">julien_harneis/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Working in such mines includes <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/business/batteries/congo-cobalt-mining-for-lithium-ion-battery/">descending into small hand-dug holes</a> that defy even basic safety precautions. Poor construction and ventilation have led to injuries and deaths. </p>
<p>As sales of electric cars <a href="https://smallcaps.com.au/cobalt-supply-chain-transparency-human-rights-violations-drc/">swells</a> demand for cobalt, these conditions are <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-07-25/cobalt-child-labour-smartphone-batteries-congo/10031330">worsening</a>. </p>
<p>It is difficult to know exactly what proportion of the DRC’s cobalt industry uses slave labour. But a 2013 investigation by the Washington-based organisation <a href="https://www.freetheslaves.net">Free the Slaves</a>, found 866 of the 931 individuals interviewed in three mining communities were slaves. </p>
<p>The report identified <a href="https://www.freetheslaves.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Congos-Mining-Slaves-web-130622.pdf">seven types</a> of slavery, including forced labour and debt bondage. </p>
<p>Almost one in four slaves was under 18 years of age. A 2014 <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/AFR6231832016ENGLISH.PDF">report by UNICEF</a> estimated 40,000 children were working in mines in DRC’s south, most of them digging cobalt. </p>
<h2>Blockchain’s promise</h2>
<p>It is not just cobalt. The same is true of everything from copper to <a href="https://www.raconteur.net/business-innovation/child-labour-cocoa-production">cocoa</a>. It is hard to know how products are made or where they are sourced from.</p>
<p>So how can we ensure supply chains are not tainted by modern slavery?</p>
<p>This is where companies are experimenting with blockchain technology. To understand their interest, let’s recap the basics of this technology.</p>
<p>Think of blockchain as an online public ledger. Once a transaction occurs, a permanent and unchangeable record of that transaction is created and has to be validated by others in the blockchain. These records are called “blocks” and are chained together chronologically. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/271686/original/file-20190430-136810-1eowtsg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/271686/original/file-20190430-136810-1eowtsg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/271686/original/file-20190430-136810-1eowtsg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=414&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/271686/original/file-20190430-136810-1eowtsg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=414&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/271686/original/file-20190430-136810-1eowtsg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=414&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/271686/original/file-20190430-136810-1eowtsg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=520&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/271686/original/file-20190430-136810-1eowtsg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=520&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/271686/original/file-20190430-136810-1eowtsg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=520&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">How blockchain technology works.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">The Conversation</span></span>
</figcaption>
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<p>Blockchain technology can therefore be used to <a href="http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/10043048/1/Aste_BlockchainIEEE_600W_v3.3_A.doccceptedVersion.x.pdf">create a verified and tamper-proof record</a> of supply chains from source to end user. </p>
<p>The World Wildlife Fund is working with technology partners and a tuna fishing company to use <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-blockchain-is-strengthening-tuna-traceability-to-combat-illegal-fishing-89965">blockchain technology to track tuna</a> from “bait to plate”. A consumer will be able to find out when and where the tuna was caught by scanning a code on the packaging.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/almost-every-brand-of-tuna-on-supermarket-shelves-shows-why-modern-slavery-laws-are-needed-108421">Almost every brand of tuna on supermarket shelves shows why modern slavery laws are needed</a>
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<p>BHP wants to use it to <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/bhp-looks-to-improve-copper-supply-chain-transparency-20190407-p51bns.html">verify copper supplies</a>. Blockchain is also being used to track <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTmJMkd-Rd8">cotton</a>, <a href="https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/fashion-tech/how-luxury-fashion-learned-to-love-the-blockchain">fashion</a>, <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/bringing-blockchain-to-the-coffee-cup-1523797205">coffee</a> and <a href="https://www.coindesk.com/ibm-completes-blockchain-trial-tracking-a-28-ton-shipment-of-oranges">organically farmed products</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-blockchain-congo-cobalt-electric/ford-and-ibm-among-quartet-in-congo-cobalt-blockchain-project-idUSKCN1PA0C8">Ford and IBM</a> are part of the consortium looking to use the technology to monitor cobalt supplies. It would mean the ability to track the metal from mine to battery. Ethically mined cobalt can be recorded in the blockchain and followed as it moves around the supply chain. </p>
<h2>Challenges remain</h2>
<p>While blockchain is promising, we need to address several challenges if it is going to work. </p>
<p>A crucial element in any blockchain is the “consensus protocol”. This determines who gets to validate a transaction, whether it be all participants, a majority, a select few or a random selection. In a blockchain dedicated to ethical sourcing it is crucial that workers can attest to their working conditions. There is no guarantee this will happen, especially for marginalised or oppressed workers. </p>
<p>Second, it is important to know what standard for ethical sourcing a blockchain upholds. There are <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2017/10/16/mapping-the-blockchain-project-ecosystem/">several blockchain platforms</a>, so different, potentially less robust, standards could easily develop. This is an issue for other areas of ethical certification, where competing schemes for goods <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0170840612443629">such as coffee</a> exist.</p>
<p>Third, we should always question the link between a “block” and its material reality. Finding a way to insert goods made using slave labour into the blockchain would be <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jul/20/australia-imports-12bn-worth-of-goods-at-risk-of-being-made-by-slaves-report">highly lucrative</a>. Since the integrity of blockchain data depends on humans, it is vulnerable to inaccuracies or fraud. </p>
<p>Fourth, blockchain may create a “digital divide”. Larger suppliers with technical experience will have less trouble using this technology, while smaller suppliers may be left out. We need to guard against blockchain becoming a barrier to small suppliers entering the market. </p>
<h2>No technological fix</h2>
<p>As a transparency tool blockchain can – in theory – give insights into where goods came from. But no technology on its own can solve a complex social problem. </p>
<p>Ultimately, as with any other technology, the saying “garbage in, garbage out” applies. If humans want to undermine accountability systems, they will find ways of doing so. </p>
<p>Just recording transactions is not enough. As part of a comprehensive agenda to tackle the myriad factors underlying modern slavery, though, it may prove a useful tool.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/115358/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Martijn Boersma is co-author of a book on modern slavery that will be published in 2019.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Justine Nolan is co-author of a book on modern slavery that will be published in 2019.</span></em></p>Blockchain is a promising tool to fight modern slavery by making global supply chains more accountable. But there a few kinks to be worked out.Martijn Boersma, Lecturer, University of Technology SydneyJustine Nolan, Associate Professor, UNSW Law, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1145712019-04-03T11:35:17Z2019-04-03T11:35:17ZThe DRC and China’s Sicomines: why future deals should be different<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/267067/original/file-20190402-177178-1xcf70.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Copper was part of the deal between the DRC and the Chinese company Sicomines.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>It was confidently billed at the time as the <a href="https://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/2011/02/COLOMA/20108">“deal of the century”</a>. The Sino Congolaise des Mines (Sicomines) was the most significant Chinese investment project in Africa when it was agreed in 2007. </p>
<p>The infrastructure agreement gave Chinese partners mining rights to cobalt and copper in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). These minerals are used in electric vehicle batteries and electronics, including smartphones and laptops. In exchange, China agreed to build much-needed infrastructure projects such as urban roads, highways and hospitals. </p>
<p>In addition to new infrastructure, the Sicomines deal was expected to provide a significant boost to the DRC’s economic growth. The view was that the agreed volumes of mineral production would contribute to higher levels of exports, tax revenue and inflow of US dollars. </p>
<p>More than a decade on, the Sicomines deal has not lived up to expectations. There have been infrastructure project delays as well as unexpected costs. There have also been problems associated with poor quality roads and infrastructure and inadequate environment and social impact studies.</p>
<p>On the economic front, mineral exports from the DRC <a href="http://www.intracen.org/country/democratic-republic-of-the-congo/">have indeed risen steeply</a>. But sharp cyclical fluctuations show that the country is heavily reliant on both the Chinese market and the price of a few minerals. In addition, the Sicomines deal won exemption from taxes until infrastructure and mining loans were fully repaid. This means that the DRC will not receive any substantial income from the agreement in the foreseeable future.</p>
<p>The Sicomines agreement demonstrates one of the main problems with deals of this nature. It never included any guarantee of the actual value that the Congolese population would get in exchange for the country’s main source of wealth. </p>
<p>As we argue in a recent <a href="https://academic.oup.com/ia/article-abstract/95/2/423/5308854?redirectedFrom=fulltext">International Affairs article</a>, the Sicomines deal provides lessons for other African countries. Future deals like this present an opportunity to change the model followed in Sicomines and by most Sino-African trade relations. This has, to date, essentially involved China supplying value-added manufactured goods and high-skilled workers. In exchange, African countries have agreed to export mainly primary-based resource products. And African workers are hired for unskilled, low-cost tasks. </p>
<p>It needn’t be this way.</p>
<h2>Protecting the host country’s interests</h2>
<p>The first decade of the deal shows that Chinese companies have focused their efforts on benefiting from access to valuable natural resources. But the interests of local communities have been neglected. </p>
<p>In addition, several of the problems affecting the building of infrastructure have arisen because quality control responsibility was assigned to the same two Chinese companies responsible for execution. These were China Railway Engineering Company and Sinohydro, a large state-owned hydropower and engineering company. </p>
<p>This highlights the potential trap of these deals. The level of contribution to development depends, to a great extent, on the ability of inexpert local institutions to manage complex multilateral projects. </p>
<p>There is a solution to this. Host countries should create committees of experts, if necessary with regional and international support. Alternatively, they could contract independent specialised consultants to guarantee that national interests are satisfied.</p>
<p>Instead of negotiating with a unique consortium of companies, these teams would participate in the development of a public procurement process to award the project to the most competitive bidder. Additionally, the committees would be in charge of monitoring implementation of the contract. This could include extraction works, quality of infrastructure, compliance with environmental and social standards.</p>
<h2>Learning through small pioneer initiatives</h2>
<p>China has shown that it is ready to take risks and engage in enormous African infrastructure development projects. And that it’s prepared to do this even when western donors are not willing to allocate funds. </p>
<p>To some extent, China’s favourable attitude towards deals such as the Sicomines agreement is based on the same logic as the infrastructure loans received from Japan in the 1980s. These were mutually beneficial: they fostered Japan’s development and they were very lucrative for Japanese firms. </p>
<p>But there are many potential complications with the multi-billion dollar resource-backed credits offered by China to African countries recovering from conflict. </p>
<p>With this in mind, African countries could take a more incremental approach. They could foster development through a process of gradual reforms, implemented through several pioneering small deals. </p>
<h2>Changes that are needed</h2>
<p>Any new agreements should include precise objectives and financial resources to guarantee training and upskilling for workers. </p>
<p>In parallel, the terms of the agreement should create the conditions for the transfer of know-how in a way that helps local companies to move to higher value added activities. </p>
<p>African governments could take into account China’s experience. The Chinese government decided that in some strategic sectors (such as the automotive sector), foreign investors had to create a joint venture with a Chinese partner to enter the market. This strategy has contributed to the emergence of several competitive domestic firms and national champions.</p>
<p>Finally, as economic diversification prompts an increase in GDP per capita, additional taxes collected from extracting industries could be invested in other economic activities to promote development.</p>
<p>The model has the potential to enable projects that would otherwise be impossible in fragile and conflict-affected African economies. But the Sicomines deal shows that it’s necessary to address particular challenges if China’s new financing schemes are to accelerate development in Africa. </p>
<p><em>Our recent article, ‘The impact of Sicomines on development in the Democratic Republic of Congo’, was published in the March 2019 issue of Chatham House’s journal, <a href="https://academic.oup.com/ia/article-abstract/95/2/423/5308854?redirectedFrom=fulltext">International Affairs</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/114571/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The deal between the DRC and the Chinese company Sicomines didn’t take into account how the Congolese people would benefit.Andoni Maiza Larrarte, Professor, Department of Applied Economics I, UPV/EHU, Universidad del País Vasco / Euskal Herriko UnibertsitateaGloria Claudio-Quiroga, Associate Professor of Economics at Francisco de Vitoria University in Madrid., Universidad Francisco de VitoriaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1117832019-03-19T20:34:03Z2019-03-19T20:34:03ZElectric vehicles as an example of a market failure<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/264679/original/file-20190319-60972-94akzm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C33%2C1500%2C992&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A Renault Zoe charging. It's currently one of the top-selling plug-in electric vehicles in Europe, but what would happen if subsidies dried up? </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fichier:Renault_Zoe_charging.jpg">Werner Hillebrand-Hansen/Wikipedia</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Electric vehicle revolution is well under way. Norway ambitiously heads toward having all new cars sold as zero-emission by 2025. China continues to be one of the major drivers of EV boom. The US market experiences strong growth, driven by models from <a href="https://www.myev.com/research/comparisons/best-selling-electric-vehicles">Tesla, Chevrolet and Nissan</a>. The United Kingdom and France have announced they would <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/26/world/europe/uk-diesel-petrol-emissions.html">ban new petrol and diesel vehicles sales by 2040</a>.</p>
<p>Electric cars are perceived as a <a href="https://econclassroom.com/market-failure-positive-externalities-of-consumption/">positive externality of consumption</a> on the society. To fight global warming, governments have implemented different policies to stimulate consumer demand.</p>
<p>But just how sustainable is demand for electric vehicles and how long will governments fuel it? There is also the question of hidden costs for stakeholders like the Democratic Republic of Congo, major supplier of cobalt used for EV batteries.</p>
<h2>Norway hits new highs with EV market penetration</h2>
<p>A stellar example of a country that’s fully charged to go electric is Norway. It has the highest number of electric vehicles per person in the world, with close to 300,000 registered units in its EV fleet in 2018. According to the <a href="https://elbil.no/english/norwegian-ev-market/">European Alternative Fuel Observatory</a>, almost 50% of the cars purchased in Norway in 2018 are electric.</p>
<p>What lies behind such impressive result that puts Norway ahead of others? Answer seems clear: change of consumer habits through <a href="https://elbil.no/english/norwegian-ev-policy/">comprehensive incentive package</a> introduced gradually since 1990s. One of the key policies is Norwegian car-taxation system, based on the principle that the more you pollute, the more you pay. Tax for a new car is calculated by combining weight, CO<sub>2</sub> and NO<sub>x</sub> emissions. It is progressive, making big cars with high emissions very expensive. This results in most electric vehicles becoming cheaper compared to similar petrol models.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/260825/original/file-20190225-26184-bk658h.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/260825/original/file-20190225-26184-bk658h.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/260825/original/file-20190225-26184-bk658h.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/260825/original/file-20190225-26184-bk658h.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/260825/original/file-20190225-26184-bk658h.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/260825/original/file-20190225-26184-bk658h.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=497&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/260825/original/file-20190225-26184-bk658h.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=497&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/260825/original/file-20190225-26184-bk658h.png?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">Illustration of Norway subsidy scheme, comparison of Volkswagen Golf petrol and electric model.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">https://elbil.no/english/norwegian-ev-policy/</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In addition, other incentives are in place such as 25% VAT exemption for new EV purchases, road toll exemption, low annual road tax, free access to municipal parking and ferries, access to bus lanes and good network of public charging stations.</p>
<h2>How long can it last?</h2>
<p>But how long will governments continue incentive schemes and can EV market roll on its own? The main concern with subsidies is they’re addictive – once put in place, they’re difficult to end. Budgets are also tight and incentives of this magnitude put pressure on public finances.</p>
<p>In October 2018, the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/oct/07/electric-car-prices-to-soar-low-emission-vehicles--subsidies-philip-hammond-budget">UK announced subsidy cuts</a> on electric and hybrid vehicles, making models such as Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV and the Toyota Prius Plug-in no longer eligible for grants. This adds thousands of pounds to the price of these cars, and many are concerned it could <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/760c487a-3a86-11e9-b72b-2c7f526ca5d0">turn customers away from less-polluting vehicles</a>.</p>
<p>China plans to <a href="https://asia.nikkei.com/Economy/China-to-slash-EV-subsidies-30-next-year">terminate EV subsidies by 2020</a>. The phase-out process is already in place, with 30% cuts planned for this year. The rationale is shift toward competitiveness, pushing car producers to find cost reductions of their own, as sales volume grows.</p>
<p>The Trump administration has also signalled a possible end of renewables subsidies in the near future. <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-autos/white-house-seeks-to-end-subsidies-for-electric-cars-renewables-idUSKBN1O22D4">Announcements from the White House</a>, followed by a series of angry tweets from the president, followed General Motors’ announcement that it would end production in five automotive factories in the United States and Canada.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1067494682249318402"}"></div></p>
<p>Although Democrats will certainly fight any such eventuality, it brings uncertainty among US car manufacturers, who continue to lobby for additional incentives.</p>
<h2>Who bears the costs?</h2>
<p>Another question is, who benefits most from subsidies? A <a href="https://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/short-circuit-high-cost-electric-vehicle-subsidies-11241.html">Manhattan Institute report on EVs</a> highlights the fact that more than 50% of EV buyers in the United States lived in households with annual income of at least $100,000, and 20% had yearly incomes over $200,000. The conclusion is that subsides come at the expense of lower-income drivers of gasoline-powered cars who cannot really afford to buy any new vehicle, much less an electric one. It is they who end up paying for highway maintenance costs through fuel taxes.</p>
<p>Also, as more electric vehicles hit the streets, electricity replaces fuel consumption. The <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/fe0ce8fc-6394-11e8-90c2-9563a0613e56">International Energy Agency estimates</a> that by 2030, electricity could displace about 4,8 million barrels of petrol and diesel used per day. This could result in revenue loss of close to $100 billion in fuel taxes, major source of financing infrastructure development. Thus, governments need to find alternative taxation income and someone needs to bear this cost.</p>
<p>And while some nations embrace “going green”, others might get left behind. There is a need for discussion on how the shift from internal-combustion motors to electric vehicles can be inclusive of those who need it most.</p>
<h2>Darker side of the electric car bonanza</h2>
<p>While much of the developed world heads enthusiastically toward vehicles that pollute less, the celebration isn’t universal. The Democratic Republic of Congo supplies <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/business/batteries/congo-cobalt-mining-for-lithium-ion-battery/?tid=a_inl_manual">two-thirds of world’s cobalt</a>, essential for EV batteries. This Central African nation chronically suffers from “natural resource curse”: while “blessed” with richness in minerals, it remains among the <a href="https://eu.usatoday.com/story/money/2018/11/29/poorest-countries-world-2018/38429473/">poorest nations in the world</a>.</p>
<p>In the absence of formal employment, hundreds of thousands of Congolese turn to mining. <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2017/09/the-dark-side-of-electric-cars-exploitative-labor-practices/">UNICEF estimates</a> there are more than 40,000 children working in mines on jobs such as underground digging, transportation of heavy loads or washing mined cobalt in rivers.</p>
<p>Many adult and children workers have no modern machinery or even basic protective clothing, and the health consequences can be catastrophic. Cobalt even has disease named after it – <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-toll-of-the-cobalt-mining-industry-congo/">cobalt lungs</a>, a form of pneumonia caused by overexposure to cobalt dust that leads to permanent incapacity and in many cases, death.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/262244/original/file-20190305-48444-16ux2q6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/262244/original/file-20190305-48444-16ux2q6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/262244/original/file-20190305-48444-16ux2q6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262244/original/file-20190305-48444-16ux2q6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262244/original/file-20190305-48444-16ux2q6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262244/original/file-20190305-48444-16ux2q6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262244/original/file-20190305-48444-16ux2q6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262244/original/file-20190305-48444-16ux2q6.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">Children working in cobalt mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Centre of the American Experiment</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Years of mining have also taken their toll on <a href="https://www.news24.com/Africa/News/democratic-republic-of-congo-city-poisoned-by-years-of-mining-20160822">Congolese environment</a>. Untreated waste and toxic substances pollute areas near the mines, exacerbating health problems of the locals. In addition, worrying radioactivity levels were reported in some of the mines, as southern Congo has vast deposits of not only cobalt and copper, but also uranium. In <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-11-06/glencore-s-congo-unit-katanga-halts-sales-of-radioactive-cobalt">November 2018, Glencore</a>, one of the world’s leading cobalt producers, temporarily suspended sales of cobalt from its Kamoto mine due to radioactivity detected in supplies.</p>
<h2>The long road ahead</h2>
<p>It may seem that electric cars are on the verge of replacing internal-combustion vehicles. But while their market share is growing, it still represents only 2% of car sales in 2018. Although there is raising awareness on environmental issues, we must remember that people tend to seek to maximise their personal utility. Because of this, electric vehicles can be considered an example of <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/marketfailure.asp">market failure</a> – their benefits to society as a whole exceed those to individuals, so they’re undersupplied by a free market. Another example is vaccinations, which may require a shot (briefly painful to one person), but can help provide collective immunity (beneficial for all). Government regulations, subsidies and other methods can help insure that such failures of the free market are compensated for. </p>
<p>In the case of electric vehicles, however, once government subsidies are phased out, it remains to be seen whether consumers will perceive electric vehicles as economically viable option. A lot will depend on the ability of car manufacturers to cut production costs, and also how much countries have advanced in installing related infrastructure such as charging stations.</p>
<p>In any case, we are in for a long ride and a lot of uncertainties along the way…</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/111783/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jovana Stanisljevic ne travaille pas, ne conseille pas, ne possède pas de parts, ne reçoit pas de fonds d'une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n'a déclaré aucune autre affiliation que son organisme de recherche.</span></em></p>Electric vehicles are taking off, but will demand remain sustainable once governments phase out subsidies? And as the “hidden costs” of the EV revolution emerge, some might get left behind…Jovana Stanisljevic, Professor in International Business, Department People, Organization, Society, Grenoble École de Management (GEM)Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/907282018-10-04T10:28:10Z2018-10-04T10:28:10ZNew materials are powering the battery revolution<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/238736/original/file-20181001-195256-1e68x0s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Research is finding better ways to make batteries both big and small.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/charging-batteries-elecric-motor-disassembling-battery-753568081">Romaset/Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>There are <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/there-are-officially-more-mobile-devices-than-people-in-the-world-9780518.html">more mobile phones in the world</a> than there are people. Nearly all of them are powered by <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41928-018-0048-6">rechargeable lithium-ion batteries</a>, which are the single most important component enabling the portable electronics revolution of the past few decades. None of those devices would be attractive to users if they didn’t have enough power to last at least several hours, without being particularly heavy.</p>
<p>Lithium-ion batteries are also useful in larger applications, like electric vehicles and <a href="http://doi.org/10.1126/science.1212741">smart-grid energy storage systems</a>. And <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41928-018-0048-6">researchers’ innovations in materials science</a>, seeking to improve lithium-ion batteries, are paving the way for even more batteries with even better performance. There is already demand forming for <a href="http://doi.org/10.1126/science.aak9991">high-capacity batteries that won’t catch fire or explode</a>. And many people have dreamed of smaller, lighter batteries that charge in minutes – or even seconds – yet store <a href="http://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms12647">enough energy to power a device for days</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=boDNTDwAAAAJ&hl=en">Researchers like me</a>, though, are thinking even more adventurously. Cars and grid-storage systems would be even better if they could be <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-does-my-phone-battery-die-so-fast-98367">discharged and recharged tens of thousands of times</a> over many years, or even decades. Maintenance crews and customers would love batteries that could monitor themselves and send alerts if they were damaged or no longer functioning at peak performance – or even were able to fix themselves. And it can’t be too much to dream of dual-purpose batteries integrated into the structure of an item, helping to shape the form of a smartphone, car or building while also powering its functions.</p>
<p>All that may become possible as my research and others’ help scientists and engineers become ever more adept at controlling and handling matter at the scale of individual atoms.</p>
<h2>Emerging materials</h2>
<p>For the most part, advances in energy storage will rely on the continuing development of materials science, pushing the limits of performance of existing battery materials and developing entirely new battery structures and compositions. </p>
<p>The battery industry is already working to reduce the cost of lithium-ion batteries, including by removing expensive cobalt from their positive electrodes, called cathodes. This would also reduce the <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/alternatives-to-cobalt-the-blood-diamond-of-batteries/">human cost of these batteries</a>, because many mines in Congo, the world’s leading source of cobalt, <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2018/05/01/technology/cobalt-congo-child-labor-car-smartphone-batteries/index.html">use children to do difficult manual labor</a>.</p>
<p>Researchers are finding ways to replace the cobalt-containing materials with cathodes made mostly of nickel. Eventually they may be able to <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/alternatives-to-cobalt-the-blood-diamond-of-batteries/">replace the nickel with manganese</a>. Each of those metals is cheaper, more abundant and safer to work with than its predecessor. But they come with a trade-off, because they have <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/3b72645a-91cc-11e8-bb8f-a6a2f7bca546">chemical properties that shorten their batteries’ lifetimes</a>.</p>
<p>Researchers are also looking at <a href="https://phys.org/news/2018-09-high-capacity-sodium-ion-lithium-rechargeable-batteries.html">replacing the lithium ions that shuttle between the two electrodes</a> with ions and electrolytes that may be cheaper and potentially safer, like those based on sodium, magnesium, zinc or aluminum.</p>
<p><a href="https://research.mse.ncsu.edu/augustyn/">My research group</a> looks at the possibilities of using two-dimensional materials, essentially extremely thin sheets of substances with useful electronic properties. <a href="https://news.mit.edu/2018/graphene-insulator-superconductor-0305">Graphene</a> is perhaps the best-known of these – a sheet of carbon just one atom thick. We want to see whether stacking up layers of various two-dimensional materials and then <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joule.2017.09.008">infiltrating the stack with water</a> or other conductive liquids could be key components of batteries that recharge very quickly.</p>
<h2>Looking inside the battery</h2>
<p>It’s not just new materials expanding the world of battery innovation: New equipment and methods also let researchers see what’s happening inside batteries much more easily than was once possible. </p>
<p>In the past, researchers ran a battery through a particular charge-discharge process or number of cycles, and then removed the material from the battery and examined it after the fact. Only then could scholars learn what chemical changes had happened during the process and infer how the battery actually worked and what affected its performance.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/238731/original/file-20181001-195260-rjw9jj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/238731/original/file-20181001-195260-rjw9jj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/238731/original/file-20181001-195260-rjw9jj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/238731/original/file-20181001-195260-rjw9jj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/238731/original/file-20181001-195260-rjw9jj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/238731/original/file-20181001-195260-rjw9jj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/238731/original/file-20181001-195260-rjw9jj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/238731/original/file-20181001-195260-rjw9jj.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">X-rays generated by a synchotron can illuminate the inner workings of a battery.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/60066150@N04/5718398619">CLS Research Office/flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But now, researchers can watch battery materials as they undergo the energy storage process, analyzing even their atomic structure and composition in real time. We can use sophisticated spectroscopy techniques, such as X-ray techniques available with a type of particle accelerator called a <a href="https://www.esrf.eu/about/synchrotron-science/synchrotron">synchrotron</a> – as well as electron microscopes and scanning probes – to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.8b02273">watch ions move and physical structures change</a> as energy is stored in and released from materials in a battery.</p>
<p>Those methods let researchers like me imagine new battery structures and materials, make them and see how well – or not – they work. That way, we’ll be able to keep the battery materials revolution going.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/90728/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Veronica Augustyn receives funding from the National Science Foundation, Department of Energy, and Research Corporation for Science Advancement. </span></em></p>Is it too much to dream of batteries that are part of the structure of an item, helping to shape the form of a smartphone, car or building while also powering its functions?Veronica Augustyn, Assistant Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, North Carolina State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1008382018-08-01T11:24:03Z2018-08-01T11:24:03ZFrom cobalt to tungsten: how electric cars and smartphones are sparking a new kind of gold rush<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/230212/original/file-20180801-136664-pr1dmd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Cobaltite ore.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/success?u=http%3A%2F%2Fdownload.shutterstock.com%2Fgatekeeper%2FW3siZSI6MTUzMzE0NjQ5NCwiYyI6Il9waG90b19zZXNzaW9uX2lkIiwiZGMiOiJpZGxfNTI1MjQ5ODkyIiwiayI6InBob3RvLzUyNTI0OTg5Mi9odWdlLmpwZyIsIm0iOjEsImQiOiJzaHV0dGVyc3RvY2stbWVkaWEifSwia0hUTnR5NXFvWlk0QVRYSE5yVVVJTXNnamJJIl0%2Fshutterstock_525249892.jpg&pi=33421636&m=525249892">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>What’s in your stuff? Most of us give no thought to the materials that make modern life possible. Yet technologies such as smart phones, electric vehicles, large screen TVs and green energy generation depend on a range of chemical elements that most people have never heard of. Until the late 20th century, many were regarded as mere curiosities – but now they are essential. In fact, a mobile phone contains <a href="http://www.whatsinmystuff.org">over a third</a> of the elements in the periodic table.</p>
<p>As more people want access to these technologies, the demand for the critical elements is growing. But supply is subject to a range of political, economic and geological factors, creating volatile prices as well as large potential gains. This makes investment in mining these metals a risky business. Below are just a few examples of the elements we have come to rely on that have seen sharp price rises (and some falls) in the last few years.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/230199/original/file-20180801-136652-zzjhn3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/230199/original/file-20180801-136652-zzjhn3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/230199/original/file-20180801-136652-zzjhn3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/230199/original/file-20180801-136652-zzjhn3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/230199/original/file-20180801-136652-zzjhn3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/230199/original/file-20180801-136652-zzjhn3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/230199/original/file-20180801-136652-zzjhn3.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">Cobalt is also used to produce blue products.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/cobalt-blue-lapis-lazuli-stones-selected-1070774378?src=o7WgoIWeTs_pinJCmafoCQ-1-18">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Cobalt</h2>
<p>Cobalt has been used for centuries to create stunning blue glass and ceramic glazes. Today it is a critical component in superalloys for modern jet engines, and the batteries that power our phones and electric cars. Demand for these vehicles has increased rapidly in the last few years, with worldwide registrations more than tripling from 200,000 in 2013 to <a href="https://www.iea.org/publications/freepublications/publication/GlobalEVOutlook2017.pdf">750,000 in 2016</a>. Smartphone sales <a href="https://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/3859963">have also risen</a> – to more than 1.5 billion in 2017 – although the first ever dip at the end of year perhaps indicates that some markets are now saturated.</p>
<p>Alongside demand from traditional industries, this helped drive up <a href="http://www.infomine.com/investment/metal-prices/cobalt/all/">cobalt prices</a> from £15 a kilogram to nearly £70 a kilogram in the last three years. Africa has historically been the largest source of cobalt minerals but rising demand and concerns about supply security mean <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-44732847">new mines are opening</a> in other regions such as the US. But in an illustration of the market’s volatility, increased production has caused prices to <a href="https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-cobalt-chemicals-prices/battery-chemical-surplus-sparks-plunge-in-cobalt-price-idUKKBN1KL1N9">crash by 30%</a> in recent months.</p>
<h2>Rare earth elements</h2>
<p>The “<a href="https://theconversation.com/rare-earths-driven-by-magnetic-applications-and-diversity-in-supply-53825">rare earths</a>” are a group of 17 elements. Despite their name, we now know that they are not that scarce, and they are most commonly obtained as a byproduct of the large-scale mining of iron, titanium or even uranium. In recent years, their production has been dominated by China, which has provided <a href="https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2011/1042/">over 95%</a> of global supply.</p>
<p>Rare earths are used in electric vehicles and wind turbines, where two of the elements, neodymium and praseodymium, are critical for making the powerful magnets in electric motors and generators. Such magnets are also found in all phone speakers and microphones.</p>
<p>The prices for the different rare earths vary and fluctuate significantly. For example, driven by growth in electric vehicles and wind power, <a href="http://www.kitco.com/strategic-metals/">neodymium oxide prices</a> peaked in late 2017 at £93 a kilogram, twice the mid-2016 price, before falling back to levels around 40% higher than 2016. Such volatility and insecurity of supply means more countries are looking to find their own sources of rare earths or to diversify their supply away from China.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/230046/original/file-20180731-136649-1tgczdn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/230046/original/file-20180731-136649-1tgczdn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/230046/original/file-20180731-136649-1tgczdn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/230046/original/file-20180731-136649-1tgczdn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/230046/original/file-20180731-136649-1tgczdn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/230046/original/file-20180731-136649-1tgczdn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/230046/original/file-20180731-136649-1tgczdn.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">Gallium melts at 30°C.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/gallium-melting-on-hand-565716535?src=kDcNtDjGfLP7BHs2fU_X6g-1-0">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Gallium</h2>
<p>Gallium is a strange element. In its metallic form, it can melt on a hot day (above 30°C). But when combined with arsenic to make gallium arsenide, it creates a powerful high speed semiconductor used in the micro-electronics that make our phones so smart. With nitrogen (gallium nitride), it is used in low-energy lighting (LEDs) with the right colour (LEDs used to be just red or green before gallium nitride). Again, gallium is mainly produced as a byproduct of other metal mining, mostly for iron and zinc, but unlike those metals <a href="http://www.kitco.com/strategic-metals/">its price</a> has more than doubled since 2016 to £315 a kilogram in May 2018.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/230048/original/file-20180731-136655-1hldye4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/230048/original/file-20180731-136655-1hldye4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=412&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/230048/original/file-20180731-136655-1hldye4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=412&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/230048/original/file-20180731-136655-1hldye4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=412&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/230048/original/file-20180731-136655-1hldye4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=518&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/230048/original/file-20180731-136655-1hldye4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=518&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/230048/original/file-20180731-136655-1hldye4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=518&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Indium is vital for making touch screens.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/closeup-man-pointing-finger-screen-blank-407623837?src=447Eaa17CTmsPL0MLC939Q-1-1">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Indium</h2>
<p>Indium is one of the rarer metallic elements on earth yet you probably look at some everyday as all flat and touch screens rely on a very thin layer of indium tin oxide. The element is obtained mostly as a byproduct of zinc mining and you might only get one gram of indium from 1,000 tonnes of ore.</p>
<p>Despite its rarity, it is still an essential part of electronic devices because there are currently no viable alternatives for creating touch screens. However, scientists hope the two-dimensional form of carbon known as graphene may <a href="https://theconversation.com/touch-screens-why-a-new-transparent-conducting-material-is-sorely-needed-34703">provide a solution</a>. After a major dip in 2015, <a href="http://www.kitco.com/strategic-metals/">the price</a> has now risen by 50% on 2016-17 levels to around £350 a kilogram, driven mainly by its use in flat screens.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/230047/original/file-20180731-136664-10gul3z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/230047/original/file-20180731-136664-10gul3z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/230047/original/file-20180731-136664-10gul3z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/230047/original/file-20180731-136664-10gul3z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/230047/original/file-20180731-136664-10gul3z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/230047/original/file-20180731-136664-10gul3z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/230047/original/file-20180731-136664-10gul3z.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">Tungsten ore mining has restarted in the UK.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/macro-shooting-natural-mineral-rock-specimen-1061154050?src=lBnmRxLkKShUQt7n0uAnFw-1-4">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Tungsten</h2>
<p>Tungsten is one of the heaviest elements, twice as dense as steel. We used to rely on it to light our homes, when old-style incandescent lightbulbs used a thin tungsten filament. But even though low-energy lighting solutions have all but eliminated tungsten lightbulbs, most of us will still use tungsten every day. Along with cobalt and neodymium, it’s what makes our phones vibrate. All three elements are used in the small but heavy mass that is spun by a motor inside our phones in order to create vibrations.</p>
<p>Tungsten combined with carbon also creates an extremely hard ceramic for cutting tools used in the machining of metal components in the aerospace, defence and automotive industries. It is used in wear-resistant parts in oil and gas extraction, mining and tunnel boring machines. Tungsten also goes in to making high performance steels.</p>
<p>Tungsten ore is one of the few minerals that are being newly mined in the UK, with a dormant tungsten-tin ore mine near Plymouth reopening in 2014. The mine has <a href="https://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/news/business/debt-ridden-plymouth-tungsten-mine-1840184">struggled financially</a> due to the volatile <a href="https://www.vitalmetals.com.au/metal-markets/tungsten/tungsten-price">global ore prices</a>. Prices dropped from 2014 to 2016 but have since recovered to early 2014 values giving some hope for the future of the mine.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/100838/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Hywel Jones 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>Electric cars and smartphones have created growing demand – and volatile prices – for once obscure metals.Hywel Jones, Principal Research Fellow - Ceramics, Sheffield Hallam UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/949802018-04-17T03:48:58Z2018-04-17T03:48:58ZNot so fast: why the electric vehicle revolution will bring problems of its own<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/214654/original/file-20180413-566-7ngvnq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Electric cars are taking over – but they really as green as they look?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://flic.kr/p/8MsDDB">Jack Amick / flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>After years of being derided as a joke by car manufacturers and the public, interest in electric vehicles has increased sharply as governments around the world move to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/jul/25/britain-to-ban-sale-of-all-diesel-and-petrol-cars-and-vans-from-2040">ban petrol and diesel cars</a>.</p>
<p>We have seen a tremendous rise in availability, <a href="https://electrek.co/2018/02/20/tesla-dominates-luxury-segment-europe-gas-powered-german-cars/">especially at the premium end of the market</a>, where Tesla is giving established brands a run for their money. Electric cars are likely to penetrate the rest of the market quickly too. Prices should be on par with conventional cars <a href="https://about.bnef.com/blog/electric-vehicles-to-be-35-of-global-new-car-sales-by-2040/">by 2025</a>. </p>
<p>Electric cars are praised as the answer to questions of <a href="https://www.eea.europa.eu/articles/the-electric-car-2014-a-green-transport-revolution-in-the-making">green and clean mobility</a>. But the overall sustainability of electric vehicles is far from clear. On closer examination, our entire transport paradigm may need to be rethought.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australias-electric-car-revolution-wont-happen-automatically-90442">Australia's 'electric car revolution' won't happen automatically</a>
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<p>Compared with combustion engines, electric transport has obvious advantages for emissions and human health. Transport is responsible for around <a href="http://science.sciencemag.org/content/350/6263/911.full">23% of energy-related carbon dioxide emissions globally</a>. This is expected to double by 2050. </p>
<p>Motor vehicles also put a burden on society, especially in urban environments where they are chiefly responsible for <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214140516304145">noise and air pollution</a>. Avoiding these issues is why electric vehicles are considered a <a href="https://enveurope.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/2190-4715-24-14">key technology</a> in cleaning up the transport sector. However, electric cars come with problems of their own.</p>
<h2>Dirt in the supply chain</h2>
<p>For one, electric vehicles have a concerning supply chain. Cobalt, a key component of the lithium-ion batteries in electric cars, is linked to reports of <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2017/09/the-dark-side-of-electric-cars-exploitative-labor-practices/">child labour</a>. The nickel used in those same batteries is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2017/aug/24/nickel-mining-hidden-environmental-cost-electric-cars-batteries">toxic to extract</a> from the ground. And there are environmental concerns and land use conflicts connected with lithium mining in countries like <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/tibetans-in-anguish-as-chinese-mines-pollute-their-sacred-grasslands/2016/12/25/bb6aad06-63bc-11e6-b4d8-33e931b5a26d_story.html?utm_term=.563bda3533d6">Tibet</a> and <a href="https://democracyctr.org/dc_2017/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/DClithiumfullreportenglish.pdf">Bolivia</a>. </p>
<p>The elements used in battery production are <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969713005858">finite and in limited supply</a>. This makes it <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jul/29/electric-cars-battery-manufacturing-cobalt-mining">impossible</a> to electrify all of the world’s transport with current battery technology. Meanwhile, there is still no environmentally safe way of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2017/aug/10/electric-cars-big-battery-waste-problem-lithium-recycling">recycling lithium-ion batteries</a>.</p>
<p>While electric cars produce no exhaust, there is concern about <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780128117705000121">fine particle emissions</a>. Electric cars are often heavier than conventional cars, and <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S135223101630187X">heavier vehicles are often accompanied by higher levels of non-exhaust emissions</a>. The large torque of electric vehicles further adds to the fine dust problem, as it causes greater tyre wear and dispersion of dust particles.</p>
<h2>Different motor, same problem</h2>
<p>Electric vehicles share many other issues with conventional cars too. Both require roads, parking areas and other infrastructure, which is especially a problem in cities. Roads divide communities and make <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214140516304145">access to essential services</a> difficult for those without cars. </p>
<p>A shift in people’s reliance on combustion cars to electric cars also does little to address sedentary urban lifestyles, as it perpetuates our <a href="https://academic.oup.com/jpubhealth/article/33/2/160/1591440">lack of physical activity</a>. </p>
<p>Other problems relate to congestion. In Australia, the avoidable social cost of traffic congestion in 2015 was estimated at <a href="https://bitre.gov.au/publications/2015/files/is_074.pdf">A$16.5 billion</a>. This is expected to increase by 2% every year until 2030. Given trends in population growth and urbanisation <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214140516304145#bib107">globally</a> and <a href="https://infrastructure.gov.au/infrastructure/pab/soac/index.aspx">in Australia</a>, electric cars – despite obvious advantages over fossil fuels – are unlikely to solve urban mobility and infrastructure-related problems.</p>
<p>Technology or regulation may solve these technical and environmental headaches. Improvements in recycling, innovation, and the greening of battery factories can go a long way towards reducing the impacts of battery production. Certification schemes, such as the one proposed in <a href="https://www.copenhageneconomics.com/publications/publication/critical-metal-value-chains-deep-dive-into-barriers-and-policies-for-a-battery-value-chain">Sweden</a>, could help deliver low-impact battery value chains and avoid conflict minerals and human rights violations in the industry. </p>
<h2>A new transport paradigm</h2>
<p>Yet, while climate change concerns alone seem to warrant a speedy transition towards electric mobility, it may prove to be merely a transition technology. Electric cars will do little for urban mobility and liveability in the years to come. Established car makers such as Porsche are working on new modes of transportation, especially for congested and growing markets such as China. </p>
<p>Nevertheless, their vision is still one of <a href="https://www.porscheengineering.com/filestore/download/peg/en/pemagazin-02-2015-artikel-06/default/006e5a5e-bdd7-11e5-8bd4-0019999cd470/Future-Mobility-Concepts%2C-Digitization-and-Driving-Pleasure-Interview-with-Dirk-Lappe-Porsche-Engineering-Magazine-02-2015.pdf">personal vehicles</a> – relying on electric cars coupled with smart traffic guidance systems to avoid urban road congestion. Instead of having fewer cars, <a href="https://amp.theguardian.com/environment/2017/oct/16/our-cities-need-fewer-cars-not-cleaner-cars-electric-green-transport">as called for by transport experts</a>, car makers continue to promote individualised transport, albeit a greener version.</p>
<p>With a growing population, a paradigm shift in transport may be needed – one that looks to urban design to solve transportation problems.</p>
<p>In Copenhagen, for example, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/nov/30/cycling-revolution-bikes-outnumber-cars-first-time-copenhagen-denmark">bikes now outnumber cars</a> in the city’s centre, which is primed to be car-free within the next ten years. Many other cities, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/cities-going-car-free-2017-2/?r=AU&IR=T/#oslo-will-implement-its-car-ban-by-2019-1">including Oslo in Norway and Chengdu in China</a>, are also on their way to being free of cars. </p>
<p>Experts are already devising new ways to design cities. They combine efficient public transport, as found in <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/may/26/curitiba-brazil-brt-transport-revolution-history-cities-50-buildings">Curitiba, Brazil</a>, with principles of walkability, as seen in <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?id=G5lODwAAQBAJ&pg=PA58&lpg=PA58&dq=walkability+Vauban&source=bl&ots=ebamFe93Mi&sig=kkAXIbQ-NnpOx9Oa9qqyCwRIIm0&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiTvsToga_aAhVPv5QKHbsVAW4Q6AEIcTAL#v=onepage&q=walkability%20Vauban&f=false">Vauben, Germany</a>. They feature mixed-use, mixed-income and transit-oriented developments, as seen in places like <a href="https://communityinnovation.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/gccframingpaper_final.pdf?width=1200&height=800&iframe=true">Fruitvale Village in Oakland, California</a>. </p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/designing-suburbs-to-cut-car-use-closes-gaps-in-health-and-wealth-83961">Designing suburbs to cut car use closes gaps in health and wealth</a>
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<p>These developments don’t just address transport-related environmental problems. They enhance liveability by <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S187734351730221X">reclaiming urban space for green developments</a>. They reduce the cost of living by cutting commuting cost and time. They deliver <a href="https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/pdf/10.2105/AJPH.93.9.1446">health benefits</a>, thanks to reduced pollution and more active lifestyles. They <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08111146.2015.1118374">improve social cohesion</a>, by fostering human interaction in urban streetscapes, and help to <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264275115300159">reduce crime</a>. And of course, they improve <a href="https://www.greenbiz.com/article/how-sustainable-cities-can-drive-business-growth">economic performance</a> by reducing the loss of productivity caused by congestion.</p>
<p>Electric cars are a quick-to-deploy technology fix that helps tackle climate change and improve urban air quality – at least to a point. But the sustainability endgame is to eliminate many of our daily travel needs altogether through smart design, while improving the parts of our lives we lost sight of during our decades-long dependence on cars.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/94980/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>A/Prof. Martin Brueckner 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>Electric cars might be a quick fix to clean up transport, but the problems with cars go beyond just emissions.A/Prof. Martin Brueckner, Senior Lecturer in Sustainability, Murdoch UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/901692018-02-15T17:56:24Z2018-02-15T17:56:24ZCharging ahead: how Australia is innovating in battery technology<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/205646/original/file-20180209-160250-o3e3m4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Since sodium is abundant, battery technology that uses it side-steps many of the issues associated with lithium batteries.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Paul Jones/UOW</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Lithium-ion remains the most widespread battery technology in use today, thanks to the fact that products that use it are both portable and rechargeable. It powers everything from your smartphone to the “<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-can-teslas-giant-south-australian-battery-achieve-80738">world’s biggest battery</a>” in South Australia. </p>
<p>Demand for batteries is <a href="https://www.flandersinvestmentandtrade.com/export/sites/trade/files/attachments/Invest%20in%20Chile%202017%20-%20lithium%20market.pdf">expected to accelerate</a> in coming decades with the <a href="https://www.iea.org/publications/freepublications/publication/GlobalEVOutlook2017.pdf">increase in deployment of electric vehicles</a> and the need to <a href="https://www.aemo.com.au/-/media/Files/Electricity/NEM/Planning_and_Forecasting/NEFR/2016/Projections-of-uptake-of-smallscale-systems.pdf">store energy generated from renewable sources</a>, such as <a href="https://www.cleanenergycouncil.org.au/policy-advocacy/reports/clean-energy-australia-report.html">solar photovoltaic panels</a>. But rising concerns about <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2017/11/industry-giants-fail-to-tackle-child-labour-allegations-in-cobalt-battery-supply-chains/">mining practices</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/politically-charged-do-you-know-where-your-batteries-come-from-80886">shortages in raw materials</a> for lithium-ion batteries – as well as <a href="https://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/ash/ash_programs/hazmat/aircarrier_info/media/battery_incident_chart.pdf">safety issues</a> – have led to a search for alternative technologies. </p>
<p>Many of these technologies aren’t being developed to replace lithium-ion batteries in portable devices, rather they’re looking to take the pressure off by providing alternatives for large-scale, stationary energy storage.</p>
<p>Australian companies and universities are leading the way in developing innovative solutions, but the path to commercial success has its challenges.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-month-in-teslas-sa-battery-is-surpassing-expectations-89770">A month in, Tesla's SA battery is surpassing expectations</a>
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<h2>Australian alternatives</h2>
<h3>Flow batteries</h3>
<p>In <a href="http://energystorage.org/energy-storage/storage-technology-comparisons/flow-batteries">flow batteries</a> the cathode and anode are liquids, rather than solid as in other batteries. The advantage of this is that the stored energy is directly related to the amount of liquid. That means if more energy is needed, bigger tanks can be easily fitted to the system. Also, flow batteries can be completely discharged without damage – a major advantage over other technologies.</p>
<p>ASX-listed battery technology company <a href="https://redflow.com/">Redflow</a> has been developing <a href="https://redflow.com/products/">zinc-bromine flow batteries</a> for residential and commercial energy storage. Meanwhile, <a href="https://www.vsunenergy.com.au/">VSUN Energy</a> is developing a vanadium-based flow battery for large-scale energy storage systems. </p>
<p>Flow batteries have been receiving considerable <a href="https://www.navigantresearch.com/research/navigant-research-leaderboard-non-lithium-ion-batteries-for-grid-storage">attention</a> and <a href="https://www.energy-storage.news/news/basf-among-investors-putting-us13m-into-flow-battery-maker-ess-inc">investment</a> due to their inherent technical and safety advantages. A <a href="https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/the-next-five-years-in-energy-storage-according-to-500-energy-professionals">recent survey</a> of 500 energy professionals saw 46% of respondents predict flow battery technology will soon become the dominant utility-scale battery energy storage method. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/206471/original/file-20180215-124896-11t1ma9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/206471/original/file-20180215-124896-11t1ma9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=512&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206471/original/file-20180215-124896-11t1ma9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=512&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206471/original/file-20180215-124896-11t1ma9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=512&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206471/original/file-20180215-124896-11t1ma9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=644&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206471/original/file-20180215-124896-11t1ma9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=644&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206471/original/file-20180215-124896-11t1ma9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=644&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Redflow ZBM2 zinc-bromine flow battery cell.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">from Redflow</span></span>
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</figure>
<h3>Ultrabatteries</h3>
<p>Lead-acid batteries were <a href="https://theconversation.com/charged-up-the-history-and-development-of-batteries-40372">invented in 1859</a> and have been the backbone of energy storage applications ever since. One major disadvantage of traditional lead-acid batteries is the faster they are discharged, the less energy they can supply. Additionally, the lifetime of lead-acid batteries <a href="https://batterytestcentre.com.au/project/lead-acid/">significantly decreases</a> the lower they are discharged.</p>
<p>Energy storage company <a href="https://www.ecoult.com/">Ecoult</a> has been formed around CSIRO-developed Ultrabattery technology – the combination of a lead-acid battery and a carbon ultracapacitor. One key advantage of this technology is that it is highly sustainable – essentially all components in the battery are recyclable. Ultrabatteries also address the issue of <a href="https://www.solarchoice.net.au/blog/ecoult-ultrabattery-lead-carbon-lithium-ion">rate-dependent energy capacity</a>, taking advantage of the ultracapacitor characteristics to allow high discharge (and charge) rates.</p>
<p>These batteries are showing excellent performance in <a href="http://www.pjm.com/%7E/media/Images/ctc-display/modules/pilots/ecoult/ecoult-pjm-regulation-services-overview.ashx">grid-scale</a> applications. Ecoult has also recently <a href="http://www.afr.com/technology/leadacid-battery-developer-ecoult-to-expand-into-india-20170212-gubbyl">received funding</a> to expand to South Asia and beyond.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/206466/original/file-20180215-124918-x624hd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/206466/original/file-20180215-124918-x624hd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=179&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206466/original/file-20180215-124918-x624hd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=179&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206466/original/file-20180215-124918-x624hd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=179&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206466/original/file-20180215-124918-x624hd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=225&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206466/original/file-20180215-124918-x624hd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=225&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206466/original/file-20180215-124918-x624hd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=225&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">Ecoult Ultrabatteries photographed during installation on site.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.ecoult.com</span></span>
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</figure>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/politically-charged-do-you-know-where-your-batteries-come-from-80886">Politically charged: do you know where your batteries come from?</a>
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<h3>Repurposed storage solutions</h3>
<p>Rechargeable batteries are considered to have reached their “end of life” when they can only be charged to 80% of their initial capacity. This makes sense for portable applications – a Tesla Model S would have a range of 341 km compared to the <a href="https://www.tesla.com/en_AU/blog/driving-range-model-s-family">original 426 km</a>. However, these batteries can still be used where reduced capacity is acceptable. </p>
<p>Startup <a href="http://www.relectrify.com/">Relectrify</a> has developed a <a href="https://arena.gov.au/blog/relectrify/">battery management system</a> that allows end of life electric vehicle batteries to be used in residential energy storage. This provides a solution to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2017/aug/10/electric-cars-big-battery-waste-problem-lithium-recycling">mounting concerns</a> about the disposal of lithium-ion batteries, and reports that <a href="http://www.foeeurope.org/sites/default/files/publications/13_factsheet-lithium-gb.pdf">less than 5% of lithium-ion batteries in Europe are being recycled</a>. Relectrify has recently secured a <a href="https://www.cefc.com.au/case-studies/relectrify-technology-brings-new-life-to-old-lithium-ion-batteries.aspx">A$1.5m investment in the company</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/206503/original/file-20180215-124893-lnqg2a.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/206503/original/file-20180215-124893-lnqg2a.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206503/original/file-20180215-124893-lnqg2a.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206503/original/file-20180215-124893-lnqg2a.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206503/original/file-20180215-124893-lnqg2a.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206503/original/file-20180215-124893-lnqg2a.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206503/original/file-20180215-124893-lnqg2a.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">Relectrify’s smart battery management system.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">from Relectrify</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h3>Thermal energy storage</h3>
<p>Energy can be stored in many forms – including as <a href="https://www.seas.ucla.edu/%7Epilon/EES.html">electrochemical</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/want-energy-storage-here-are-22-000-sites-for-pumped-hydro-across-australia-84275">gravitational</a>, and <a href="https://www.irena.org/DocumentDownloads/Publications/IRENA-ETSAP%20Tech%20Brief%20E17%20Thermal%20Energy%20Storage.pdf">thermal</a> energy. Thermal energy storage can be a highly efficient process, particularly when the sun is the energy source. </p>
<p>Renewable energy technology company <a href="http://www.vastsolar.com/">Vast Solar</a> has developed a thermal energy storage solution based on concentrated solar power (CSP). This technology gained attention in Australia with the announcement of the <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-08-14/solar-thermal-power-plant-announcement-for-port-augusta/8804628">world’s largest CSP facility to be built in Port Augusta</a>. CSP <a href="http://solareis.anl.gov/guide/solar/csp/">combines both energy generation and storage technologies</a> to provide a <a href="http://www.astri.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/34-ASTRI_2015_Symposium-VastSolar-Want.pdf">complete and efficient</a> solution.</p>
<p><a href="http://1414degrees.com.au/">1414 degrees</a> is developing a technology for large-scale applications that stores energy as heat in molten silicon. This technology has the potential to demonstrate <a href="https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/1414-degrees-says-it-will-make-lithium-ion-totally-uneconomic#gs.SoY9Tm0">very high energy densities</a> and efficiencies in applications where both heat and electricity are required. For example, in manufacturing facilities and shopping centres.</p>
<h2>Research and development</h2>
<h3>Sodium-ion batteries</h3>
<p>At the <a href="https://www.uow.edu.au/index.html">University of Wollongong</a> I’m part of the team heading the Smart Sodium Storage Solution <a href="https://arena.gov.au/projects/smart-sodium-storage-system-for-renewable-energy-storage/">(S<sup>4</sup>) Project</a>. It’s a A$10.5 million project to develop sodium-ion batteries for renewable energy storage. This <a href="https://arena.gov.au/">ARENA-funded</a> project builds upon previous research undertaken at the University of Wollongong and involves three key battery manufacturing companies in China.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"929118314097360897"}"></div></p>
<p>We’ve selected the sodium-ion chemistry for the S<sup>4</sup> project because it sidesteps many of the raw materials issues associated with lithium-ion batteries. One of the main materials we use to manufacture our batteries is sodium chloride – better known as “table salt” – which is not only abundant, but also cheap.</p>
<p>We’ll be demonstrating the sodium-ion batteries in a residential application at University of Wollongong’s <a href="http://www.illawarraflame.com.au/house.php">Illawarra Flame House</a> and in an industrial application at Sydney Water’s Bondi Sewage Pumping Station. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/205654/original/file-20180209-51716-9dxfe2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/205654/original/file-20180209-51716-9dxfe2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=229&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/205654/original/file-20180209-51716-9dxfe2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=229&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/205654/original/file-20180209-51716-9dxfe2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=229&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/205654/original/file-20180209-51716-9dxfe2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=288&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/205654/original/file-20180209-51716-9dxfe2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=288&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/205654/original/file-20180209-51716-9dxfe2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=288&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sydney’s iconic Bondi Beach – the location for the demonstration of sodium-ion batteries.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Paul Jones/UOW</span></span>
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</figure>
<h3>Gel-based zinc-bromine batteries</h3>
<p><a href="http://www.gelion.com/">Gelion</a>, a spin-off company from the University of Sydney, is developing gel-based <a href="http://www.gelion.com/gelion-platform/">zinc-bromine batteries</a> – similar to the Redflow battery technology. They are designed for use in <a href="https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/news/2016/04/13/-11m-uk-investment-in-nano-start-up-boon-for-eco-energy.html">residential and commercial applications</a>. </p>
<p>The Gelion technology is claimed to have performance comparable with lithium-ion batteries, and the company has attracted <a href="http://www.afr.com/leadership/entrepreneur/sydney-uni-chemist-thomas-maschmeyer-raises-21m-in-two-months-20160527-gp5h4l">significant funding</a> to develop its product. Gelion is still in the early stages of commercialisation, however plans are in place for large-scale manufacturing by 2019.</p>
<h2>Challenges facing alternatives</h2>
<p>While this paints a picture of a vibrant landscape of exciting new technologies, the path to commercialisation is challenging. </p>
<p>Not only does the product have to be designed and developed, but so does the manufacturing process, production facility and entire supply chain – <a href="http://www.australianmanufacturing.com.au/44960/redflow-to-move-manufacturing-operations-from-mexico-to-asia">which can cause issues bringing a product to market</a>. Lithium-ion batteries have a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1369702114004118">25 year</a> headstart in these areas. Combine that with the consumer familiarity with lithium-ion, and it’s difficult for alternative technologies to gain traction.</p>
<p>One way of mitigating these issues is to piggyback on established manufacturing and supply chain processes. That’s what we’re doing with the S<sup>4</sup> Project: leveraging the manufacturing processes and production techniques developed for lithium-ion batteries to produce sodium-ion batteries. Similarly, Ecoult is drawing upon decades of lead-acid battery manufacturing expertise to produce its Ultrabattery product.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-make-batteries-that-last-almost-forever-79750">How to make batteries that last (almost) forever</a>
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<p>Some challenges, however, are intrinsic to the particular technology. </p>
<p>For example, Relectrify does not have control over the quality or history of the cells it uses for their energy storage – making it difficult to produce a consistent product. Likewise, 1414 degrees have <a href="https://www.engineersaustralia.org.au/News/tess-disrupt-intermediary-energy-storage-market">engineering challenges</a> working with very high temperatures. </p>
<p>Forecasts by <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nenergy2017125">academics</a>, <a href="http://www.aemc.gov.au/Major-Pages/Integration-of-storage/Documents/CSIRIO-Future-Trends-Report-2015.aspx">government officials</a>, <a href="https://about.bnef.com/blog/global-storage-market-double-six-times-2030/">investors</a> and <a href="https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/breakthrough-energy-ventures-investment-strategy#gs.8lbgNFw">tech billionaires</a> all point to an explosion in the future demand for energy storage. While lithium-ion batteries will continue to play a large part, it is likely these innovative Australian technologies will become critical in ensuring energy demands are met.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/90169/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jonathan Knott 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>Demand for energy storage is increasing – both in Australia and around the world. But issues with the production of lithium-ion batteries mean the search is on for alternatives.Jonathan Knott, Associate Research Fellow in Battery R&D, University of WollongongLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.