🔋 To make a shift toward renewable energy, the world will need to produce the raw goods that make these technologies possible.
But massively increasing production of these minerals may cause more problems than it solves, @ianjmorse writes. 👇
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It seems like a simple solution: Develop products (like electric vehicles) that make it easy to switch energy to clean electrons.
But balancing the need for a clean-energy grid and fewer fossil-fuel cars with the harms of mining is tricky.
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Mines are capital-intensive, risky, and a major source of greenhouse gasses.
Mineral processing predominantly depends on fossil-fuel combustion to shape molten rock, and the process is difficult to decarbonize.
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Plus, mines can cause damage to the communities and ecosystems where they are built.
They displace people and forests, and exposed land can pollute waters and cause dramatic flooding.
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US politicians have carried mining into the climate conversation in a bipartisan agreement to boost the industry.
But these debates are largely dominated by people with a vested interest in driving as much demand as possible.
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Electric-car companies loom large in scientific studies and media debates on climate, and some mining companies have branded themselves as climate saviors, encouraged by financial institutions and consultancies.
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Electric vehicles are crucial to the energy transition and far better than gas-guzzlers, but they are just one piece of a much larger climate puzzle, Morse writes.
Moving the spotlight aways from EVs and mining doesn't leave us without options.
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Vehicle-sharing schemes, plant-based diets, and taxes on large cars not only reduce emissions quickly but also can lead to less demand for raw materials.
A strict carbon price could push companies to shrink fossil-fuel-based supply chains.
businessinsider.com/electric-cars-…
Not everyone agrees that recycling can play a role in climate policy, but some industry players predict that recycled minerals may make a dent in the need for newly mined minerals in a decade.
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These kinds of policies, in tandem with a targeted approach to the clean-energy transition, could save humans from disastrous warming more quickly than exclusively relying on mineral production, Morse says.
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Subscribe to @thisisinsider to read more from @ianjmorse about:
🔵 Why companies are facing backlash for new climate-branded mining projects
🔵 Why uncertainty in mineral-demand should raise questions
🔵 How recycling materials could help
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