The coming cleantech mining rush
Business Daily
BBC
4.4 • 816 Ratings
🗓️ 26 November 2021
⏱️ 18 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Can the minerals needed to decarbonise the global economy be dug up fast enough? And can it be done without the human rights and environmental abuses of the past?
Tamasin Ford speaks to KC Michaels of the International Energy Agency says there will need to be a staggering increase in the amount of nickel, lithium, cobalt and rare earths being mined, in order to build all the batteries, wind turbines and solar panels needed. But mining consultant Dr Patience Mpofu says that the mines required can take anything up to 15 years to commission.
With many of these critical minerals concentrated in the developing world, the fear is that a rapid increase in global demand may outstrip the supply from the formal mining industry, with the gap filled by much less responsible mining operations. Emmanuel Umpula of the Congo-based NGO African Resources Watch fears a worsening of human rights abuses and pollution from such mines. But Mark Cutifani, chief executive of mining giant Anglo American, says the industry is working hard to ensure better standards of behaviour.
(Picture: South African miner; Credit: David Turnley/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello, I'm Tamerson Ford. Welcome to Business Daily from the BBC. As the planet moves away from fossil fuels, the focus now is on ramping up the mining of other minerals. |
| 0:12.6 | We would expect to see a four to six times increase in overall mineral requirements. For lithium, this is as much as 40 times higher. And for cobalt and nickel, |
| 0:21.8 | we're talking about 25 times higher. These minerals are crucial for the production of batteries, |
| 0:27.1 | solar panels and wind turbines, but they don't come without problems. If you come where they are |
| 0:32.8 | mining, you will find that people are poor. At the same time, companies are making billions and billions. |
| 0:40.0 | There will not be energy transition at the cost of people living in poverty. |
| 0:45.8 | In today's Business Daily from the BBC, |
| 0:48.1 | we ask whether the mining of minerals for the world to go green |
| 0:51.3 | can be done ethically and can it be done quickly enough. |
| 0:58.2 | Scaling down the world's reliance on fossil fuels is only half of the energy transition story. |
| 1:04.5 | The other half is the scaling up of the mining of the minerals needed to do this. |
| 1:09.8 | A total switch to renewable energy |
| 1:11.8 | means a massive increase in demand |
| 1:14.2 | for things like rare earth minerals |
| 1:16.5 | needed for solar panels and wind turbines. |
| 1:19.8 | Meanwhile, cobalt, lithium and nickel are vital for batteries. |
| 1:23.9 | And as the globe becomes more electrified, |
| 1:26.7 | copper is also going to be crucial. |
| 1:29.7 | Critical supply is very important. There's currently already a supply deficit for the critical minerals. |
| 1:38.8 | Dr Patience and Pofu is the founder of mining consultancy, Insight Mining Experts. |
| 1:44.6 | She's based in Sydney in Australia. |
| 1:47.0 | The key question is, how do you explore for these minerals |
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