Believe it ore not, low-carbon energy rocks!

An issue that is commonly raised when discussing the net-zero energy transition is the huge increase in mining required to extract the materials needed to build new green infrastructure (including generation, transport, and storage of electrical energy, as well as electric vehicles). Does the negative environmental impact of all this new mining negate the positive one of the low-carbon world it will create?

That’s the question recently posed (and answered) by Oxford University data scientist Hannah Ritchie, author of the excellent stats blog Sustainability by Numbers.

According to Ritchie, while tens to potentially hundreds of millions of tonnes of minerals will need to be dug out of the earth by 2040 to achieve global net-zero emissions by 2050 (based on a report from the International Energy Agency), this pales in comparison to the approximately 15 billion tonnes of fossil fuels mined each year. Even when the amount of ore, or rock, that needs to be moved to extract these minerals (which are often present in rocks at very low concentrations) is taken into account, the total reduction in comparison to fossil fuel extraction is significant.

Of all the ingredients required for the low-carbon energy transition, those that are mined for electric vehicle batteries have arguably received the bulk of the negative press. Indeed Ritchie notes that, while the amount of mining needed for electricity production will reduce dramatically as we transition towards renewable sources such as solar and wind, demand for the minerals needed for batteries will increase and eventually overtake the accompanying reduced demand for oil. Thankfully, however, the total amount of mining required globally will still see a net reduction.

Even more positively, these forecasts are mainly based on current efficiencies of both mining processes and the production of the batteries themselves. There will undoubtedly be massive improvements to come in terms of the material efficiency of batteries (and energy infrastructure overall), and battery recycling processes, which will reduce demand even further.

One of my favourite things about being a patent attorney is being reminded every day that inventors are constantly working on solutions to problems that will improve our lives for the better. Many small incremental improvements to existing technologies add up to generate huge (and accelerating) technological progress overall.

Climate change is undeniably one of the greatest challenges currently facing humanity. At the same time, the improvements in global average standards of living that we have seen over the last century or more (enabled, in part, by increased energy production) should not be dismissed. Luckily, it looks like technology will come to our rescue once again, and enable decarbonisation without compromising quality of life. In other words, technology rocks!