The First International Academic Conference on the Sustainable Development Goals recently took place at Utah Valley University, representing a big push in the world's sustainable development efforts. This conference is one of many steps to a net zero world, where the amount of emissions the world puts out matches the amount we remove — a critical goal for a sustainable earth. We don't have a realistic roadmap to achieve it any time soon. However, one thing is certain: without the resources that only mining can provide, we will never accomplish net zero.
The Compelling Need For Electricity
The majority of carbon emissions come from the continuous generation of electricity. Most existing plants — coal, hydro, geothermal, natural gas, nuclear, and biofuels — work by heating water and creating steam, which turns a turbine to power a generator.
Electricity's impact on humanity has proven hard to quantify, but certainly the alternating current electrical system developed by Nikola Tesla led the way for improvements in our quality of life. Before this development, the average life expectancy in the U.S. was shockingly low—while incomplete records make it difficult to state with accuracy, historians agree that white male life expectancy was below 50 throughout the 19th century. By 1980, U.S. life expectancy had risen to 73.8 and the world's population had exploded. Not to mention, electricity allowed for computers and space exploration, technologies never before imagined. To say it was impactful would be an understatement.
Historically, reliable access to electricity has proven key to lifting people out of poverty. Electrification has vastly reduced human suffering here on earth. Still, we now realize the need to make sure this electricity is sustainable. And for that, we need to mine.
The Need For Mining
As of 2019, the world generated 27,000 terawatt hours of electricity:
• 75% from steam generation fueled by coal, oil, natural gas, nuclear, and biofuels
• 16% from hydroelectric power
• 5% from wind turbines
• 2% from solar panels
Generating, distributing, and using electricity requires a lot of natural resources. Metals like silver, copper, and gold are the best electrical conductors. While silver and gold are very efficient, they are considered precious metals, so we default to copper. However, modern applications require a lot of copper. The more electrified they are, the more copper they need:
• One internal combustion vehicle needs 50 pounds
• One fully electric vehicle needs 183 pounds
• One single-family home needs 439 pounds
• Offshore wind farms require 9.6 tons (subscription required) per megawatt of energy produced (onshore wind farms require 4.3 tons)
If these numbers sound large, that's because they are. When extrapolated to meet ambitious net zero goals, it becomes clear that we can't meet the increased need for copper. The world produces about 21 million metric tons of refined copper annually as of 2021. If we replaced the 1.45 billion existing vehicles in the world with electric versions, it would require 119 million metric tons of copper. If we allocated 25% of the current copper production currently used for transportation demand only for electrical cars it would take 192 years before we had enough to meet the demand. The math doesn't add up without increased mining, serious innovation, and implementation of the use of other fuels such as hydrogen.
Other technologies yet to be discovered will make additional demands on the world's mineral supply. For instance, theoretical battery grids that could support an entire city would require vast amounts of lithium and cobalt, which can be hazardous for humans if not managed properly—and have short life spans of 20 to 30 years. Plus, without batteries, we can't move more electricity production to wind, solar, and EVs.
Sustainable Mining And The Way To Net Zero
It's clear we need more metals to get to a net zero world, but what's not clear is how we get there. We know there are methods and technology that can help us extract minerals from the earth responsibly and sustainably; we just need to implement them.
There are a number of goals attached to a net zero concept. The UN has set 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs), which include things like no poverty, affordable and clean energy and sustainable cities and communities. The critical component of these goals is sustaining the quality of life enjoyed by the developed world while simultaneously improving the quality of life for populations in developing areas.
Mining can support most of the UN's 17 SDGs, but the mining industry needs to partner with the energy sector to innovate. Part of this involves technologies we currently have—but to reach the ambitious goals of the future, we'll need to innovate and push the envelope in developing new technologies for energy production. We must be smart, responsible and efficient in harvesting the ocean and mining the earth in pursuit of our goals.
How Can Industry Leaders Impact The Planet?
• Advocate for sustainability initiatives within the industry.
• Increase awareness by ensuring that the general public understands responsible mining's goal in our journey to net zero and can make informed consumer decisions.
• Continue implementing sustainability initiatives in your company, community and at home.
• Embrace future technologies that will impact sustainability and allow for safe mining practices, such as AI.
The Future Needs Electricity, And Electricity Needs Materials
We need electricity to continue to lift humanity out of poverty, but that can't happen without resources. Innovation and optimization must occur at every part of the life cycle chain, not just during resource extraction. Through improvements in design, manufacturing, processing, distribution, and even recycling, along with the use of advanced technologies like digitization, machine learning, and artificial intelligence, we can increase our capacity to improve everyone's quality of life sustainably. I believe this will not be possible without mining.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
