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This week: Sustainable mining; PPA credit woes; Coke bottles made from old carpet.
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A nickel mining site in Sorowako, Indonesia. Photo: Dimas Ardian/Bloomberg
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Welcome back. The history of the mining industry is littered with environmental destruction, pollution and detrimental impacts on local populations. But the raw materials it provides—including nickel, cobalt and lithium—are crucial to the transition, particularly for electric vehicles. The global race to secure a supply of these critical materials is on, but can it be done sustainably?
A background conversation with one of the big global miners shattered my illusions. Their stark message: Recycling is the only green source because most deposits contain such low concentrations of metals and minerals that, while methods can be improved to minimize damage, recovering the materials will always be messy and destructive.
Most miners have been making efforts to clean up their practices. Some are even investing in recycling, but these aren’t likely to produce a meaningful supply any time soon.
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Eventually, the collection infrastructure, recovery processes and recycling facilities may be developed and scaled up to the task. There are plenty of old electronic devices cluttering up our drawers that could yield some metals, but it will take at least a decade or two for electric-vehicle batteries to be exhausted and become a sizable feedstock for recycling.
Until then, we have mining. This week’s Pro Take by Yusuf Khan on nickel lays out the challenge.
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Indonesia supplies about half the world’s nickel, a crucial input for EV batteries. Ford and Volkswagen are investing billions of dollars into the local supply chain as a low-cost source that they can directly control. But international conservation group WWF has raised serious questions about destruction of the country’s rainforests in pursuit of the metal.
Another option is to mine nickel from the seabed.
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Deep sea mining collector vehicle.
Photo: The Metals Company
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Proponents argue it is less destructive than Indonesian sources, but environmental groups worry about damage to the relatively untouched deep sea ecosystem. Companies have been backing away and a number of countries are now calling for an international ban on the practice before it has really gotten started.
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Russia also supplies nickel, but many westerners are wary of buying from the country after its forces invaded Ukraine. New Caledonia—a French island group in the Pacific—is another possible source, but there are concerns about environmental impact there too.
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One possible respite is that future nickel demand may end up being less than expected now, as battery-technology development continues to focus on cutting requirements for those metals and minerals which are expected to be expensive and in short supply.
Until there are significant developments in recycling, battery technologies, or both, there are tough trade-offs to be made in the transition.
✍️ Let me know what you think.
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Content from our Sponsor: DELOITTE |
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Sustainable Construction: Designing and Building a Greener Future |
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By defining a vision, developing a roadmap, and taking advantage of incentives, the engineering and construction sector can scale up sustainability solutions and reduce its massive carbon footprint. Keep Reading ›
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Zeroing In on the Data: PPAs Credit Woes
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Businesses with less than stellar credit ratings are struggling to sign long-term deals for wind and solar power in the U.S. and Europe, write Giulia Petroni and Dieter Holger. Corporate programs and government policies are stepping in to help buyers priced out of the market to cut greenhouse-gas emissions across supply chains.
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Coke Bottles Made From Old Carpet
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Photo: Gabby Jones for The Wall Street Journal
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Coca-Cola is trialing technology in Europe that turns hard-to-recycle plastic into new bottles, to help it meet its sustainability goals, writes Dieter Holger. Coke’s biggest European bottler is backing a new technology that makes food-grade plastic out of landfill-bound waste.
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We are conducting a survey on sustainability challenges that companies face. The survey results will be shared in June. Click here to participate and upon completion, you will receive a copy of our report, "Materiality Assessments: What Businesses Need to Know."
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Editor’s Note: Each week, we will share selections from WSJ Pro that provide insight and analysis we hope are useful to you. The stories are unlocked for The Wall Street Journal’s subscribers.
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Airfares will remain high. But travelers, take heart: Prices are about the same as they were 10 years ago.
It’s no longer easy to raise money for large private-equity funds. Some blue-chip buyout firms are struggling to meet lofty fundraising goals.
That new cybersecurity vendor also is feeling the pinch of uncertain economic conditions.
Laid-off software developers, data scientists and engineers, are being lured by startups. Perks include permanent remote- or hybrid-work, equity stakes and a chance to build something from ground up.
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What it means for fossil-fuel producers that the Supreme Court has sent climate cases against them back to the state courts. (New Yorker)
Software startup Octopus Energy has become one of Britain's largest clean power provider, one with global ambitions. (Canary)
How 3-D metal printing is being used to cut carbon footprints, as well as costs and delivery time. (Greenbiz)
The promise and problems of offshore wind. (MIT Climate Portal)
Bogatá's women-led electric-bus transport revolution. (Bloomberg)
Carbon dioxide-absorbing vending machines. (Bloomberg)
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