The essential nature of mining

Rob KarpatiRob Karpati• The Blended Capital Group

‘Every year, about 15 billion tons of fossil fuels are mined and extracted. That’s about 535 times more mining than a clean energy economy would require in 2040.’

The #energytransition requires vast growth in #criticalminerals #mining. Stable supply of #copper, #cobalt, #nickel, #lithium and other critical minerals is essential for #energysecurity.

Some argue that massive increases in mining will cause so much harm that the energy transition doesn’t make sense.

Wrong.

The energy transition doesn’t just reduce carbon emissions that cause global warming, it will also reduces the massive amounts of coal, oil and natural gas that are being extracted today. Reduced #fossilfuel extraction will dwarf increases in critical mineral mining.

Obviously that doesn’t mean that mining can’t be improved significantly.

Do vulnerable communities in underdeveloped places get negatively impacted by mining projects? Do these projects sometimes contaminate the air, water and soil in their regions? Are there tens of millions of artisanal miners at the bottom of economic hierarchies, often working in deep poverty without safe dignified opportunities? Are there sad #humanrights abuses in places? Yes to all.

Ensuring #responsiblemining practices, where environmental oversight and community engagement are table stakes is essential. #asm formalization that dramatically shifts outcomes on dignity and productivity for the world’s 45 million artisanal miners is essential. Getting this right only adds benefits, remembering that critical minerals tonnage also replaces the exponentially larger tonnage of fossil fuels that are currently being extracted.

A Fossil Fuel Economy Requires 535x More Mining Than a Clean Energy Economy

Transitioning to clean energy would reduce the volume and harm of mining dramatically. Read the full post here.