Increased Mining Through the Energy Transition

🌱 How is the energy transition increasing mining?

The energy transition comes hand-in-hand with the exploration and extraction of transition minerals. Large quantities of minerals — including copper, lithium, and nickel — are needed for the production of solar panels, wind turbines, electric vehicles, and batteries.[i] All in all, it is estimated that the production of transition minerals needs to be scaled up to around 28 million tons annually to stay under the threshold of a 2°C increase in global temperatures.

🌱 Is more mining required for renewables than fossil fuels?

It is important to note that due to the lower energy efficiency of fossil fuels and the continuous material and energy input required for a fossil fuel infrastructure, a fossil fuel economy requires significantly (roughly 500 to 1000 times) more mining than a renewable energy economy does.[ii]

🌱 What benefits can mining bring?

If managed well, mining operations for the energy transition can “generate profits, employment, and economic growth in low-income countries”.[iii] They “can create jobs, spur innovation and bring investment and infrastructure”.

🌱 What risks can mining bring?

If the mining operations are managed poorly, they can “lead to environmental degradation, displaced populations, inequality and increased conflict”.[iv] This also holds true in the context of water. Wetland and river ecosystems can be degraded through mining. Contaminated water or water scarcity can displace populations. Moreover, poorly managed water can increase the levels of inequality and conflict within societies.

This post has been adapted from a newsletter written by Krisna Baghouzian and Christine Nikander. The newsletter titled “How does critical raw material mining impact river biodiversity?” was originally published in “The E-Waste Newsletter”.

[i] Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, “You can’t eat lithium”: Community consent and access to information in transition mineral mining exploration. https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/from-us/briefings/tmt-2021/you-cant-eat-lithium-community-consent-and-access-to-information-in-transition-mineral-mining-exploration-in-europe-and-north-america (21.08.2024); International Energy Agency, The Role of Critical Minerals in Clean Energy Transitions. https://www.iea.org/reports/the-role-of-critical-minerals-in-clean-energy-transitions (21.08.2024); World Bank Group, Climate-Smart Mining: Minerals for Climate Action. https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/extractiveindustries/brief/climate-smart-mining-minerals-for-climate-action; Dolf Gielen, Critical Materials For The Energy Transition, International Renewable Energy Agency Technical Paper 5/2021. https://www.irena.org/-/media/Irena/Files/Technical-papers/IRENA_Critical_Materials_2021.pdf?rev=e4a9bdcb93614c6c8087024270a2871d(21.08.2024). See also: https://www.theewastecolumn.com/post/how-does-the-mining-of-critical-raw-materials-impact-forests-and-their-biodiversity (27.02.2025).

[ii] International Energy Agency, Mineral requirements for clean energy transitions. https://www.iea.org/reports/the-role-of-critical-minerals-in-clean-energy-transitions/mineral-requirements-for-clean-energy-transitions (21.08.2024); Carly Leonida, Meeting the Sustainable Development Goals through mining. https://theintelligentminer.com/2023/01/19/meeting-the-sustainable-development-goals-through-mining/; Fair Cobalt Alliance, WEF23 - Mining is key to a Just Energy Transition. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/wef23-mining-key-just-energy-transition-fair-cobalt-alliance/?trackingId=TNmwTnUHTw2hNORNtkYpjg%3D%3D (21.08.2024); Hannah Ritchie, Mining quantities for low-carbon energy is hundreds to thousands of times lower than mining for fossil fuels. https://hannahritchie.substack.com/p/mining-low-carbon-vs-fossil (21.08.2024); Michael Thomas, A Fossil Fuel Economy Requires 535x More Mining Than a Clean Energy Economy. https://www.distilled.earth/p/a-fossil-fuel-economy-requires-535x (21.08.2024); Tobiah Palm, Zeldzame metalen ontdekt in Zweden. ‘Europa heeft meer mijnbouw nodig’. https://www.trouw.nl/duurzaamheid-economie/zeldzame-metalen-ontdekt-in-zweden-europa-heeft-meer-mijnbouw-nodig~b76e0051/ (21.08.2024). See also: https://www.theewastecolumn.com/post/how-does-the-mining-of-critical-raw-materials-impact-forests-and-their-biodiversity (27.02.2025).

[iii] Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment, Mining and the Sustainable Development Goals. https://ccsi.columbia.edu/content/mining-and-sustainable-development-goals (26.08.2024). See also: https://www.theewastecolumn.com/post/how-does-the-mining-of-critical-raw-materials-impact-forests-and-their-biodiversity (27.02.2025).

[iv] Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment, UNDP, UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, World Economic Forum, Mapping Mining to the Sustainable Development Goals: An Atlas. https://www.undp.org/sites/g/files/zskgke326/files/publications/Mapping_Mining_SDGs_An_Atlas_Executive_Summary_FINAL.pdf (26.08.2024). See also: https://www.theewastecolumn.com/post/how-does-the-mining-of-critical-raw-materials-impact-forests-and-their-biodiversity (27.02.2025).