REE.bio | Critical Metals Biomining’s Post

Forget the politics, follow the money. #RenewableEnergy #NuclearEnergy #EnergyPolicy For seven decades, Australian exports have been largely primary-industry based. In the 1950s, wool and wheat were easy to sell. We also made a few cars for ourselves. By the 1970s, minerals were added to the mix, mainly iron ore and coal. In the 1990s the local car industry began its decline, while wheat, wool and rocks maintained their primacy. A few observations… Firstly, over those decades, technological changes have come that presented opportunities for this country’s industries, but which largely passed us by. Secondly, resources comprise around half of Australia’s export value, with coal running a close second to iron ore. Those exports compensated for the missed opportunities and smoothed out the boom/bust cycle to some degree. Maybe that’s one reason it’s been so tempting to rely on them. Thirdly, we’re now experiencing another of these once-in-a-generation technological paradigm shifts, this time in energy production. The world is beginning a move toward renewable power generation, at least where it’s practicable. Yet again, Australia is slow off the mark (at best) in this case due to political disagreement. This time, however, is different. We’re being left behind, and this is the big one. Why? 1. Australia is, as is often noted, in a unique position to develop these new technologies. This would provide local power generation, plus export opportunities for both the generation machinery and the technology itself when the whole world wants them. 2. The move to renewables means a move away from fossil fuels that have powered industry for most of two centuries and households for one. So, a proverbial double-whammy. We’ll miss out, not for the first time, on a long-lasting economic benefit, but the factor that has shielded us from this in the past will be gone. We should therefore be developing these technologies and industries now. It has nothing to do with politics; it’s purely to our economic advantage, an imperative in fact. The change is happening already, and if we miss it this time it may be decades before the next big technological advance. If history is a guide we may well let that one by also. Into this, the proposal to begin a nuclear industry has been introduced. Now, I have no doubt there will be situations where local nuclear generation is the practical method, in the same way that coal and refined oil are currently used in different places for different reasons. However, after missing out on a new export market and losing an old one, we’ll need to import these goods or the technology to manufacture them, remembering they’re yet to be invented! Even the minimum amount of development needed will be expensive. This country will require a world-leading export industry to offset this. It’s therefore ridiculous to base most of our energy future on nuclear generation. Again, it has nothing to do with politics; it’s a matter of money.

#EconomicSurvey | Geographic concentration and trade restrictions on critical and rare earth minerals is a "significant constraint" on use of renewables and EV ambitions. More details here ⏬ #NirmalaSitharaman #BudgetWithMC #EconomicSurvey2024

A seminal article on what it takes to transition from fossil based energy to green energy

Energy security in this century will require a reliable and sustainable supply of critical minerals. Our allies in the International Energy Agency (IEA) are essential to maintaining and expanding access to critical mineral supplies that will go on to power America's homes and industries with clean energy.

FutureCoal CEO Michelle Manook declared coal's critical importance for America's future at the Bluefield Coal Symposium in West Virginia. Michelle pointed to global examples, highlighting how countries like China and India are advancing coal emission abatement technologies to achieve economic growth and environmental sustainability. “They’re not debating whether they like coal or not. They like coal, and they’re committed to making it better. From their perspective, they use technology and everything available to address both economic and environmental benefits.” She stressed that the U.S. must leverage its innovations to make coal a central part of its energy security strategy, crucial for maintaining economic strength and energy independence. https://lnkd.in/edY3DcWg #coal #USA #SustainableCoal

#CriticalMinerals "U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm on Wednesday said the country is “very concerned” about China’s grip on the global supply chain for critical minerals. Her comments come amid skyrocketing demand for minerals and raw materials vital to the energy transition. The end use of metals such as nickel, copper, lithium and cobalt are wide-ranging and include electric vehicles, wind turbines and solar panels. China is the undisputed leader in the critical minerals supply chain, accounting for roughly 60% of the world’s production of rare earth minerals and materials. U.S. officials have previously warned that this poses a strategic challenge amid a pivot to low-carbon energy sources. “It’s one of the pieces of the supply chain that we’re very concerned about in the United States. We do not want to be over-reliant on countries whose values we may not share,” Granholm told CNBC’s Silvia Amaro on Wednesday when asked about China’s dominance as a critical minerals supplier. Speaking on the sidelines of International Energy Agency’s 2024 Ministerial Meeting in Paris, Granholm said the U.S. was in the process of updating its own regulations, including a 150-year-old mining law to ensure the “sustainable and efficient” extraction of critical minerals. “But it also means that we will be partnering with friends, like Australia, like Canada, and it’s one of the subjects that we are raising here at the International Energy Agency,” Granholm said. “We know all countries want to ensure that we have a critical stockpile of critical minerals and that we are allowed to diversify the supplies of those stockpiles. Both internationally and domestically, this is a focus of ours.” As part of a rapid uptick in demand for critical minerals, the IEA has warned that today’s supply falls short of what is needed to transform the energy sector. That’s because there is a relatively high geographical concentration of the production of many energy transition elements. Most rare earth reserves are located in China, for example, while Vietnam, Brazil and Russia are also major rare earths countries based on reserve volume. Asked how quickly the U.S. can boost cooperation and production to ensure it doesn’t lose out in the critical minerals race, Granholm replied: “Cooperation can be addressed quickly. Production in the United States will take a little bit longer.” “We feel very strongly though that both extraction and processing of those critical minerals have to be addressed, either by the United States or our allies. And that’s why we are working very closely to ensure that we have identified which raw materials [or] critical minerals we need to be able to do our transition to a clean energy economy.”"

Battery mineral sector's consent policies are falling short, Oxfam says The battery mineral sector's approach to free, prior, and informed consent is not sufficiently ready to support a just energy transition under current company policies, a recent Oxfam report concluded. Of at least 30 energy transition minerals and metals, more than half of the resources are located on or near lands of Indigenous communities, a study published in Nature Portfolio revealed. #lithium and #manganese have the highest proportion of reserves and resources on or near indigenous land, with 85% and 75%, respectively. https://lnkd.in/gssdEhm9 #energytransition #miningnews #batteryminerals