4 ms·

Bad data. The 28 million tons cited for clean energy is for processed minerals. But just a pound of cobalt could require literally mining tons of ore. The numbe

Bad data. The 28 million tons cited for clean energy is for processed minerals. But just a pound of cobalt could require literally mining tons of ore. The numbers are off by an order of magnitude.

legitster 3y ago
Furthermore, having now looked at the underlying report, I am even more skeptical. https://www.iea.org/reports/the-role-of-critical-minerals-in-clean-energy-transitions/mineral-requirements-for-clean-energy-transitions https://www.iea.org/reports/the-role-of-critical-minerals-in... Some of these 2040 scenarios are insanely optimistic - like global nickel and cobalt production more than doubling in a 10 year period! And nearly all of it reliant on China.
epistasis 3y ago
Bad example. Most cobalt is a byproduct of mining for nickel or copper, which are the primary metals. Any cobalt sales have been bonuses. What numbers do you estimate? I can't find a source that says that it takes a thousand pounds of mining to produce, say, a pound of iron. But nobody ever complains about steel needing to have mined minerals, and the amount of steel in an EV is several order of magnitude larger than the metals in the batteries.
- defrost 3y ago
  Pounds? What is this, Ye Olde Englande? just a year ago Fortescue removed 106.7 million tonnes of over burden while delivering 43.8 million tonnes of iron ore ... -- from: https://www.afr.com/companies/mining/fortescue-metals-group-sustains-output-growth-and-its-rage-20150723-giis63 https://www.afr.com/companies/mining/fortescue-metals-group-... Although iron ore is a poor example as current mining sites (W.Australia, elsewhere) are extracting from high density high grade sites so there is relatively little waste. The great issue with EV type tech is the amount of post processing of mined concentrates to extract usable materials - eg: you might want to look at the low level radioactive wastes and required long term storage that's a byproduct of lithium at Lynas sites in Malaysia. If you're (seriously) after current global mining data, try: https://www.spglobal.com/marketintelligence/en/campaigns/metals-mining https://www.spglobal.com/marketintelligence/en/campaigns/met... ( warning: everything is stored as metric, although there is likely the ability to convert to hogsheads and chains for the three or so non metric countries )

Bad data. The 28 million tons cited for clean energy is for processed minerals. But just a pound of cobalt could require literally mining tons of ore. The numbers are off by an order of magnitude.

legitster 3y ago

Furthermore, having now looked at the underlying report, I am even more skeptical. https://www.iea.org/reports/the-role-of-critical-minerals-in-clean-energy-transitions/mineral-requirements-for-clean-energy-transitions https://www.iea.org/reports/the-role-of-critical-minerals-in... Some of these 2040 scenarios are insanely optimistic - like global nickel and cobalt production more than doubling in a 10 year period! And nearly all of it reliant on China.

epistasis 3y ago

Bad example. Most cobalt is a byproduct of mining for nickel or copper, which are the primary metals. Any cobalt sales have been bonuses. What numbers do you estimate? I can't find a source that says that it takes a thousand pounds of mining to produce, say, a pound of iron. But nobody ever complains about steel needing to have mined minerals, and the amount of steel in an EV is several order of magnitude larger than the metals in the batteries.

defrost 3y ago
Pounds? What is this, Ye Olde Englande? just a year ago Fortescue removed 106.7 million tonnes of over burden while delivering 43.8 million tonnes of iron ore ... -- from: https://www.afr.com/companies/mining/fortescue-metals-group-sustains-output-growth-and-its-rage-20150723-giis63 https://www.afr.com/companies/mining/fortescue-metals-group-... Although iron ore is a poor example as current mining sites (W.Australia, elsewhere) are extracting from high density high grade sites so there is relatively little waste. The great issue with EV type tech is the amount of post processing of mined concentrates to extract usable materials - eg: you might want to look at the low level radioactive wastes and required long term storage that's a byproduct of lithium at Lynas sites in Malaysia. If you're (seriously) after current global mining data, try: https://www.spglobal.com/marketintelligence/en/campaigns/metals-mining https://www.spglobal.com/marketintelligence/en/campaigns/met... ( warning: everything is stored as metric, although there is likely the ability to convert to hogsheads and chains for the three or so non metric countries )