New peer-reviewed study commissioned by DeepGreen finds making electric vehicle batteries from deep-sea rocks can dramatically reduce climate change impacts compared to land-based ores
Research shows up to 90% carbon footprint reduction for critical minerals for electric vehicle batteries when sourcing them from deep-sea polymetallic nodules compared to conventionally mined land oresPolymetallic nodules from the
The peer-reviewed study, published in the
Entitled 'Life Cycle Climate Change Impacts of Producing Battery Metals from Land Ores versus Deep-Sea Polymetallic Nodules', the paper starts with a demand scenario of producing four metals (nickel, cobalt, manganese, copper) to supply one billion 75KWh EV batteries with a cathode chemistry of NMC 811 (80% nickel, 10% manganese, 10% cobalt). It then compares the climate change impacts of supplying these four metals from two sources: conventional ores found on land and polymetallic rocks with high concentrations of four metals in a single ore, found unattached on the seafloor at 4-6 km depth.
"We wanted to assess how metal production using either land ores or polymetallic nodules can contribute to climate change. Looking from mining to processing and refining, we quantified three indicators for each ore type: direct and indirect carbon-dioxide-equivalent emissions, disturbance of existing sequestered-carbon stores, and disruption of future carbon-sequestration services. These three indicators directly impact the remaining global carbon budget to stay below 1.5C warming," said the study's lead author
The study found that producing battery metals from nodules can reduce active human emissions of CO2e by 70-75%, stored carbon at risk by 94% and disruption of carbon sequestration services by 88%. "Terrestrial miners are handicapped by challenges like falling ore grades, as lower concentrations of metal lead to greater requirements of energy, materials, and land area to produce the same amount of metal. Furthermore, the actual collection of nodules entails a relatively low energy, land, and waste footprint compared to a conventional mine. When it comes to emissions, even when we assume a complete phase-out of coal use from background electric grids for process inputs, our model shows that metal production from high-grade polymetallic nodules can still produce a 70% advantage," said Paulikas.
"What happens to carbon sinks on land and on the seafloor used for metal production is another big part of the climate impact story," said Dr
The researchers found that polymetallic nodules could deliver metals for one billion EV batteries with up to 11.6 Gt less of CO2e compared to terrestrial sources. This represents a significant potential saving given the remaining carbon budget of just 235 Gt for a 66% probability of staying at 1.5°C global warming.
"We hope this work motivates others to dive deeper into supply chain analysis for the clean energy transition, and specifically to pay attention to the impacts of producing critical minerals like the ones we studied," said Paulikas. "Given the expected 500% increase in mineral requirements for clean technologies, I think we have a shared responsibility to take a planetary view and think through all aspects of mineral production to ensure that this resource-intensive transition does not exacerbate climate change."
The researchers' focus on climate change impacts builds on a larger study, Where Should Metals For the Green Transition Come From?, that compares a range of social and environmental impacts and was commissioned by DeepGreen Metals, a company seeking to collect polymetallic rocks to supply electric vehicles under a blockchain-enabled system to rent and reuse battery materials.
"This peer-reviewed study shows the intrinsic benefits of seafloor rocks when it comes to climate change impacts. The resource itself gives us a significant head start on land miners, but being low carbon is not enough. We are working on taking carbon out of the atmosphere, not adding it," said
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