Top State official says clean energy fate hinges on securing supply of metals and minerals

SECURING CLEAN ENERGY SUPPLY CHAIN: The fate of the clean energy transition depends on dramatically increasing the extraction, refining, and processing of critical energy minerals, the State Department’s top energy official said Tuesday.

Francis Fannon, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for energy resources, co-hosted a virtual workshop with the International Renewable Energy Agency on the topic, which has been a chief focus of his, as well as an area of emphasis for Republicans.

Renewables will stand as the only energy source to grow in 2020, Fannon said, touting recent projections from the International Energy Agency.

“This is in large measure the result of a global and very much bottoms-up call for cleaner forms of energy,” Fannon said.

The problem: But the coronavirus has set back mining operations across the world, exposing the vulnerability of clean energy supply chains, he said, echoing warnings from the IEA.

Clean energy technologies such as electric vehicles, battery storage, solar cells, wind plants generally require more minerals than fossil fuel products.

The World Bank recently projected that the production of several energy minerals would need to increase more than 500% through 2050 in order to significantly deploy renewables.

“The conclusion is clear: the clean future will require very large shovels,” Fannon said.

The U.S. imports most of its minerals from countries such as China, Congo, and Chile.

Fannon warns that the largest reserves of metals and minerals for renewable technologies, such as lithium, cobalt, and nickel for batteries, are found in weak states with poor governance records. Congressional Republicans have sought to address this problem as well, with House GOP leaders introducing legislation last week to encourage U.S. production of critical minerals used in clean energy technologies to lessen reliance on China.

What State is doing about it: One year ago, the State Department launched the Energy Resource Governance Initiative, or ERGI, alongside Australia, Botswana, Canada, and Peru, that seeks to provide advice for countries on best practices for handling key energy minerals.

The State Department created an online toolkit that shows countries how to set up conditions to improve the safety of mining, which Fannon said Tuesday is “gaining traction” with several foreign governments.

“If we decide not to act, there are two outcomes: Either the world does not get the minerals it needs for the energy transition, or the technologies we deploy are tainted with labor abuses and predatory investments,” Fannon said.

Overcoming low oil prices: If the world can address these problems, Fannon said, the clean energy industry is poised to break the pattern of oil price crashes harming the prospects of alternatives.

“It seems that this precedent may have been broken,” Fannon said. “We have seen automotive companies double down on their electric futures, and some countries that plan to use recovery from the pandemic as a catalyst for an electric revolution.”

“Wealthy countries, financiers and global stakeholders must consider the provenance of the minerals supply chains that enable their clean policies,” he concluded.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/energy/daily-on-energy-top-state-official-says-clean-energy-fate-hinges-on-securing-supply-of-metals-and-minerals