How Polymetallic Nodules May be Better For the Future of Our Planet
As the demand for electric vehicles increases, so does the demand for raw materials such as lithium, cobalt, nickel, and copper. Problematically, these materials are extracted in a way that poses a threat to both the environment and human rights. The Dominican Republic of Congo (DRC) is the leading extractor for cobalt where it is estimated that 40,000 children are put to work in the cobalt mines. Lithium mining is very water-intensive, which has led to an increase in soil contamination in Chile. While, in Indonesia, nickel mining has led to a significant disruption to the natural habitat through deforestation, releasing tons of carbon into the atmosphere. Not only are these materials polluting the land, but also our oceans; copper and nickel create large amounts of waste from ore extraction called tailings. Tailings are either stored behind large dams, cleaned to be put back into the mines, or dumped into the ocean. Studies have shown that when nickel ore is released into the ocean it can cause damage to coral reefs within four days. Yet, there is some good news! Because of the pressure for sustainable mining efforts for EV batteries, Tesla submitted an environmental proposal to the Indonesian government to mine their nickel in an environmentally sensitive way. In the last month, the Indonesian government has decided that they will not permit any new mining projects to dump their waste into the ocean. This is a big win. My hope is that all land mining, with the pressure of companies and governments, will become more environmentally responsible. Despite this possibility, they are still large polluters that are destroying the environment and human lives. Yet, there is another more sustainable option to land mining that is underway: deep-sea mining through polymetallic nodule collection.
DeepGreen Metals is a company that aims to collect deep-sea polymetallic nodules to be used in EV batteries and other battery storage technologies. Deep-sea polymetallic nodules are rocks about the size of small potatoes, composed of the exact materials that are needed to make EV batteries, cobalt, copper, nickel, and magnesium. These rocks are scattered on the ocean floor in the Clarion Clipperton Zone (CCZ) which is located between Hawaii and Mexico. Researchers have found that the polymetallic nodules could create one billion EV batteries with up to 11.6 fewer gigatons of CO2 emissions than land mining. No local communities are directly impacted from deep-sea mining, while also providing safe and profitable jobs for people internationally. Deep-sea mining seems like the mining of the future and is a solution to the harsh environmental impacts of ore extraction on land. Yet, there are still some tangible environmental impacts that deep-sea mining has and is being addressed and studied by DeepGreen Metals.
A glimpse of some of the many organisms (rattail fish, red shrimp, and amphipods) that dwell in the CCZ deep sea. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-06771-w
The downside of deep-sea mining is the negative impacts that it might have on deep-sea organisms. The polymetallic nodules and the surrounding area are inhabited by many deep-sea creatures, some of which are very rare and have never been discovered. From what little studies have been conducted on the effects of nodule collecting, they reveal that removing the nodules and dislodging the sediment under the nodules will irreversibly harm the sea creatures and can take decades for their population to recover. Most of these organisms consume dead large sea mammals that fall to the seafloor, and without their presence, there may be unintentional consequences to the rest of the marine ecosystem. Although, land mining also negatively affects animal biodiversity, since it requires clearing forests and polluting water sources creating uninhabitable areas for animals to live. Because of the potential harm that polymetallic nodule collection may have on deep-sea organisms, DeepGreen has worked with biologists and the International Seabed Association (ISA) to take samples from the deep seafloor to map and categorize the different organisms that are living on and around the nodules. They are also modeling the sediment plumes that are created from the nodule harvester to reduce the impact it might have on the organisms living in the sediment. Also, not all of the nodules in the CCZ will be extracted, about 30–50% of the area will be left free from mining and 15% of the nodules will be left in the areas that are harvested. What about the impact that EV batteries have on the environment after they are used? DeepGreen aims to secure custody of their metals so that they can be recycled and reused again after the battery’s life is done.
There are pros and cons to collecting polymetallic nodules, but it seems that we will have to decide soon as we move from our dependency on fossil fuels. Land mining has been polluting our air, water, and soil for too long and soon these mines will run out and be left as a reminder of all that we have taken from the earth. There is no way to live on this planet without an impact, but we can choose how small we want our impact to be. The future may not look like all of us having our own electric vehicle, but maybe more electric public transportation so we can make less material and share the resources that we have left in a responsible way. Whatever happens, it is important to pressure companies and governments to continue to make environmentally responsible choices and to consider how our technologies are made and what impacts they have on our environment.
Works Cited
DeepGreen. “Our Story.” Accessed February 13, 2021. https://deep.green/journey/.