Seaver Wang of The Breakthrough Institute writes about the potential of deep sea mining.
- While deep sea mining may sound evil, it can be done with a smaller environmental footprint and fewer greenhouse gas emissions than traditional mining.
- Parts of the sea floor are rich in concentrations of manganese, nickel, copper, and cobalt, which are the exact minerals that needed to power EVs.
- Expanding clean energy generation will require an abundance of minerals which deep sea mining can provide.
- Societies should refrain from banning deep sea mining outright and allow the market to decide the feasibility of this form of resource extraction.
“In the end, the better question to ask is not whether humanity should collect deep-sea metals, but rather how. Before claiming that the cost of collecting nodules from the ocean floor is too high, researchers, activists, regulators, and companies should explore the degree to which operators can reduce impacts and define what obligations to hold industry accountable to. As such, calling for immediate moratoriums on deep-sea mining is not only premature, but a circumvention of constructive dialogue and negotiation.”
Read the full article here.
The views and opinions expressed are those of the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of C3.
