Skip to main content
Home

Main navigation

  • Centers & Programs
    • Centers
      • Center for Energy Studies
      • Center for Health and Biosciences
      • Center for the Middle East
      • Center for Public Finance
      • Center for the U.S. and Mexico
      • McNair Center
      Center for Energy Studies
      Providing new insights on the role of economics, policy and regulation in the performance and evolution of energy markets.
      More Details
      The globe at night, lights in populated areas illuminated
      Center for Health and Biosciences
      Advancing data-based policies that promote health and well-being in the U.S. and around the world.
      More Details
      Female healthcare worker lifts finger to press digital buttons featuring topical iconography
      Edward P. Djerejian Center for the Middle East
      Developing pragmatic policy approaches to the region’s enduring political, economic and societal concerns.
      More Details
      Topographic map of Middle East
      Center for Public Finance
      Delivering research and analysis on the effects of major U.S. fiscal policies.
      More Details
      Stack of coins with mathematical figure overlays
      Center for the U.S. and Mexico
      Strengthening the binational relationship by addressing major concerns on both sides of the border.
      More Details
      Textured flags of America and Mexico
      McNair Center for Entrepreneurship and Economic Growth
      Providing actionable policy analysis and recommendations that aim to expand the economy through private enterprise.
      More Details
      Professionals gather around a large table with laptops, printed documents and coffee cups for a business meeting
    • Programs
      • China Studies
      • Drug Policy
      • International Economics
      • Presidential Elections
      • Religion & Public Policy
      • Science & Technology Policy
      • Space Policy
      China Studies
      Analyzing the influence of the transnational circulation of people, technologies, commodities and ideas in China.
      Read More
      Person walks alongside large banner with Chinese characters
      Drug Policy
      Pursuing research and open debate to develop pragmatic drug policies based on common sense and driven by human rights interests.
      Read More
      Marijuana
      International Economics
      Studying timely issues in global economic policy as well as developmental policy in foreign countries.
      Read More
      International paper currencies stacked together, showing range of colors and styles
      Presidential Elections
      Offering nonpartisan analysis of elections to better understand the changing dynamics of presidential campaigns.
      Read More
      An assortment of campaign buttons from a variety of US elections and political pursuits are displayed in a collage
      Religion and Public Policy
      Exploring how religion and cultural factors interact with public policy issues.
      Read More
      A worn path stretches between rows of olive trees
      Science and Technology Policy
      Addressing a broad range of policy issues that affect scientists and their research.
      Read More
      A scientist picks up test tubes from a rack.
      Space Policy
      Focusing on U.S. space policy and the future of space travel.
      Read More
      The International Space Station (ISS) orbits the Earth at sunrise
  • Events
    The front of Baker Hall, from across the plaza, with fountain in foreground
    Center for Health and Biosciences | Roundtable
    Tue, Feb. 07, 2023 | 4:30 pm - 5:30 pm
    Baker Briefing: Addressing the Maternal Mortality Crisis in Texas See Details
    Child at border plays in the dirt with superhero toy
    Center for the U.S. and Mexico
    Thu, Feb. 23, 2023 | 5 pm - 7:30 pm
    Immigration Reform and the Impact on Children: A Town Hall Discussion See Details
    Tile mosaic over an entrance to Baker Hall that reads "A Bridge Between the World of Ideas and the World of Action"
    Center for the U.S. and Mexico | Edward P. Djerejian Center for the Middle East
    Wed, Mar. 15, 2023 | 5:30 pm - 7:30 pm
    Charting Paths Forward on Immigration Reform See Details
  • Experts
    • Biomedical Research
    • Child Health
    • China
    • Conflict Resolution in the Middle East
    • Domestic Health Policy
    • Drug Policy
    • Energy
    • Entrepreneurship and Economic Growth
    • Global Health
    • Health and Biosciences
    • Human Rights and Refugees
    • International Economics
    • Islam and Politics
    • Latin American Energy
    • Middle East
    • Political Economy of the Arab Gulf
    • Presidential Elections
    • Public Finance
    • Religion and Public Policy
    • Science and Technology
    • Space Policy
    • Texas Politics
    • U.S. and Iran
    • U.S. and Mexico
    • See All Experts
    • Experts in the News
  • Support
    • Join the Baker Roundtable
      Join the Baker Roundtable
      Learn more about the Baker Institute’s membership forum, which supports the mission of the institute and offers members exclusive access to experts and events.
      Read More
      RT
    • Major Gifts
      Major Gifts
      Major gifts provide the funds necessary for the Baker Institute to explore new areas of study and research, and expand current programs.
      Read More
      Wallace S. Wilson meeting with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair
    • Endowments
      Endowments
      Endowment gifts provide the Baker Institute with permanent resources that support research programs, fellows and scholars.
      Read More
      Pictured from left are William Martin, Katharine Neill Harris, Ambassador Edward Djerejian, Alfred C. Glassell, III, and Pam Lindberg
    • Planned Giving
      Planned Giving

      Plan a gift that will ensure lasting, meaningful support for policy programs important to you.

       

      Read More
      meeting
    • Corporate Support
      Corporate Support
      Corporations can become involved with the institute in a number of ways and see the benefit from the research conducted by our fellows and scholars.
      Read More
      Wide shot of the Doré Commons during a Shell Distinguished Lecture Series event featuring Wim Thomas
  • About
    • People
      People
      Learn more about the Baker Institute's leadership and get contact information for the administrative staff.
      Read More
      Secretary James A. Baker, III, stands with a portion of the Berlin Wall, outside of Baker Hall
    • Student Opportunities
      Student Opportunities
      Through the internships on campus and beyond, Rice students can explore careers in public policy, or simply become better informed about important issues of the day.
      Read More
      Amb. Edward P. Djerejian speaks with students outside Baker Hall
    • Annual Report
    • Blog
    • Contact
      Contact Us
      Complete a form for event, media or other inquiries, and get directions and parking information for the Baker Institute.
      Read More
      The front of Baker Hall, from across the plaza, with fountain in foreground
  • Contact
  • Research
    • Economics & Finance
      Economics & Finance
      Read More
    • Energy
      Latest Energy Research
      Summary on Latest Energy Research
      Read More
    • Foreign Policy
      Foreign Policy
      Read More
    • Domestic Policy
      Domestic Policy
      Read More
    • Health & Science
      Health & Science
      Read More
    • All Publications
  • Facebook
  • Youtube
  • Twitter
  • Linkedin
  • Economics & Finance
  • Energy
  • Foreign Policy
  • Domestic Policy
  • Health & Science
  • All Publications
Center for Energy Studies | Energy, Minerals & Materials | Testimony

Critical Minerals Considerations for Energy Transitions

September 16, 2020 | Michelle Michot Foss

Table of Contents

Author(s)

Headshot of Michelle Michot Foss
Michelle Michot Foss
Fellow in Energy, Minerals and Materials
Read More

Share this Publication

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Email
  • Linkedin
  • Download PDF
  • Print This Publication

Tags

climate change

To access the full paper, download the PDF on the left-hand sidebar.

Summary

When it comes to the subject of this hearing, we can all agree that whatever we do, especially when we use scarce public resources (tax dollars and natural endowments), we would like outcomes to be a net improvement. I am to speaking to the role of critical minerals and the challenges associated with energy transitions along with consequences such as import dependency and the cluster of environment, social and governance (ESG) considerations. In my view, with regard to security and ESG, we need to look broadly across the energy landscape to ensure that “new energies” do not compromise gains achieved around legacy systems.

I can contribute several observations drawn from my written testimony.

  • First, minerals and materials “criticality” is in the eyes of the beholder. Criticality has many connotations. One is minerals occurrence – the distribution of natural resource endowments, with what types of geologies, with what relative abundance and proximity to markets, among other things. Between 1984 and 2018, for the global economy that was in place pre-pandemic, total tonnage output of non-fuel minerals increased more than 2.5 times. We know that demand will increase for alternative energy applications and that material requirements will be higher (a logical function of lower energy densities). The challenge is not just gross tonnage but also quality. For high performance end uses and applications, the quality of raw materials matters a great deal. A significant hurdle is access for development. Ownership, terms and conditions for exploitation, economic development and industrial infrastructure to support mining and minerals processing – a number of factors impact timing and cost to deliver raw and intermediate materials that we rely upon for every aspect of life.
    • In 2018, the U.S. constituted 12 percent of global non-fuel minerals production. We are tracking 41 minerals that are essential to both legacy and alternative energy technologies and systems including new battery chemistries and designs for improved energy storage and release, advanced solar, hydrogen fuel cells and wind. We are not the dominant producer of any of the 41 minerals on our watch list, and we are among the top 10 producers for only a few (mainly basic metals). Ranking does not matter given that we are a large consumer and thus demand more than our domestic supply chains can serve.
    • Work by the USGS NMIC, published earlier this year, provides at least one version of criticality by devising risk factors for 52 minerals of interest. Of these, 39 rank high for supply risk and import dependence,
  • Second, any conversation about energy choices should include security, for our nation, energy system and economy. Again, “security” can take many meanings. How we define security and the many complex interactions can influence attention to risks, uncertainties, mitigation and solutions.
    • Economic security can entail mitigation of price risk. In recent years, energy and non-fuel minerals commodities prices have converged, for many reasons but mainly because of interdependence – minerals are key inputs for energy production, from any technology and source, and energy is a key input for minerals production and processing. Both are vital for economic performance and linked to gross domestic product (GDP). Pressure on minerals prices impacts on the cost and affordability of energy, and vice versa.
    • Supply chain security is subject to myriad risks and uncertainties, about which we have been learning a great deal. Any industrial activity, including the provision of consumer products, involves many linked business segments. Requirements include supply of raw materials, shipping, transformation, distribution and end use. Numerous sources of risk and uncertainty, including natural hazards and “acts of God” can create supply chain disruptions. Supply chains for energy and minerals are large and dominate bulk shipping. For example, already, global shipments of lithium battery products for all end uses rival global shipments of traditional fuels in geographic extent. Behind global shipments of lithium batteries are global shipments of all of the raw material battery inputs. Supply chains for batteries and other components will continue to grow and increase in reach and complexity.
    • A third is environmental security. We also are concerned about supply chains to support end of life decommissioning, recycling and disposal and all of these entail ESG risks and uncertainties. For instance, we know a great deal about waste, capture, recycling and disposal in established energy systems. We know relatively little about waste in the alternative energy streams and concerns are growing about end of life treatment of alternative energy components. We believe that we can recapture and reuse battery materials but currently less than five percent of lithium battery product is recycled. These functions and their associated supply chains are opaque and not well documented. We know that “e-waste” is growing, probably exponentially, and we know that global e-waste shipments and supply chains are expanding rapidly.
    • If we add “climate” to environmental security, then we introduce a great deal more complexity. All industries, businesses, governments and even households are beginning to attempt to assess emissions. Emissions associated with life cycle processes for batteries and alternative energy applications are extremely difficult to ascertain. For example, global lithium battery manufacturing, including for electric vehicles (EVs), stands at roughly 740 gigawatt hours (GWh). Nearly 80 percent of this capacity resides in China, supported by nearly 3,000 coal-fired power plants, the backbone of China’s electric power grid. This means a potential output of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions that nearly equals all of those associated with the U.S. domestic oil and gas systems, based on U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates. We are starting to think about sulfur hexafluoride or SF6, an insulator for electric power switchgear. SF6 is a small contributor to global emissions but has stronger thermal properties and is expected to increase considerably with electrification.
    • Geopolitical security risk and uncertainty are prevalent across supply chains, including international sourcing and trade. We have geopolitical uncertainty within North America and political uncertainty across the states, a reflection of varying attitudes, laws and regulations. We have long experience with import dependency, and we are experiencing a reprieve for petroleum and natural gas. Given that our import dependence is high for both raw materials and alternative energy components (such as wind turbines and motors, solar photovoltaics or PV, and batteries for energy storage), a distinct tradeoff of a rapid shift away from our legacy energy systems is exposure to import dependency and associated geopolitical insecurities.
  • Third, there is growing attention to ESG risks specific to mining and minerals processing. Mining and minerals processing are, and can be, conducted safely and soundly with best practice and enforcement.
    • Many countries have “informal mining” sectors where best practice and safety are limited, at best. Some governments are moving to “formalize” their artisanal miners with notable examples in Chile and Democratic Republic of Congo. Exposure for multinational mining companies is yet to be determined.
    • International capacity for integrity and operating assurance need to expand. After the Vale tailings dam failure in Brazil, a distinct comment was that only 16 engineering groups worldwide are certified for tailings dam audits
    • Communities, especially indigenous groups, are a focus for risk and uncertainty assessment and mitigation. Many existing, new and frontier minerals projects are and will be located in or proximal to indigenous lands and communities. In the U.S., we have many hard lessons from permitting and licensing that can be vetted. Achieving “social license” is demanding and even the most diligent efforts are not always successful.

With colleagues at Missouri Science & Technology, we contributed a policy brief for the upcoming G20 meeting. That brief focused on mining and minerals for energy transition with five recommendations that I will share in closing.

  • Include non-fuel minerals in G20 discussions.
  • G20 members should fund research to develop a uniform mineral criticality index.
  • G20 member states should commit to promote transparency of critical minerals.
  • G20 members should engage relevant multilateral agencies to foster technical collaborations.
  • G20 members should commit to share best practices for extraction and recovery of critical minerals (an example is the Energy Resource Governance Initiative).

 

 

This material may be quoted or reproduced without prior permission, provided appropriate credit is given to the author and Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy. The views expressed herein are those of the individual author(s), and do not necessarily represent the views of Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy.

  • Print This Publication
  • Share
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Email
    • Linkedin

Related Research

PVC Pipes
Center for Energy Studies | Research Paper

Why Classifying PVC as Hazardous Waste Undermines America's Zero-Waste and Energy Transition Goals

Read More
Hydrogen
Center for Energy Studies | Working Paper

Developing a Robust Hydrogen Market in Texas

Read More
ME Map
Edward P. Djerejian Center for the Middle East | Center for Energy Studies | Policy Brief

Building Water and Energy Security in the GCC through an Integrated Policy Approach

Read More
  • Facebook
  • Youtube
  • Twitter
  • Linkedin
  • Donate Now
  • Media Inquiries
  • Membership
  • About the Institute
  • Rice.edu
Contact Us

6100 Main Street
Baker Hall MS-40, Suite 120
Houston, TX 77005

Email: bipp@rice.edu
Phone: 713-348-4683
Fax: 713-348-5993

Baker Institute Newsletter

The email newsletter of Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy provides a snapshot of institute news, research and upcoming events.

Sign Up

  • © Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy
  • Web Accessibility
  • Privacy Policy