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A vast transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy is crucial to slowing climate change. But building solar panels, wind turbines and other renewable energy infrastructure requires . If not done responsibly, this may damage species and ecosystems.
In , published today, we mapped the world鈥檚 potential mining areas and assessed how they overlap with biodiversity conservation sites.
We found renewable energy production will exacerbate the threat mining poses to biodiversity 鈥� the world鈥檚 variety of animals and plants. It鈥檚 fair to assume that in some places, the extraction of renewables minerals may cause more damage to nature than the climate change it averts.
Australia is well placed to become a leader in mining of renewable energy materials and drive the push to a low-carbon world. But we must act now to protect our biodiversity from being harmed in the process.
Mining to prevent climate change
Currently, of current global energy consumption is achieved through renewable energy. To further reduce greenhouse gas emissions, this proportion must rapidly increase.
Building new renewable energy infrastructure will involve mining minerals and metals. Some of these include:
- lithium, graphite and cobalt (mostly used in battery storage)
- zinc and titanium (used mostly for wind and geothermal energy)
- copper, nickle and aluminium (used in a range of renewable energy technologies).
The World Bank the production of such materials could increase by 500% by 2050. It says more than 3 billion tonnes of minerals and metals will be needed to build the wind, solar and geothermal power, and energy storage, needed to keep global warming below 2鈩� this century.
However, mining can seriously damage species and places. It , and can be harmed by the construction of transport infrastructure such as roads and railways.
What we found
We mapped areas around the world potentially affected by mining. Our analysis involved 62,381 pre-operational, operational, and closed mines targeting 40 different materials.
We found mining may influence about 50 million km虏 of Earth鈥檚 land surface (or 37%, excluding Antarctica). Some 82% of these areas contain materials needed for renewable energy production. Of this, 12% overlaps with protected areas, 7% with 鈥溾��, and 14% with remaining .
Our results suggest mining of renewable energy materials may increase in currently untouched and 鈥渂iodiverse鈥� places. These areas are considered to helping species overcome the challenges of climate change.
Threats here and abroad
to become a leading supplier of materials for renewable energy. We are also considered ecologically 鈥渕egadiverse鈥�.
Yet, many of the minerals needed for renewable energy exist in important conservation areas.
For example, Australia is rich in lithium and already accounts for . lithium mines operate in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.
This area has also been as a national biodiversity hotspot and is home to many native species. These include small marsupials such as the little red antechinus and the pebble-mound mouse, and reptiles including gecko and goanna species.
Australia is also in the world for deposits of rare earth elements, many of which are needed to produce magnets for wind turbines. We also have large resources of other renewables materials such as cobalt, manganese, tantalum, tungsten and zirconium.
It鈥檚 critical that mining doesn鈥檛 damage Australia鈥檚 already vulnerable biodiversity, and harm the natural places valued by people and other communities.
In many cases, renewables minerals are found in countries where the resource sector is not strongly regulated, posing an even greater environmental threat. For example, the world鈥檚 untouched lithium reserve exists in Bolivia鈥檚 Salar de Uyuni salt pan. This naturally diverse area is mostly by mining.
The renewables expansion will also require iron and steel. To date, mining for iron in Brazil has almost wiped out an entire , and recent devastated the environment and communities.
We need proactive planning
Strong planning and conservation action is needed to avoid, manage and prevent the harm mining causes to the environment. However global conservation efforts are often naive to the threats posed by significant growth in renewable energies.
Some protected areas around the world prevent mining, but more than 14% contain metal mines in or near their boundaries. Consequences for biodiversity may extend many kilometres from mining sites.
Meanwhile, other areas increasingly important for conservation are focused on the needs of biodiversity, and don鈥檛 consider the distribution of mineral resources and pressures to extract them. Conservation plans for these sites must involve strategies to manage the mining threat.
There is some good news. suggest many required materials occur outside protected areas and other conservation priorities. The challenge now is to identify which species are most at risk from current and future mining development, and develop strong policies to avoid their loss.
The map in this article has been updated, because due to a technical issue the previous version omitted some information.
, Lecturer in Environmental Management, ; , Professor, , and , Director - WH Bryan Mining and Geology Research Centre - The Sustainable Minerals Institute,
This article is republished from under a Creative Commons license. Read the .
Header image credit: Alex Eckermann / Unsplash
