Learning about the Impact of Batteries & Electricity Driving The Energy Transition: Episode 10
Direct use of electricity with storage in batteries is the most efficient use of energy. But batteries require critical minerals such as lithium and cobalt (Figure ET-11), and shifting from liquid fuels to electricity for transportation would require up to 30% more copper for power transmission.
The Bingham Canyon copper mine in Utah is largest human made excavation visible to the naked eye from outer space (Figure ET-12). Extraction of mineral resources has environmental and geopolitical impacts. Like all energy systems, renewable energy will also impact the planet due to the scale of our increasing energy demands.
Figure ET-11:
IEA (2021), The Role of Critical Minerals in Clean Energy Transitions, IEA, Paris
Figure ET-12: Bingham Canyon Mine, UTAH, visible from Space Shuttle. Copper content
of ore: 0.42% ; ;
NASA (2021)