CleanTechnica•21 days ago
Seabed Mining Meets Reality: What the Technoeconomic Evidence Shows
Key Takeaway
The technoeconomic challenges of seabed mining mean developers and large consumers should not rely on it as a future source of critical minerals for the energy transition, potentially impacting supply and costs for batteries, renewables, and grid infrastructure.
AI Summary
- •A technoeconomic assessment likely indicates significant cost and technical hurdles for seabed mining, challenging its viability as a large-scale, cost-effective source of critical minerals.
- •If seabed mining proves uneconomical, it reinforces reliance on terrestrial mining and recycling for materials like nickel, cobalt, and copper, potentially leading to higher prices and supply chain volatility for battery storage, EV, and renewable energy components.
- •The involvement of ocean protection groups suggests increasing regulatory scrutiny and potential for moratoriums, adding uncertainty and risk to any future seabed mining ventures and impacting long-term mineral supply strategies.
- •The assessment's findings are likely to deter new seabed mining project investments, shifting focus back to improving terrestrial extraction and recycling technologies for critical minerals.
Topics
datacenteremissionspolicysolarstoragetransmissionwind
Article Content
I was pleased to be asked to complete the technoeconomic assessment of seabed mining by the National Ocean Protection Coalition and to join the webinar discussing its results. It is not often that I have the opportunity to bring together decades of work in complex systems analysis, technology readiness, and ... [continued] The post Seabed Mining Meets Reality: What the Technoeconomic Evidence Shows appeared first on CleanTechnica .