The study found that projected U.S. light-duty EV adoption could cut life cycle GHG emissions by 61%, primary energy use by 20%, and total material extraction by 34% compared with an ICEV-only counterfactual. However, EVs increase demand for metals and critical minerals, making battery durability, recycling, and responsible mining central to maximizing climate gains.
A CITP working paper argues that deep-sea mining exposes a legal fault line between UNCLOS environmental duties and investment-law protections for mining investors. The paper warns that this mismatch could limit sponsoring states’ ability to strengthen safeguards as scientific evidence of seabed harm evolves.
A century-long legal and historical analysis shows that critical minerals are defined not only by scarcity but by shifting claims about security, trade, industrial power, and geopolitical control. The paper argues that today’s critical minerals rush is less a simple climate-transition story than a contest over US hegemony, extractive markets, supply chains, and the future of international cooperation.
This paper argues that the net-zero transition will require major new investment in energy transition minerals, but supply will remain constrained by financing gaps, geopolitical concentration, demand uncertainty, and ESG risks. It calls for responsible mining, sustainable finance, green premiums, and circular economy strategies to secure mineral supplies while reducing environmental and social harm.
A WREC 2026 conference paper proposes a structured database to identify and assess critical mineral tailings for low-carbon concrete production using geopolymer cement. By linking tailings chemistry, mineralogy, location, logistics, and performance data, the framework could help turn mining residues into circular construction resources.
Seabed mining is attracting renewed interest as demand for cobalt, nickel, copper, and other critical minerals used in batteries, electronics, and advanced technologies rises. Linda Nhon argues that commercial seabed mining remains constrained by terrestrial competition, price volatility, environmental uncertainty, and regulatory ambiguity, making ocean science and international cooperation a stronger near-term priority.
Researchers argue that Digital Rock Physics could help the UK and Europe move from critical minerals targets to practical supply-chain implementation by linking 3D imaging, correlative chemistry, AI, and pore-scale modeling. The paper positions DRP as a shared infrastructure for assessing complex ores, brines, tailings, and recycling feedstocks, while stressing that validation, data standards, upscaling, and industrial access remain key barriers.
Researchers mapped more than 9,000 young CO2-rich igneous rock samples and found that lithospheric thickness strongly controls where these unusual magmas form. The findings show that deep Earth structure can help predict carbonatite-hosted rare-earth element deposits, with implications for critical mineral exploration.
A six-country Belt and Road analysis found that mineral resources, regional economies, and mineral product imports became more closely coordinated from 2017 to 2022. The findings suggest that regional infrastructure, trade links, and resource-development policies may help countries capture greater economic value from mineral resources.
Researchers developed a machine learning framework to map ESG-driven conflict risks across energy transition mineral mining projects, using 112,766 conflict events and 16 environmental, social, and governance indicators. The study found that environmental factors drove most modeled risk, with tungsten showing the highest overall risk, platinum the lowest, and lithium most affected by water-stress-related environmental risk.
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