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Peer-Reviewed Lifecycle Analysis Shows Conventional Production of EV Battery Metals Will Generate Significant Waste Streams But Could Be Reduced By Using Deep-Sea Nodules
Peer-reviewed research commissioned by The Metals Company and published in the Yale Journal of Industrial Ecology finds that producing four key battery metals
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[{"type":"text","content":"Peer-reviewed research commissioned by The Metals Company and published in the Yale Journal of Industrial Ecology finds that producing four key battery metals (nickel, copper, cobalt, manganese) from seafloor polymetallic nodules could reduce lifecycle solid waste by 59-93% compared to land ores.Researchers modelled solid waste streams over the lifecycle of metal production, including mining, processing and refining, using a wide range of production pathways for both land ores and nodules.Their analysis shows that producing electric vehicle (EV) battery metal feedstocks from land ores would on average generate over 270 kg of waste per every kg of nickel and 460 kg of waste per every kg of copper while nodule-derived values would be 83 and 29 kg of waste, respectively.Booming demand for energy transition metals and a historic decline in ore grades on land have led to increased growth of solid waste streams which are likely to intensify as terrestrial mining continues its expansion into forested carbon sinks.Polymetallic nodules lie unattached on the seafloor in the Clarion Clipperton Zone (CCZ) and contain high grades of four metals in a single ore, no toxic levels of heavy elements, and can be collected without digging, drilling or blasting. NEW YORK, Jan. 31, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- As the world faces a myriad of challenges in transitioning to clean energy, new research shows that seafloor polymetallic nodules could help meet massive new demand for EV battery metals like nickel while significantly reducing — and in some scenarios eliminating — the solid waste streams typically generated by metal production from land ores. Published in the Yale Journal of Industrial Ecology, the new peer-reviewed study starts with a demand scenario of producing four metals (nickel, cobalt, manganese, copper) to supply one billion 75KWh EV batteries with a cathode chemistry of NMC 811 (80% nickel, 10% manganese, 10% cobalt). It then compares the solid waste streams generated during the production of these four metals from two sources: conventional ores found on land and polymetallic nodules with high concentrations of four metals in a single ore found on the seafloor of the Clarion Clipperton Zone (CCZ) of the Pacific Ocean. Daina Paulikas of the University of Delaware’s Minerals, Materials and Society Program, said: “Over the past three years, ...