Reducing emissions from US energy sources will increase the need for metal production by two to six times per kilowatt of energy production, says Dr. Michael Moats, professor and interim chair of materials science and engineering at Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S&T).
Moats, who is director of the Thomas J. O’Keefe Institute for the Sustainable Supply of Strategic Minerals at Missouri S&T, says current mining of cobalt, for instance, provides about 100,000 tons per year. To meet future clean energy needs, production would need to double by 2030 and triple by 2050. Much of current production comes from the Democratic Republic of Congo and is refined by China.
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