Monday, October 16, 2023

Flooded and forgotten: How Europe's disused coal mines are successfully being used to heat our homes

Published on 14/10/2023 - 08:00•

Abandoned coal mines are providing a surprisingly potent source of zero-carbon energy in Europe.

An old coal mine has been providing an English town with green energy for the last six months.

The ground-breaking project in Gateshead is using the warm water that has filled the tunnels to heat hundreds of homes and businesses in the former coalfield community.

Hailed a success, the UK’s first large-scale network shows the huge potential to be found in the nation’s sprawling warren of old mining tunnels, which sit beneath roughly a quarter of homes.

“What we have in Gateshead is a legacy from the days of the coal mines, which was dirty energy,” says John McElroy, cabinet member for the environment and transport at Gateshead Council. “Now we are leading the way in generating clean, green energy from those mines.”

Following decades of disuse, Britain’s coal mines have gradually flooded. Warmed by the earth, this liquid offers one answer to our renewable energy needs.

With an estimated 2 billion cubic metres of warm water - more than a quarter of the volume of Loch Ness - geologists believe that Britain’s mine shafts hold one of the biggest underused sources of clean energy.

Gareth Farr, head of heat and by-product innovation at the Coal Authority.Coal Authori

“Recovering heat from mine water below the ground within abandoned coal mines provides an exciting opportunity to generate a low carbon, secure supply of heat, benefitting people living or working in buildings on the coalfields,” says Gareth Farr, head of heat and by-product innovation at the Coal Authority.

The authority owns and manages the disused coal-mining infrastructure on behalf of the UK government.

“With many millions of people living upon abandoned coalfields in Great Britain, the potential for mine water heat could be significant.”

Tapping into the heat from water in the mines has the added benefit of boosting the economies of some of the communities most badly hit by deep coal mining closures in the 1980s. So how does it work exactly, and where is it taking off?

How can flooded mines help to heat homes?

Mine water gets warmer the deeper it goes, as this interactive map of old coal mines from the UK Coal Authority shows. Temperatures typically range from 10 to 20C but can reach up to 45C at depths of 1km - such as the Yorkshire site.

Left to mix with the subterranean rock, the water often contains toxic compounds. But as a thermal source it is a valuable resource that can be harnessed through drilling boreholes which bring it to the surface.

The water is then directed through heat pumps and extractors which compress the liquid, raising it to a much higher temperature before distributing it through heating networks.

Once its heat has been absorbed in surrounding buildings, the water can be poured back into the mine system where it will be warmed up again.

Mine water heat also has the advantage of working all year round. Temperatures aren’t affected by the seasons, and the water can be used to cool homes as well as heat them.

Which UK towns are tapping into the energy source?

Once at the heart of the Industrial Revolution, north-east England is now leading the way on this alternative energy source.

Gateshead Council’s mine water project launched in March 2023 and is now one of the largest in Europe. With government funding, it installed 5km of new heat network pipes, boreholes and a heat pump energy centre capable of producing 6 mega-watts of mine water heat.

This now provides secure, low-carbon heating to 350 high rise homes, a college, art gallery, several office buildings and a large manufacturing site.

The Coal Authority and partners have been researching the potential for recovering low-carbon heat from disused coal mining infrastructure for several years.

Inside a coal mine in the English midlands.Getty Images

The UK Geoenergy Observatory (UKGEOS) based in Glasgow and run by the British Geological Survey, is one of the key research stations for this exploratory field.

After the busy mines of the Scottish city and nearby town of Rutherglen shut, natural floods filled them with water of about 12C. In summer 2021, a dozen boreholes drilled into the site and fitted with hundreds of sensors provided a clearer image of the network of flooded tunnels. They revealed how fast water flows among mines, how warm it is, how quickly it replenishes and reheats.

“The data from these 12 boreholes in Glasgow will help scientists around the world understand the subsurface and geothermal energy better,” said UKGEOS’s Alan MacDonald.

The Glasgow Observatory and another project in Cheshire are part of a £31 million (€37 million) investment by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS). The funds being devoted to this research show the increasing interest the government is taking in this striking form of geothermal energy.

The European pioneers of geothermal energy

By tapping into its history to create new geo-energy assets, the UK is following in the footsteps of other European countries.

The world’s first mine water power station opened in the Dutch city of Heerlen in 2008. It is now connected to around 500 houses and commercial facilities - cutting the area's carbon emissions from heating by almost two thirds.

A similar project is underway in the rugged Asturias region of northern Spain, where flooded coal shafts are heating (and cooling) a hospital, university and numerous other buildings.

Mine water pumped from underground has significant heating potential across Europe.Coal Authority

"Geothermal energy has given a second life to our coal mines," Asturias's director of energy María Belarmina Díaz Aguado told the BBC.

Countries repurposing their underground reserves are also looking further north, to Iceland, a pioneer of geothermal energy.

But though the first mine water power station is on European ground, the technology was harnessed nearly two decades earlier in Springhill, Nova Scotia.

Synonymous with mining disasters, the Canadian community started using the heat from its dormant coal mines in 1989. One packaging firm in the town now boasts a 100 per cent renewable system, all year round.

BAD CANADIAN MINER

Brazil: Federal prosecutors say Mura Indigenous leaders were misled and that there is no agreement on consent to Brazil Potash

"Brazil Potash says Mura accept Amazon mine, prosecutors disagree", 29 September 2023

...Brazil Potash Corp, the Canadian firm planning to build Latin America's largest fertilizer mine in the Amazon rainforest, says a local Indigenous people, the Mura, have agreed to the project...Brazil Potash touted the support on Tuesday, a day after a meeting between company executives, Mura leaders, local politicians and Governor Wilson Lima, who has backed the mine to bring investment and jobs to Amazonas state...

Federal prosecutors in Manaus, however, said support for the mine was not unanimous and provided a letter from a Mura village saying community leaders had been misled into signing meeting minutes that the company construed as approval for the mine. "There is no unanimity among the Mura regarding the mining project," the prosecutors office said in a statement. It added that a court order suspending the mine's license was in effect.

Brazil Potash said the Mura decided to hold a vote and more than 60% of those attending from 36 communities voted in favor...

Federal judge Jaiza Fraxe reiterated last month her 2016 ruling that suspended the project until the Mura were consulted, and required licensing from federal environmental agency IBAMA rather than state entity IPAAM, which issued a license in 2015...

Some of the Mura have expressed concerns that the mine could pollute rivers and scare away the game and fish they live on. Brazil Potash says the mine would have minor environmental impact because salt separated from the potash at a processing plant would be returned underground...

Brazil Potash says Mura accept Amazon mine, prosecutors disagree

By Anthony Boadle, Ana Mano

BRASILIA (Reuters) -Brazil Potash Corp, the Canadian firm planning to build Latin America’s largest fertilizer mine in the Amazon rainforest, says a local Indigenous people, the Mura, have agreed to the project, but federal prosecutors insist the community is still divided.

Brazil Potash touted the support on Tuesday, a day after a meeting between company executives, Mura leaders, local politicians and Governor Wilson Lima, who has backed the mine to bring investment and jobs to Amazonas state.

“This is a major milestone achievement in the project’s development as it clearly demonstrates respect for the Mura’s wishes,” the company said in a statement, adding that it had completed consultations with the Indigenous community.

Federal prosecutors in Manaus, however, said support for the mine was not unanimous and provided a letter from a Mura village saying community leaders had been misled into signing meeting minutes that the company construed as approval for the mine.

“There is no unanimity among the Mura regarding the mining project,” the prosecutors office said in a statement. It added that a court order suspending the mine’s license was in effect.

Brazil Potash said the Mura decided to hold a vote and more than 60% of those attending from 36 communities voted in favor.

“You have a few people who decided not to support the project, but they are by far the minority,” Brazil Potash Chief Executive Matt Simpson said in an interview.

“The people who disagreed with the outcome of the vote are now complaining to a prosecutor, who frankly is abusing his power,” he added.

Brazil Potash is owned by CD Capital with a 34% stake, Sentient with 23% of the shares, and Stan Bharti’s Forbes & Manhattan Group, a Toronto-based merchant bank that began the project, that holds 14%, along with other shareholders.

Federal judge Jaiza Fraxe reiterated last month her 2016 ruling that suspended the project until the Mura were consulted, and required licensing from federal environmental agency IBAMA rather than state entity IPAAM, which issued a license in 2015.

In her Aug. 25 decision, the judge said the project would also require congressional approval if Indigenous affairs agency FUNAI grants a Mura claim for protected reservation status for the village of Soares, which the mining project overlaps. Mining on Indigenous land is prohibited in Brazil’s constitution.

The mine in Autazes, 75 miles (120 kms) southeast of the Amazonas state capital Manaus, would reduce Brazilian farmers’ current reliance on imports for 95% their potash fertilizer.

The $2.5 billion potash project is expected to produce up to 2.4 million tonnes a year, about one quarter of Brazil’s demand, and would take three years to develop once it gets approved.

Brazil Potash said FUNAI still needs to complete a review of the company’s “Indigenous Consultation Study” before it can issue the installation license needed to start building a mine.

The company has stressed that its project is not on Indigenous land, since the Soares claim has not been formally recognized by FUNAI. Prosecutors say the mine would impact the way of life of some 15,000 Mura people.

Some of the Mura have expressed concerns that the mine could pollute rivers and scare away the game and fish they live on. Brazil Potash says the mine would have minor environmental impact because salt separated from the potash at a processing plant would be returned underground.

Reporting by Anthony Boadle in Brasilia and Ana Mano in Sao PauloEditing by Brad Haynes, Nick Zieminski and David Gregorio

Mura Indigenous People Win Sanctions Against Brazil Potash Over Mining Project

Published by

CorpWatch

| By

Elena Rogozenska

Friday, June 9, 2023

Tags: Human Rights

Resistance: Brazil Potash

Potássio do Brasil is planning to mine for potash, a key fertilizer ingredient, on the land of Mura Indigenous people in Amazonas state, Brazil. Courts have imposed a US$20,000 fine on the company for attempting to claim land for the mine in Soares village despite the fact that the local Mura have yet to give permission for mining to go ahead.

“I was born here and brought up here. My parents and grandparents too. So I won’t be told by Potássio, that comes from outside, that this land isn’t ours. It is our land and they are the invaders.” – Aldinélson Moraes Pavão, chief of Urucurituba village

Potássio do Brasil

Potássio do Brasil is a subsidiary of mining company Brazil Potash, based in Toronto, Canada, funded by the Forbes and Manhattan merchant bank. In 2010, Potássio do Brasil discovered major potash reserves in Autazes district of Amazonas and began planning a US$2.5 billion mine, port and processing facility to supply fertilizer to Brazilian agribusiness which is heavily dependent on imports.

Self-determination

In 2015 Potássio do Brasil was given permission to proceed by Instituto de Proteção Ambiental do Amazonas (IPAAM) but this decision was challenged by the Public Prosecutor's Office in 2017 after Mura communities become concerned about the environmental impacts of the mine. The prosecutor ordered Potássio do Brasil to conduct a “free, prior and informed consultation.”

Land Grabbing

Despite starting consultations with the Mura, Potássio do Brasil has also continued exploratory drilling and started to put pressure on local villagers to sell their land. In addition, the company started to give away food baskets, seeds and construction materials as well as promise jobs. Over time the company also started to post signs that the land was now owned by Potássio do Brasil.

Indigenous Under Attack

The allegations of coercion have concerned officials from Funai, the Brazilian federal indigenous agency, who visited the region in March 2023 to discuss how to decide which land should be classified as Indigenous. The visit subsequently sparked rumours that the government would take away land from local farmers, together with new threats against the Indigenous leaders.

“Everything indicates that the indigenous people are being deceived, involved in a kind of internal colonialism that involves different spheres of power.” - Fernanda Bragato, coordinator of the Human Rights Center of the University of Vale do Rio dos Sinos, in Rio Grande do Sul

Sanctions

In May, the Brazilian federal court fined Potássio do Brasil 100,000 reais (US$20,000) for planting illegal signs and imposed a further fine of 50,000 reals for every day that the signs stay up. The federal prosecutor’s office also held a press conference to announce that the consultation would be halted until the land was demarcated.

Company Response

“We are completely open to dialog with the local communities and with the indigenous peoples of the region. In fact, one of the commitments we want to make is to have around 80% of people from that region in our workforce.” - Adriano Espeschit, CEO of Potássio do Brasil

This is #46 in our series of Instagram infographics on resistance against corporate power.

Click here to see the full post on Instagram.

Mining firm accused of coercing indigenous groups to exploit potash in Amazon

Public Prosecutor’s Office investigates Canadian-controlled Potássio do Brasil for manipulating consultations and land transactions with indigenous people

By Fábio Bispo

Diálogo Chino

28 April 2022

The potassium war in Autazes - Amazônia Real (amazoniareal.com.br)

Giant lithium deal collapses after Australian billionaire Rinehart steps in

Bloomberg News | October 16, 2023 |

Gina Rinehart (Image: Sydney Mining Club | YouTube.)

Albemarle Corp. has walked away from its A$6.6 billion ($4.2 billion) takeover of Liontown Resources Ltd., after Australia’s richest woman built up a blocking minority and effectively scuppered one of the largest battery-metals deals to date.

Eager to add new supply, Albemarle had pursued its Perth-based target for months, eying its Kathleen Valley project — one of Australia’s most promising deposits. Liontown agreed to the US company’s “best and final” offer of A$3 a share in September — a near 100% premium to the price before Albemarle’s takeover interest was made public in March.

Over the past weeks, however, Albemarle has had to contend with the arrival of combative mining tycoon Gina Rinehart, as her Hancock Prospecting Pty. steadily built up a 19.9% stake in Liontown. Last week, she became the single largest investor, with enough clout to potentially block a shareholder vote on the deal.

Albemarle has now advised Liontown that it will not press ahead, due to “the growing complexities associated with executing the transaction,” the Australian miner said on Monday.

Liontown is the most significant lithium investment to date from Rinehart, who made her fortune in the iron ore mines of Western Australia during China’s infrastructure boom. It comes as the outlook for that steel industry deteriorates, but appetite for battery metals is driven higher by the energy transition.

Hancock declined to comment on Monday, though it said last week that it sought a “prominent influence in Liontown’s future.” The shareholding is currently just below the 20% level that would trigger a mandatory offer.

For now, the collapse of Albemarle’s acquisition leaves Liontown rushing to find an alternative source of capital for its flagship Kathleen Valley project, a development Hancock has criticized and highlighted as carrying “execution, operational ramp-up and market risks.”

Jon Bishop, an analyst at Jarden Securities, said Liontown could find banks less than eager to fund its underground operation at Kathleen Valley, not least given volatile lithium prices — meaning a share sale is likely, adding to pressure on the stock. The miner lost its last bull on Friday and was downgraded by Citigroup Inc. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. on Monday, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Rinehart “can afford to be patient here,” said Bishop, who added that in time there might be scope for “some collaboration” between Hancock and other parties for downstream processing in Australia.

A counter cash bid for 100% of Liontown was unlikely from Hancock, according to Citigroup analyst Kate McCutcheon, who cited the fact that existing offtake agreements were locked in until 2030.

Albemarle, meanwhile, will now be left to find other targets, in Australia and beyond. It has indicated primary targets including lithium resources, processing technology and battery recycling.

Liontown has tapped UBS Group AG to steer a capital-raising push as it seeks to secure funding for Kathleen Valley, according to people familiar with the matter who requested anonymity as the discussions are private. The people didn’t say how much it’s seeking to raise. The stock closed on Friday at A$2.79 a share. Trading is currently halted, after Liontown’s request, as it seeks to finalize the funding.

(By Sybilla Gross)

PAKISTAN

Gold Billionaire Sawiris Eyes Stake in $7 Billion Reko Diq Mine

Kamran Haider
Sun, October 15, 2023

(Bloomberg) -- Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris, who has forged a fortune in telecom and gold, is eyeing an investment in Barrick Gold Corp.’s $7 billion Reko Diq copper-gold project as he looks to expand his business in Pakistan.

Reko Diq, in the Balochistan region that borders Afghanistan and Iran, is one the world’s largest undeveloped copper and gold deposits, capable of producing 200,000 tons of copper and 250,000 ounces of gold a year for more than half a century. The project is jointly owned by Barrick and Pakistan.

Asked whether he was interested in investing, Sawiris, a major investor in gold miners including Endeavour Mining Plc through his La Mancha Resources Inc., said “yes.”

“I have an advantage compared to other investors. I know the country, I have friends here,” Sawiris said in an interview in Islamabad. “We want to be on the Pakistani side, because I have been here for 25 years.”

He did not elaborate on the potential scale of the investment, but added there were few other options, in part due to the lack of geological data: “We tried here to look but unfortunately there is only this one big project.”

Last month, Barrick Chief Executive Officer Mark Bristow said he was seeing newfound “interest” in Reko Diq from multinational mining firms that have to date been hesitant to venture into tricky regions of the world. The mine has also attracted interest from Saudi Arabia, whose presence could serve to stabilize the project in a contentious part of the world.

Pakistan’s state-owned energy exploration companies, which have a stake in the project, said last month they were looking into “potential engagement” with sovereign foreign investors, without giving details.

Sawiris’ Ora Developers is separately working on a luxury housing project, Eighteen, and he earlier set up one of Pakistan’s first mobile phone companies, Mobilink, now owned by Veon Ltd., and the nation’s largest cellular firm by subscriber numbers.

Pakistan’s lengthy, difficult official procedures, an unstable currency and capital restrictions are hurdles for investment, but Sawiris said he remained optimistic.

“If there is concrete in my way, I’ll drill through it and I’ll go,” he said. “I have never let anybody in my life hold me back from what I wanted to achieve.”

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

Giant open-pit mine near two national parks dealt a blow by Biden administration

Road planned to access the mine could affect more Alaska Native communities and local animals than previously thought, according to a new federal analysis

The Alatna River running through the Gates of the Arctic National Park.

Credit...Sean Tevebaugh/National Park Service

By Timothy Puko
Updated October 13, 2023

A road critical to operating a proposed open-pit mine in a remote part of Alaska hit a new hurdle Friday when the Biden administration issued a finding that the road could threaten Alaska Native communities and their lifestyle more than previously estimated.

The Interior Department analysis is not a final decision on the fate of Ambler Road, one of the most high-profile environmental issues in the state. But it poses a setback for a planned 211-mile transportation corridor that would run through one of the largest roadless areas in the country — intersecting Gates of the Arctic National Park — to help a mining company access an estimated $7.5 billion worth of copper north of the Arctic Circle.

Originally approved under former president Donald Trump, the road right-of-way was suspended by the Biden administration last year. The Interior Department said it found “significant deficiencies” in the prior environmental review and ordered additional analysis.

The draft version of that analysis has now found 66 communities where subsistence-style living activities could be affected, up from 27 communities in the last analysis, released in 2020, Interior’s Bureau of Land Management said in a news release. Nearly half could face significant impacts because of the road, the agency added. The review also updated potential effects of the road to caribou and fish.

“Subsistence use would be altered by the presence of a road, both because a road would affect wildlife behavior and because it would bisect travel routes used by hunters and affect their access to subsistence use areas,” the supplemental review says.

It further found all the options for a road would fragment wildlife habitat, altering the movement and migration of caribou and other animals — partly because of vehicle noise — although some proposals would have more impact than others. With caribou already under pressure from other development and climate change, the road could affect calving and survival rates, the analysis says.

The agency’s Alaska state director said the review includes more robust input from talks with Alaska Native groups. “Continued public input and engagement on this draft is critical to ensuring our analysis captures the proposed road’s potential impacts,” the director, Steve Cohn, said in a statement.

While not final, the findings raise even more questions about a project that many environmental groups oppose, and some administration officials are concerned about. The administration is due to publish a final analysis and then a subsequent final decision roughly next spring.

Executives at the mining venture Ambler Metals are planning to review the findings, the company said in a statement. It said the project is an “urgent” necessity for supplying domestic minerals that can support U.S. national security and clean-energy technology to address climate change.

A collection of mineral samples is seen at the Bornite Mining Camp on Sept. 7, 2022, in Ambler Mining District, Alaska. The company is conducting drilling explorations for a number of minerals, including copper, zinc and lead. (Bonnie Jo Mount/The Washington Post)

“Ambler Metals and our partners are confident we can address any issues raised,” Ramzi Fawaz, the company’s chief executive, said in the statement. “This project has been unnecessarily bogged down in federal bureaucracy for years and I urge the Department of the Interior to avoid any further delays.”

The new review also angered mining advocates because it factored in potential impacts from public use of the road, even though the corridor wouldn’t be open to the public under the current proposal. Some members of the public expressed concern that the road might some day end up opened to the broader public, and the analysis concluded that “public use and trespass are reasonably expected,” and should be considered.

While the project has support from some locals, others oppose it and blocking it is one of the top priorities of national park advocates. To reach the mine site, the road would cross 11 major rivers and hundreds of streams, breaking apart unspoiled tundra and caribou migration paths. It also would cross 26 miles of Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve and sit close to Kobuk Valley National Park.

“It is good see the Biden administration looking carefully at the actual costs of this bad idea,” Alex Johnson, Arctic and Interior Alaska campaign director for the National Parks Conservation Association, said in a statement.

“The international mining companies who are pushing this project have yet to prove there are viable amounts of critical minerals in this region to justify the economics of the project, let alone permanently alter one of the last remaining wild landscapes on Earth.”

A postcard from Gates of the Arctic
Podcast episode
Gates of the Arctic National Park is one of the most remote in the system. But even here, the outside world is finding its way in. What’s at stake if it does?

By Timothy Puko is a reporter covering climate policy and politics for The Washington Post. He has been covering energy and climate policy, and geopolitics from Washington since 2017 and joined The Post in October 2022. He previously covered energy commodity markets from New York and the environment and energy industry in Pennsylvania. Twitter

In Alaska, a Road to Metals Needed for Clean Energy Could Also Cause Harm

A proposed industrial road would cut through pristine wilderness in Alaska to reach a planned copper and zinc mine.

A mining site in the Ambler Metal Arctic deposit area in Alaska.Credit...Bonnie Jo Mount/The Washington Post, via Getty Images

By Lisa Friedman
Oct. 16, 2023

A proposed 211-mile industrial road that would cut through pristine Alaskan wilderness to reach a planned copper and zinc mine would disrupt the way of life in Alaska Native communities, harm fish and caribou, and likely speed the thawing of permafrost, according to an environmental review released by the Biden administration on Friday.

The road, known as the Ambler Access Project, would cut through Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve, and requires a federal permit to move forward. The question about whether to approve it pits President Biden’s clean energy agenda, with its need for copper and other metals necessary for wind turbines, solar panels and other clean energy technology, against his pledge to protect untouched tundra and tribal lands.

The Trump administration had issued a permit for the road project in July 2020 over the objections of some Alaska Native groups but Mr. Biden suspended it, saying the environmental impact had not been adequately studied.

The Interior Department released its new draft analysis on Friday that examined the impacts from three potential routes for the proposed road, as well as a “no action” alternative in the event that the road is not built. Of the four possible choices, it did not indicate a preference. The administration will accept public comments on the draft analysis for 60 days before issuing a final environmental impact statement. A decision on the permit is expected next year.

Conservation groups and many Alaska Native tribes want the Biden administration to stop the project. They maintain the road, which could cut through the foothills of the majestic Gates of the Arctic park, would disrupt caribou migration patterns, pollute spawning grounds for salmon and make it difficult for Native communities to hunt the caribou that are central to their subsistence lifestyle.

“The caribou is struggling, the fish are struggling,” said Julie Roberts-Hyslop, the first chief of the Tanana Tribe who is from the village of Tanana on the Yukon River. “This is going to open up areas where species are already struggling to survive.”

The analysis also found that any of the road alternatives “may significantly restrict subsistence uses” for at least half of the nearby Alaska Native communities. It paints a far more dire assessment than a study done under the Trump administration, which largely dismissed the impacts the road would have on fish, caribou and Native tribes.

The Biden Administration’s Environmental AgendaHydrogen Hubs: The Biden administration will award up to $7 billion to create seven regional hubs around the country that will make and use hydrogen, a clean-burning fuel that could help fight climate change.
Oil Drilling: The Biden administration said it would lease just three spots in the Gulf of Mexico to oil companies for drilling over the next five years, the smallest number of lease sales offered since the federal drilling program began decades ago.
A Second-Term Target: If President Biden wins a re-election, his climate policies would take aim at steel and cement plants, factories and oil refineries — heavily polluting industries that have never before had to rein in their greenhouse gases.

But mining companies and some renewable energy supporters warn that blocking the access to the region’s deposits of copper, zinc, cobalt and other metals could have serious consequences for clean energy.

According to the International Energy Administration, there are currently not enough minerals available to quickly transition nations from coal, oil and gas to wind, solar and other forms of clean energy. Over the coming decade, global demand for copper alone is projected to soar as much as 270 percent, significantly outpacing supply by 2050.

The Inflation Reduction Act, a law Mr. Biden signed last year that invests $370 billion in clean energy, requires the government to develop a domestic supply chain for critical minerals, the bulk of which are now processed in China.

The administration is depending on rapidly increasing renewable energy and electric vehicles to reach its goal of cutting the country’s planet-warming emissions roughly in half by the end of this decade.

The Ambler mining district, located in northwest Alaska, holds the potential to yield approximately 159 million pounds of copper over a 12-year life span, as well as 199 million pounds of zinc, 33 million pounds of lead, 3.3 million ounces of silver and 30,600 ounces of gold, according to a 2018 feasibility study.

Environmentalists argue that the predicted mineral yields are unproven and overly optimistic, and say that larger reserves exist in parts of the country that are less ecologically sensitive.

And they say the industrial road that is necessary to connect to the proposed mine is an environmental threat itself, as it would allow heavy trucks and equipment to rumble across 11 major rivers and nearly 3,000 streams in the Brooks Range.

The route for the two-lane, all-season gravel road proposed by Alaska’s development corporation would run from the Dalton Highway, through the Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve to the planned mine and is the least expensive of the three routes under study.

The Interior Department found that the road would disturb about 4,000 acres of caribou habitat, disrupt seven communities whose members depend on subsistence hunting and fishing, and possibly speed the thawing of permafrost.

“The ice-rich soils in the proposed corridors would warm and potentially thaw with or without construction,” the review found. “However, with construction, the site-specific area soils are anticipated to experience amplified or accelerated thawing.”

The greenhouse gas emissions expected from trucking ore from the mine once a road is built are estimated to be 51,972 tons of carbon dioxide a year — about the equivalent of 11,500 cars on the road annually.

Ricko DeWilde, 48, a subsistence hunter and trapper from Huslia, a city close to the proposed road, said he worries that it would invite people unfamiliar with the region who would disturb an Arctic ecosystem that is teeming with caribou, bears, moose, Dall sheep, birds, and salmon and other fish.

“Our culture is tied to our food,” Mr. DeWilde said. “When you have a bunch of people who think they deserve to have that campfire story about their great hunt in Alaska, well they are basically eliminating a culture by eliminating a food source.”

Alaska leaders argue the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980 guaranteed a right of way across federal lands for the proposed Ambler Road. Supporters of the road said they believe that means the Biden administration would ultimately be forced to approve the project but may impose costly conditions.

The road project has the backing of Alaska’s two U.S. senators and its sole member of Congress. Senator Dan Sullivan, a Republican, accused the Biden administration of impeding progress. “This is classic Biden administration: undermining American strengths in a very dangerous time, subverting the clear intent of federal law, and lying to Alaska,” he said in a statement.

The Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority Board, the state’s development bank, initially filed for federal permits to build the road in 2015 and has already approved about $44.8 million toward the project. It argued the mining district is estimated to create more than 3,900 direct and indirect jobs, and more than $300 million in annual wages, adding new revenues to state and local coffers.

Ramzi Fawaz, the chief executive officer of Ambler Metals, a joint venture of two companies that want to mine the site and others nearby, said in a statement that the company is “confident” it can address any issues raised in the new analysis.

“The Ambler Access Project was authorized in federal law over 40 years ago and has support across Alaska and within the region,” Mr. Fawaz said.

“This project is urgent, as it provides access to critical mineral deposits across the region. Mining is critical for U.S. national security, reaching decarbonization targets, implementation of existing climate laws, and to build a stronger economy in rural Alaska,” he said.

But John Gaedeke, 48, who runs a wilderness lodge in the Brooks Range that his parents built in 1974, said that an industrial road and mining operations don’t belong in one of the most remote places on Earth.

“The idea that we’re going to save the planet or better the environment by destroying the environment?” he said. “That doesn’t make sense to me.”

Lisa Friedman reports on federal climate and environmental policy from Washington. She has broken multiple stories about the Trump administration’s efforts to repeal climate change regulations and limit the use of science in policymaking. More about Lisa Friedman

A version of this article appears in print on Oct. 15, 2023, Section A, Page 19 of the New York edition with the headline: A Road to Metals for Clean Energy Could Also Harm Alaska’s Environment.

CMA CGM's Logistics Arm Deploys Container-Unpacking Robot

Package handling robot — Image courtesy Boston Dynamics

CEVA, the warehousing and logistics arm of French container liner CMA CGM, plans to use robots from U.S. firm Boston Dynamics at a new transload facility near the twin ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, the biggest import gateways for the U.S. consumer market.

The transload facility was built for sorting packages at high speed. It will be among the first in the U.S. to employ Boston Dynamics' robots for package-handling, Stretch.

The Stretch robot is purpose-built for unloading non-palletized shipping containers, even when the boxes inside have fallen over, according to Boston Dynamics. With little direction, it can enter a container, pick up boxes weighing up to 50 pounds with its suction-cup arm, and set them gently on a conveyor. The 2022 production run sold out with purchases from trial-phase customers like DHL, and the first commercial units have already moved more than one million boxes. At some customer sites, Stretch robots are handling all inbound floor-loaded containers, according to the manufacturer.

Early adopters say that they like the robot because it doesn't need breaks, works in all weather conditions and isn't susceptible to injuries from handling high-stacked heavy boxes. With a 16-hour battery pack, it can work two shifts before recharging.

With the addition of Stretch, CEVA hopes to process 50,000 floor-loaded containers a year at the Los Angeles plant within three years of opening.

CEVA is also buying Boston Dynamics' famous robotic dog, Spot, for security patrols at the Los Angeles facility. The quadrupedal robot can carry a variety of payloads and with more than 1,000 sold, it has become a familiar sight in some industries.

New Satellite Data Will Reveal Hidden Details of Ocean Currents

[By Shane Keating and Moninya Roughan]

Earth’s ocean is incredibly vast. Some parts of it are so remote that the nearest human habitation is the International Space Station.

As the world warms, what happens in the ocean – and what happens to the ocean – will be vital to all our lives. But to monitor what’s happening in remote waters, we need to study the ocean from space.

Late last year, NASA and CNES, the French space agency, launched a satellite that promises to give scientists a far better view than ever before of the ocean’s surface. The Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission will reveal ocean currents that play a crucial role in the weather and climate.

To make the most of the satellite observations, we need to compare them with measurements made at surface level. That is why we are heading out to sea on the state-of-the-art CSIRO research vessel RV Investigator to gather essential ocean data under the satellite’s path as it orbits Earth.

Climate change is disrupting the global network of currents that connect the oceans. Researchers have detected a slowdown of the deep “overturning circulation” that carries carbon, heat, oxygen and nutrients from Antarctica around the globe. Meanwhile, at the surface, ocean currents are becoming more energetic.

We have also seen dramatic changes in fast, narrow rivers of seawater called western boundary currents, such as the Gulf Stream and the East Australian Current.

These currents funnel heat from the tropics towards the poles, and in recent decades they have become hotspots for ocean warming. In the Southern Hemisphere, they are warming two to three times faster than the global average.

As these currents destabilise, they alter how heat is distributed throughout the ocean. This in turn will cause major changes in local weather and marine ecosystems that may impact the lives of millions of people.

Playground physics

The SWOT satellite mission will give researchers a powerful new tool to monitor changes in ocean currents by using accurate satellite measurements of the sea surface – plus a little bit of playground physics.

The satellite carries an instrument that will map variations in the height of the sea surface in unprecedented detail. These variations might be less than a metre in height over horizontal distances of hundreds of kilometres. But oceanographers can use the measurements to estimate ocean currents flowing underneath.

Small variations in the height of the sea surface create horizontal pressure differences that try to push water away from areas of high sea level and towards areas of low sea level. That pressure difference is balanced by the Coriolis force, which gently deflects ocean currents to the right in the Northern Hemisphere and to the left in the Southern Hemisphere.

Earth’s oceans are filled with complex network of currents driven by the rotation of the planet. NASA / Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio

You can experience the Coriolis force at the playground. Step onto a merry-go-round and ask a friend to stand on the opposite side from you. As you start spinning, toss a ball to your friend. You will notice that the ball appears to be deflected away from the direction of rotation.

In reality, the ball has moved in a straight line; your friend has simply moved away from where you were aiming. But, to you both, the ball seems to have been deflected by an invisible “pseudo-force” – the Coriolis force.

Now imagine the merry-go-round is Earth, and the ball is an ocean current. The Coriolis deflection is enough to balance pressure differences across hundreds of kilometres and causes seawater to flow in ocean currents.

Science at sea

By carefully measuring the height of the sea surface and using our knowledge of the Coriolis force, oceanographers will be able to use data from NASA’s satellite to reveal ocean currents in greater detail than ever before. But to make sense of that data, researchers need to compare satellite measurements with observations made down here on Earth.

That’s why we are leading a voyage of more than 60 scientists, support staff and crew aboard the RV Investigator, Australia’s national flagship for blue water ocean research.

A 24-day voyage aboard the RV Investigator will gather data about oceans currents. CSIRO, CC BY

Our 24-day voyage will study ocean dynamics off Australia’s southeast coast using the Investigator’s world-class scientific equipment, including satellite-tracked floating buoys and drifters that will be used to measure the real-time movement of currents at the ocean surface.

The voyage is part of a huge collaboration by scientists around the world to gather observational data under the satellite’s path as it orbits Earth. This data will help validate satellite measurements, improve weather forecasts, and assist with climate risk assessment and prediction.

We hope to better understand how our oceans are changing using what we observe in space, at sea — and in the playground.

Shane Keating is a Senior Lecturer of Mathematics and Oceanography at UNSW Sydney.

Moninya Roughan is a Professor of Oceanography, UNSW Sydney.

This article appears courtesy of The Conversation and may be found in its original form here.

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