Critics and critical minerals – there’s always a catch!

By R Chandra Mouli

Global warming is here. The warning has been around for the last two decades. The average temperature has risen across continents, even in those prone to long and cold winters. Scientists, governments, industry researchers, and concerned citizens have come together to protect the planet.

Not everyone is in sync though. The majority of the public is not tuned to think of future generations. It is almost as though a clean, green future is someone else’s responsibility and why care how they achieve this goal, why worry about thermal plants fuming, IC vehicles emitting noxious gases, or plastic mounting in landfills? 

Well, some of us who are environment-conscious do care, and so do governments at the State level and the Centre. Subsidies, incentives, funding, and support are available in plenty now for solar energy, wind energy, and electric vehicles, three routes that will help offset emissions from fossil fuel combustion. 

Also read: Industry and environment: Locking horns for too long?

As always there is a catch. Not everyone understands noble objectives or green goals. Many have time to spare, to listen to stories and indulge in agitations. If deep in their hearts they are patriots, if they want a greener future for their children, it is time to evaluate a different viewpoint. Let’s start with the backdrop, of what is causing pollution and move on to minerals that can help lower pollution levels.

Thermal Usage: Coal and lignite have traditionally been used for producing thermal energy. Both are available in plenty and if not for our thermal plants, much of India will be in darkness. It is impractical to replace them in the short or mid-term, but they can switch to cleaner tech even as we create parallel sources – such as wind, solar, and hydropower production.    

Petroleum Usage: Petrol and diesel have powered automobiles for as long as we can remember. Here too, we have parallel sources – such as CNG and electric vehicles which have minimal or nil emission.  

Plastic Usage: Started as a boon and soon we realized it could become a curse. While there aren’t many eco-friendly equivalents to plastic, the trend is to nurture a circular economy – avoid single use, recycle the used material, or turn waste into wealth by producing oil from plastic. 

Aiming for Net Zero: Why is the world promoting parallel or alternative energy sources? Because we are in a race against time to achieve an ecosystem wherein carbon emissions must become net zero. For this, emissions need to be reduced by 45% by 2030 and reach net zero by 2050, while limiting the global temperature rise to 1.5 °C.

All this sounds good, so where is the problem? The answer must be prefaced with the World War II quote, “We have met the enemy and he is us.” Unable to understand the role played by a set of minerals that are essential to produce alternative energy, there are many who continue to protest the production of products from critical minerals such as copper, nickel, lithium, and cobalt. 

In a recent op-ed in a leading newspaper, the Secretary, Ministry of Mines, concisely stated the role of critical minerals. “The world is in the midst of an energy transition, with countries committing to reduce their reliance on fossil fuels. An energy system powered by clean energy technologies differs from traditional energy sources and requires a higher amount of certain minerals referred to as critical minerals. Estimates suggest that a typical electric car requires five to six times the mineral inputs of a conventional car and a wind plant requires nine to ten times more mineral resources than a gas-fired plant.”

From the list, let’s take one mineral as a case study:

Copper, now notified as a “critical mineral” by the Ministry of Coal and Mines, Govt. of India, is the third most used industrial metal after steel and aluminium. India’s copper production has been unable to meet the rise in demand, propelled in recent years by the requirement of copper as a key input in renewable energy, telecom, and electric vehicle industries. Our country, during FY23, imported 1,81,000 tonnes of copper, while exports were a meagre 30,000 tonnes. 

What happens when copper products become scarce? In an interview, an office bearer of the International Copper Association said that with only 450,000 tonnes of the 950,000 tonnes installed capacity of copper being functional, India must resort to remelting of metal scrap to make copper rods and anodes, since the refined copper route is insufficient to meet the nation’s copper requirements.  

According to the Union Ministry of Commerce, India earned US$ 1.1 billion in net foreign exchange from copper exports in 2017-18. However, with the closure of a major smelting facility in 2018 and subsequent absence, or deficit of 400,000 tonnes from a single source, the country faced an annual net foreign exchange outflow of US$ 1.2 billion due to copper imports.

In terms of volume, India’s copper imports increased by 26% in the first quarter of FY22, to 60,766 tonnes, from 48,105 tonnes during the same time last year. India imported 2,33,671 tonnes of copper in the previous fiscal year. Imports are expected to be in the range of 295,000-304,000 tonnes for the current financial year 22-23, with a growth rate of 26-30%.

Furthermore, India’s refined copper imports have benefited China significantly. In 2017, India exported copper worth US$ 2.1 billion to China. By 2020, the same had plummeted to US$ 532 million. Copper shipments from Pakistan and Malaysia to China rose by more than US$ 2 billion between 2017 and 2020.

While shortages of critical minerals outpace production capacity, clean air is becoming rarer. With the global economy beginning to recover from the effects of the pandemic, carbon dioxide emissions are set to surge to dangerously high levels, according to a report by the International Energy Agency. The reason for the spike in CO2 levels is heavy coal consumption in Asia, which outweighs the rapid growth in renewable sources.

As the world exits from the hottest summer in history, there is an urgent need to dislodge duality, which is demanding clean air on one side and protesting projects that enable the transition. We forget that when we fail to support the production of materials that contribute to the development of clean energy, we become our own enemy.

It’s time to think deeply, take a breath of the available air, and support companies that process critical minerals. If we don’t, we will miss the bus to energy transition.  

(R. Chandra Mouli is a former journalist and advertising professional who writes on environmental protection, industrial development, and self-sufficiency. Views expressed are personal and not necessarily that of financialexpress.com)