Deep-sea mining may soon ease the world’s battery-metal shortage
Taking nickel from rainforests destroys 30 times more life than getting it from the depths
Pushed by the threat of climate change, rich countries are embarking on a grand electrification project. Britain, France and Norway, among others, plan to ban the sale of new internal-combustion cars. Even where bans are not on the statute books, electric-car sales are growing rapidly. Power grids are changing too, as wind turbines and solar panels displace fossil-fuelled power plants. The International Energy Agency (IEA) reckons the world will add as much renewable power in the coming five years as it did in the past 20.
This article appeared in the Science & technology section of the print edition under the headline “Raiding Davy Jones’s locker”
From the July 8th 2023 edition
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