Energy Explained
Get the latest as our experts share their insights on global energy policy.
Insights from the US and India for Electricity Open Access in Kenya and South Africa
Kenya[1] and South Africa[2] have recently started moving toward an open access regime in their electricity sectors, while the US and India have been on this path for...
Podcasts
Hear in-depth conversations with the world’s top energy and climate leaders from government, business, academia, and civil society.
Minimizing Damage as Mining for Critical Minerals Ramps Up
The clean energy transition has a dirty underside. To move away from fossil fuels and toward solar, wind, batteries, and other alternative sources of energy, we have to intensify mining operations for critical minerals like lithium, copper, and cobalt.
Events
Find out more about our upcoming and past events.
December 5, 2024
• 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm
edt
Student Roundtable with Mary Nichols
Women in Energy at the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia SIPA is pleased to host Anne-Sophie Corbeau.
Event
• CGEP Large Conference Room
1255 Amsterdam Ave Floor 1, New York, NY 10027
1255 Amsterdam Ave Floor 1, New York, NY 10027
Podcast
Minimizing Damage as Mining for Critical Minerals Ramps Up
November 26, 2024
Guest
Vince Beiser
Author, “Power Metal: The Race for the Resources That Will Shape the Future”
The clean energy transition has a dirty underside. To move away from fossil fuels and toward solar, wind, batteries, and other alternative sources of energy, we have to intensify mining operations for critical minerals like lithium, copper, and cobalt.
According to a Global Witness analysis of S&P Global data, copper mining will increase more than 25% between 2021 and 2028. Cobalt mining will be up more than 100%. Lithium, more than 300%. And all that mining has serious environmental and social impacts, particularly in developing countries.
This week, host Bill Loveless talks with Vince Beiser about his latest book “Power Metal: The Race for the Resources That Will Shape the Future.”
Vince is an author and journalist whose work has appeared in Wired, Harper’s Magazine, The Atlantic, and The New York Times, among other publications.
They discuss cleaning up the chase for critical minerals, advancing the clean energy transition while minimizing mining impacts globally, and what role the U.S. government can play, particularly with an incoming Trump administration.
More Episodes
Inside the 2024 World Energy Outlook
Rising electricity demand. Heightened geopolitical tension. Fragility in energy markets. These are some of the big stories shaping the energy transition outlined in the International Energy Agency’s newest...
Where Climate and Trade Policy Meet
In passing and signing the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022, Congress and the Biden administration infused hundreds of billions of dollars into the energy transition. It was the...
Re-Run: ‘The Untold History of Climate Science and Politics’
In 1953, the New York Yankees beat the Brooklyn Dodgers in the World Series, “From Here to Eternity” won the Academy Award for Best Motion Picture. And on...
How to Make the Energy Transition More Equitable
Emerging markets and developing economies are set to account for the largest source of emissions growth in the coming decades, according to the International Energy Agency. As population...
Relevant
Publications
With or Without Tax Credits, a US-Indonesia Critical Minerals Agreement Could Raise Environmental Standards and Diversify Supply
This commentary addresses the importance of Indonesian nickel supply to US climate goals, and why a US-Indonesia critical minerals agreement could be beneficial for both countries.
Commentary
by Tom Moerenhout • November 21, 2024
Financing the Responsible Mining of Critical Minerals Using Thematic Bonds: Roundtable Summary
The mining sector continues to face headwinds in attracting the necessary investments to meet the growing demand for critical minerals in clean energy technologies.
How the Next US President Could Shape Energy and Climate Policy
November’s election for president of the United States will have crucial implications for the nation’s and world’s energy and climate policies.
Blog
by Jason Bordoff, Karen E. Young, Erica Downs, Shayak Sengupta, Gautam Jain, Robert (RJ) Johnston, Ira Joseph, Luisa Palacios, Diego Rivera Rivota, Jonathan Elkind, Anne-Sophie Corbeau & Noah Kaufman • October 15, 2024
Modernizing Africa’s Lobito Railway Can Strengthen Critical Mineral Supply and Local Energy Access
Revitalization and expansion of the Lobito Corridor, which spans Angola’s Lobito Port to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Zambia, is poised to reshape Southern Africa’s economic...
