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Energy Explained
Get the latest as our experts share their insights on global energy policy.
Q&A: Trump’s Executive Order on US Domestic Mineral Production
What is the goal of the critical minerals executive order signed by President Trump on March 20, 2025? The order[1] aims to significantly increase domestic production of critical minerals...
Podcasts
Hear in-depth conversations with the world’s top energy and climate leaders from government, business, academia, and civil society.
Breaking America’s Energy Policy Gridlock
Across America, energy policy is often driven by short-term politics over long-term planning. Despite record-breaking U.S. oil production in recent years, partisan battles continue over fossil fuels and...
Events
Find out more about our upcoming and past events.
March 26, 2025
• 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm
edt
Leading Without a Mentor: How to Be Your Own Mentor and Guide
Please join the Women in Energy initiative at the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia SIPA for a student roundtable lunch featuring Claire Steichen, Founder of Clear Strategy Coaching.For many...
Event
• Center on Global Energy Policy
1255 Amsterdam Ave, New York, NY 10027
1255 Amsterdam Ave, New York, NY 10027
This is the second episode of a five-part series exploring the lithium-ion battery supply chain. If you haven’t listened to the first episode, we recommend you start there.
Season 4, Episode 2
We need to increase critical mineral production fast to electrify our world. Can we do it without harming local communities and the environment?
To produce enough batteries to reach global net-zero goals, the International Energy Agency says we’ll need to increase production of critical minerals by six fold by 2040. It’s a monumental task.
It can feel like a contradictory mission. To save the planet, we have to mine more minerals; but mining and processing those minerals increases emissions and often negatively impacts indigenous communities and the environment.
In this episode, we start at the beginning of the battery supply chain—lithium mining.
We’ll ask why so much rides on where and how we source lithium, and whether we can balance growing demand with local communities and the land.
More Episodes
The Battery Recycling Dilemma
So far over this season we've traced the global lithium-ion battery supply chain from mining to processing to manufacturing. And we've put it all into a geopolitical and economic context.
The Big Switch Podcast
• March 27, 2024
The Great Battery Manufacturing Race
China has been the world's biggest battery manufacturer for over a decade. By 2022, according to the IEA, China manufactured 76% of the world's batteries. But that's changing.
The Big Switch Podcast
• March 20, 2024
The High Stakes for Battery Ingredients
Batteries can replace gasoline in our cars, or diesel in our generators with electricity. But batteries and petroleum-based fuels share something in common: they both rely on energy-intensive processes to turn extracted materials into something useful.
The Big Switch Podcast
• March 13, 2024
Are Batteries the New Oil?
Season 4, Episode 1 Batteries are at the center of the clean energy economy. Will they shape geopolitics in similar ways to oil? We need to electrify much...
The Big Switch Podcast
• February 28, 2024
Relevant
Publications
Q&A: Trump’s Executive Order on US Domestic Mineral Production
What is the goal of the critical minerals executive order signed by President Trump on March 20, 2025? The order[1] aims to significantly increase domestic production of critical minerals...
The Impact of Trump Tariffs on US-Canada Minerals and Metals Trade
In an escalation of trade tensions, Donald Trump threatened to double tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum to 50 percent this week. This increase would have been in...
Energy and Climate Issues During the Trump Administration’s First 100 Days
President Donald Trump has made energy a clear focus for his second term in the White House. Having campaigned on an “America First” platform that highlighted domestic fossil-fuel growth, the reversal of climate policies and clean energy incentives advanced by the Biden administration, and substantial tariffs on key US trading partners, he declared an “energy emergency” on his first day in office.
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
