Running from Hawaii to Baja California, five kilometres beneath the Pacific Ocean, lies one of the richest mineral treasures on the planet. An area larger than India, it is pitch black and temperatures dip below 4°C and 500 atmospheres of pressure. But the Clarion-Clipperton Zone, or the CCZ, is also home to thousands of species of coral, starfish, anemones and others unknown to science – making the decision on whether to mine the deep sea a challenging one amid the green energy revolution.
The supply of raw materials essential for the energy transition is increasingly critical. To operate, the likes of wind turbines, solar panels, electric vehicle motors, hydrogen electrolysers, batteries and electrification need copper, lithium, rare earth elements, precious metals and others. Consumption by clean energy systems by 2040 will grow by six to 21 times for cobalt, six to 19 times for nickel, and three to eight times for manganese, according to the International Energy Agency.
Obtaining these has become a tricky topic. Some, particularly copper, are already required in large quantities and concerns have arisen that supply could fail to keep up later this decade as the world’s leading mines are exhausted and lack of investment takes its toll.
Other minerals have been little-used historically. Cobalt is mostly produced as a by-product of copper and nickel mining, making it hard to increase production independently. Output of some metals is concentrated in China, Russia and the US, countries that might use control of resources for strategic ends.
By contrast, two thirds of the global cobalt supply comes from the Democratic Republic of Congo, which is associated with poor labour conditions, corruption and political instability. As prices for these metals rise, governments demand higher taxes, as in Chile, the world’s leading copper miner.
Mining on land creates environmental problems: disturbance to communities; damage to ecosystems from land use, tailings heaps and contaminated water run-off; acid rain from sulphur in the minerals; and high greenhouse gas emissions from supplying power to the mines and ore smelters.
Combine these problems and it is not surprising that attention has returned to mining the deep sea. The CCZ alone is estimated to contain more cobalt, manganese and nickel than all known terrestrial deposits. These oceanic minerals are not owned by any state but licences to explore them are administered by the International Seabed Authority, or ISA, an agency of the UN.
The ocean floor contains three main types of mineral deposits: the polymetallic nodules scattered across the floor of areas such as the CCZ; metallic crusts on underwater mountains that contain manganese, cobalt and platinum among others; and sulphides accumulated at “black smokers”, or vents of superheated volcanic waters where zinc, copper, silver and gold can be found.
So far, these resources are not being mined but a number of ambitious companies have the funding and technology to try. Tractors and suction devices could hoover up the sediment and bring it to a ship that would separate the ore and dump the rest back into mid-level waters.
In May, a trial of a robotic harvester in the CCZ by a subsidiary of Belgium’s Deme group successfully collected nodules. The ISA has awarded the company an exploration area twice the size of Belgium. The next trial comes in 2024, with hopes for commercial production by 2028.
But should we exploit this pristine area? Along with the Antarctic, it is virtually the last untouched environment on Earth.
Sediments accumulate in the deep waters at a rate as slow as a millimetre a millennium. Thirty years after a simple test of disturbing the seabed off Peru in 1989, there has been no recovery. Meanwhile, creatures such as the ghost octopus, which was discovered only in 2016 off Hawaii, attaches themselves to a hard ocean-bottom object for several years to hatch their eggs – a hard object that could be a metal nodule.
Many more such undiscovered creatures and unknown ecosystems, no doubt, lie hidden below the ocean in the CCZ area. Seabed mining could destroy these habitats before we even understand them.
So, what are the alternatives? Greenpeace advocates recycling and the “circular economy”, with the aspiration of zero waste. Batteries and their metals can be recycled and a major effort is justified to design green energy systems better to allow their re-use.
But even a circle needs a starting point. The renewable and electric economy needs to be built and the first generation of equipment come to obsolescence before substantial recycling can begin.
Alternative materials can be used. Lower-cobalt batteries have already become more popular, although they require more manganese. Electric car maker Tesla is now touting lithium-iron-phosphate batteries as the likely option for two thirds of its needs, made from cheaper and more readily available ingredients.
Copper can be replaced to an extent with aluminium or plastics, although plastics come from fossil fuels. These substitutes are often heavier, less energy-efficient and not always suited for the most demanding applications in renewable energy and electric vehicles.
Given a deadline of only 29 years to many countries’ net-zero carbon goals, and with the crunch in copper, in particular, expected by mid-decade, there is limited time for lengthy research. Despite real concerns, the deep-sea mining industry is emerging with far more environmental care and awareness than its onshore cousin, or the early days of the petroleum business. It is the only extractive business governed by an international system.
It may turn out that deep-sea mining is not profitable, that the environmental effects are unacceptable or that mineral needs may be better met through onshore mining, recycling and alternatives. However, the need for a rapid green energy revolution to slow climate change means tough choices.
If carefully studied, tightly regulated and watched by independent observers, the industry of ocean floor minerals can stake a claim.
Robin Mills is chief executive of Qamar Energy and author of The Myth of the Oil Crisis
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F1 2020 calendar
March 15 - Australia, Melbourne; March 22 - Bahrain, Sakhir; April 5 - Vietnam, Hanoi; April 19 - China, Shanghai; May 3 - Netherlands, Zandvoort; May 20 - Spain, Barcelona; May 24 - Monaco, Monaco; June 7 - Azerbaijan, Baku; June 14 - Canada, Montreal; June 28 - France, Le Castellet; July 5 - Austria, Spielberg; July 19 - Great Britain, Silverstone; August 2 - Hungary, Budapest; August 30 - Belgium, Spa; September 6 - Italy, Monza; September 20 - Singapore, Singapore; September 27 - Russia, Sochi; October 11 - Japan, Suzuka; October 25 - United States, Austin; November 1 - Mexico City, Mexico City; November 15 - Brazil, Sao Paulo; November 29 - Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi.
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
Libya's Gold
UN Panel of Experts found regime secretly sold a fifth of the country's gold reserves.
The panel’s 2017 report followed a trail to West Africa where large sums of cash and gold were hidden by Abdullah Al Senussi, Qaddafi’s former intelligence chief, in 2011.
Cases filled with cash that was said to amount to $560m in 100 dollar notes, that was kept by a group of Libyans in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
A second stash was said to have been held in Accra, Ghana, inside boxes at the local offices of an international human rights organisation based in France.
FIXTURES
Nov 04-05: v Western Australia XI, Perth
Nov 08-11: v Cricket Australia XI, Adelaide
Nov 15-18 v Cricket Australia XI, Townsville (d/n)
Nov 23-27: 1ST TEST v AUSTRALIA, Brisbane
Dec 02-06: 2ND TEST v AUSTRALIA, Adelaide (d/n)
Dec 09-10: v Cricket Australia XI, Perth
Dec 14-18: 3RD TEST v AUSTRALIA, Perth
Dec 26-30 4TH TEST v AUSTRALIA, Melbourne
Jan 04-08: 5TH TEST v AUSTRALIA, Sydney
Note: d/n = day/night
Brown/Black belt finals
3pm: 49kg female: Mayssa Bastos (BRA) v Thamires Aquino (BRA)
3.07pm: 56kg male: Hiago George (BRA) v Carlos Alberto da Silva (BRA)
3.14pm: 55kg female: Amal Amjahid (BEL) v Bianca Basilio (BRA)
3.21pm: 62kg male: Gabriel de Sousa (BRA) v Joao Miyao (BRA)
3.28pm: 62kg female: Beatriz Mesquita (BRA) v Ffion Davies (GBR)
3.35pm: 69kg male: Isaac Doederlein (BRA) v Paulo Miyao (BRA)
3.42pm: 70kg female: Thamara Silva (BRA) v Alessandra Moss (AUS)
3.49pm: 77kg male: Oliver Lovell (GBR) v Tommy Langarkar (NOR)
3.56pm: 85kg male: Faisal Al Ketbi (UAE) v Rudson Mateus Teles (BRA)
4.03pm: 90kg female: Claire-France Thevenon (FRA) v Gabreili Passanha (BRA)
4.10pm: 94kg male: Adam Wardzinski (POL) v Kaynan Duarte (BRA)
4.17pm: 110kg male: Yahia Mansoor Al Hammadi (UAE) v Joao Rocha (BRA
Plan to boost public schools
A major shake-up of government-run schools was rolled out across the country in 2017. Known as the Emirati School Model, it placed more emphasis on maths and science while also adding practical skills to the curriculum.
It was accompanied by the promise of a Dh5 billion investment, over six years, to pay for state-of-the-art infrastructure improvements.
Aspects of the school model will be extended to international private schools, the education minister has previously suggested.
Recent developments have also included the introduction of moral education - which public and private schools both must teach - along with reform of the exams system and tougher teacher licensing requirements.
The specs: 2018 Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross
Price, base / as tested: Dh101,140 / Dh113,800
Engine: Turbocharged 1.5-litre four-cylinder
Power: 148hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 250Nm @ 2,000rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed CVT
Fuel consumption, combined: 7.0L / 100km
Jeff Buckley: From Hallelujah To The Last Goodbye
By Dave Lory with Jim Irvin
GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged and three electric motors
Power: Combined output 920hp
Torque: 730Nm at 4,000-7,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel consumption: 11.2L/100km
On sale: Now, deliveries expected later in 2025
Price: expected to start at Dh1,432,000
Where to buy
Limited-edition art prints of The Sofa Series: Sultani can be acquired from Reem El Mutwalli at www.reemelmutwalli.com
Seven tips from Emirates NBD
1. Never respond to e-mails, calls or messages asking for account, card or internet banking details
2. Never store a card PIN (personal identification number) in your mobile or in your wallet
3. Ensure online shopping websites are secure and verified before providing card details
4. Change passwords periodically as a precautionary measure
5. Never share authentication data such as passwords, card PINs and OTPs (one-time passwords) with third parties
6. Track bank notifications regarding transaction discrepancies
7. Report lost or stolen debit and credit cards immediately
Abandon
Sangeeta Bandyopadhyay
Translated by Arunava Sinha
Tilted Axis Press
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
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Know before you go
- Jebel Akhdar is a two-hour drive from Muscat airport or a six-hour drive from Dubai. It’s impossible to visit by car unless you have a 4x4. Phone ahead to the hotel to arrange a transfer.
- If you’re driving, make sure your insurance covers Oman.
- By air: Budget airlines Air Arabia, Flydubai and SalamAir offer direct routes to Muscat from the UAE.
- Tourists from the Emirates (UAE nationals not included) must apply for an Omani visa online before arrival at evisa.rop.gov.om. The process typically takes several days.
- Flash floods are probable due to the terrain and a lack of drainage. Always check the weather before venturing into any canyons or other remote areas and identify a plan of escape that includes high ground, shelter and parking where your car won’t be overtaken by sudden downpours.
Water waste
In the UAE’s arid climate, small shrubs, bushes and flower beds usually require about six litres of water per square metre, daily. That increases to 12 litres per square metre a day for small trees, and 300 litres for palm trees.
Horticulturists suggest the best time for watering is before 8am or after 6pm, when water won't be dried up by the sun.
A global report published by the Water Resources Institute in August, ranked the UAE 10th out of 164 nations where water supplies are most stretched.
The Emirates is the world’s third largest per capita water consumer after the US and Canada.
The Vile
Starring: Bdoor Mohammad, Jasem Alkharraz, Iman Tarik, Sarah Taibah
Director: Majid Al Ansari
Rating: 4/5
SNAPSHOT
While Huawei did launch the first smartphone with a 50MP image sensor in its P40 series in 2020, Oppo in 2014 introduced the Find 7, which was capable of taking 50MP images: this was done using a combination of a 13MP sensor and software that resulted in shots seemingly taken from a 50MP camera.
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Countries offering golden visas
UK
Innovator Founder Visa is aimed at those who can demonstrate relevant experience in business and sufficient investment funds to set up and scale up a new business in the UK. It offers permanent residence after three years.
Germany
Investing or establishing a business in Germany offers you a residence permit, which eventually leads to citizenship. The investment must meet an economic need and you have to have lived in Germany for five years to become a citizen.
Italy
The scheme is designed for foreign investors committed to making a significant contribution to the economy. Requires a minimum investment of €250,000 which can rise to €2 million.
Switzerland
Residence Programme offers residence to applicants and their families through economic contributions. The applicant must agree to pay an annual lump sum in tax.
Canada
Start-Up Visa Programme allows foreign entrepreneurs the opportunity to create a business in Canada and apply for permanent residence.
Tour de France Stage 16:
165km run from Le Puy-en-Velay to Romans-sur-Isère
The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
