OSHER 869 - Critical Materials and the Green Energy Transition

As can be seen from the number of electric cars on our roads and solar cells on our roofs, global climate disruption is inspiring a transition from fossil fuels to electricity based on renewable energy. Concerns have recently been raised about whether the world possesses enough of certain critical materials (mostly mineral-derived metals like lithium, cobalt, rare earths, and the like) to support the anticipated requirements. This course will look at the factors driving the need for those substances, as well as the physical, social, political, and economic challenges to obtaining them, including such things as water consumption in an increasingly arid world. We will also look at possible ways to overcome these challenges, including the substitution of other materials, changes in government regulations, improved mining and refining technologies, and even things like mining the ocean floor and the inside of volcanos!