OSHER 632 - Critical Minerals and the Green Energy Transition

The Green Energy Transition is a major policy issue for the Biden Administration and will be important in the 2024 election. Its goal is to replace fossil fuels with renewable energy in time to mitigate or at least minimize the damage resulting from a warming earth. But renewable energy technologies require far more critical minerals such as Lithium than do fossil fuel ones. This raises the question as to whether there are sufficient mineral reserves to accomplish the goal. This class will examine the issue from a number of perspectives, including time-scales of technology innovation and spread, mineral reserves, economics, chemical substitution, and politics.