The depth of our oceans has held humanity’s fascination for centuries, and today, it potentially holds a solution to one of our most pressing challenges: propelling the CleanTech revolution. According to Guillaume Pitron’s ‘The Rare Metals War’, the next three decades could see us needing more ores than humanity has used in the last 70,000 years. Against this backdrop, deep-sea mining emerges as a potentially transformative frontier for sourcing the raw materials indispensable for cutting-edge green technology.
The abyssal ocean floor, while seemingly barren, is in fact a vast repository of polymetallic nodules, potato-shaped lumps formed over millions of years as layers of manganese and iron hydroxides condense around a core, which can be a fossil, a rock, or even another older nodule. These potato-shaped lumps are not just rocks – they are rich in critical minerals such as nickel, cobalt, and rare earth metals, which in turn are the lifeblood of electric vehicle batteries, wind turbines, and solar panels.
In an epoch characterized by our insatiable demand for these rare metals driving environmental destruction and human rights abuses, the prospect of a source that poses no threat to either biodiversity hotspots or human communities appears invaluable. However, this nascent industry is not without controversy, igniting a complex debate about environmental stewardship, sustainable growth, and humanity’s next steps into the mysterious depths below.
James Cameron, a noted conservationist and accomplished deep-sea explorer, who has undertaken over 75 underwater expeditions, including his famous solo dive to the Mariana Trench, recently weighed in on this subject in an interview with The Guardian. Cameron offered a nuanced perspective, stating, “I think it’s a question of the relativity of wrong here. What they’re doing in Indonesia and the Congo and the Amazon and Peru, Chile is wrong. To do it in the abyssal sea floor, where there’s very little in the way of a rich and diverse community, I think is less wrong.” While Cameron’s viewpoint certainly stirs debate, it nevertheless reflects the multi-dimensional problem we face in our pursuit of sustainable development.
On one hand, it is very hard to quantify exactly how much “less wrong” deep sea mining actually is, as we know very little about the deep sea. Opposition from environmental groups such as Greenpeace underscores the considerable uncertainty surrounding deep-sea mining’s potential impacts. Their stance is that the deep ocean, while not as biodiverse as the land areas currently being exploited, still plays a crucial role in climate regulation and houses unique life forms.
These conservationists highlight the deep-sea’s function as a vast carbon sink, absorbing and storing a significant percentage of humanity’s excess heat and carbon dioxide through complex biogeochemical processes. Moreover, they stress that the abyssal plains are not lifeless expanses but house life forms that have evolved to survive in this extreme environment. These include species that use the metal-rich nodules as habitats, indicating that deep-sea mining could cause irreversible biodiversity loss.
In addition to these ecological concerns, Greenpeace and others note that the fledgling deep-sea mining industry has yet to prove it can operate safely. They point to preliminary tests that have already caused pollution plumes and the potential for underwater noise pollution disrupting marine mammals. Amid these uncertainties, several countries have proposed bans or moratoriums on deep-sea mining licenses, reflecting a global hesitancy to forge ahead without fully understanding the potential impacts.
In this context, it is clear that we need to find a balance between green growth, extraction of minerals and environmental impacts. So how can we find the balance? Mining companies like The Metals Company offer one perspective on achieving this balance. They argue that their method of harvesting is less invasive and more energy-efficient than traditional mining operations.
The Metals Company’s CEO, Gerard Barron, in an interview for NS Energy, describes the process like “collecting golf balls on a driving range.” Using their harvesting system, nodules can be collected with minimal disturbance to the sea floor – about the top 5cm. This is achieved through a tracked vehicle operating using the ‘Coanda effect.’ It directs a water jet parallel with the sea floor, which uplifts the nodules for collection.
Furthermore, The Metals Company claims that 92% of the disturbed sediment will remain on the sea floor, with the rest returned to an ecologically optimal depth, as determined by independent scientists. They emphasize the efficiency and low impact of their collection process, comparing it favorably against terrestrial mining, where resource extraction necessarily involves substantial physical disturbance. However, no matter how innovative the technology gets, there is another important aspect: policy.
The current state of regulatory oversight for deep-sea mining, particularly in international waters, is a work in progress. The stewardship of polymetallic nodules and other deep-sea minerals falls under the jurisdiction of the International Seabed Authority (ISA), a United Nations body comprised of 167 member states plus the European Union, with headquarters in Jamaica.
The ISA’s task is to establish and enforce regulations that balance the exploitation of deep-sea resources with the protection of the marine environment. The development of these regulations needs to keep pace with the rapidly advancing industry to ensure that all deep-sea mining activities are conducted responsibly and sustainably. The challenge lies in creating a regulatory framework that fosters innovation and economic opportunity while maintaining the highest standards of environmental protection for the world’s least understood ecosystems. As such, the success of deep-sea mining as a ‘less wrong’ alternative to terrestrial mining is as much a question of policy as it is of technology.
While we should embrace the potential of deep-sea mining as a possible aid in our transition towards cleaner energy, we must not rush headlong into the abyss. Instead, we need to move forward with caution, ensuring that our quest for clean energy does not inadvertently create a new environmental issue.
Deep-sea mining presents a paradoxical opportunity. On one hand, it can offer a less ‘wrong’ alternative to terrestrial mining and supply the much-needed raw materials for our CleanTech future. On the other hand, it opens a new frontier of potential environmental disruption. As we embark on this journey, we need to balance that optimism with a healthy dose of caution. Because, at the end of the day, it’s not just about what we gain from the deep sea; it’s also about what we could potentially lose.