BMW, Volvo, Google and Samsung SDI are the first companies to sign the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) suspension order for deep-ocean mining.
According to this non-governmental organization (NGO), these companies undertake not to source any minerals from the seabed, to exclude such minerals from their supply chain and not to finance any deep-sea mining activities.
Recall that there is a zone in the Pacific Ocean, at depths between 4 km and 6 km — in a vast area that extends for many kilometers between Hawaii and Mexico — where enormous concentrations of polymetallic nodules can be found.
They don't look like more than small stones, but they contain all the materials to make a battery for an electric car.
Polymetallic nodules, what are they?
These nodules (which look more like small stones…), whose size varies between 1 cm and 10 cm, are just deposits of ferromanganese oxides and other metals, such as those needed for the production of batteries.
Present in all oceans and even in some lakes, they stand out for being on the ocean floor, therefore not requiring any type of drilling.
This is a subject we've covered before, when DeepGreen Metals, a Canadian deep-sea mining company, suggested deep-sea mining as an alternative to onshore mining.
Taking into account the scarcity of raw materials to make all the batteries needed to respond to the increasing pressure of putting electric vehicles on the market, mining these polymetallic nodules from the bottom of the ocean stands out as a solution.
What's the downside?
However, not much is known about the ecosystem and the variety of species that live in the collection area at the bottom of the oceans, so the real impact of this practice on that ecosystem is not known. And this is the main reason that supports the moratorium now “raised” by the WWF.
“With much of the deep-sea ecosystem yet to be explored and understood, such activity would be recklessly short-sighted,” said the NGO, cited by Automotive News.
In this sense, the moratorium calls for a ban on deep-sea mining activities until the risks are fully understood and all alternatives exhausted.
BMW, Volvo, Google and Samsung SDI in solidarity
According to Automotive News, BMW has already made it known that raw materials from offshore mining “are not an option” at the moment because there are not enough scientific discoveries to assess the environmental risks.
iX3, BMW's first electric SUV.
Samsung SDI has also said it was the first battery maker to participate in the WWF initiative. In turn, Volvo and Google have not yet commented on this “positioning”.
But despite this suspension request that has now been signed, the subsea fund's mining companies are continuing with the preparatory work and trying to secure licensing for these activities.
So far, among the companies with exploration licenses for deep-sea areas are DeepGreen — already mentioned above —, GSR and UK Seabed Resources.
DeepGreen is one of the biggest advocates of this solution, which it says is more sustainable than onshore mining, as it creates less waste and because the nodules have much higher metal concentrations than those found in onshore deposits.
GSR, through its managing director, Kris van Nijen, has already made it known that “it will only apply for a mining contract if science shows that, from an environmental and social point of view, minerals from the deep sea have advantages over the alternative — which is to rely exclusively on new and existing land mines.”
Volvo XC40 Recharge, the Swedish brand's first production electric.
Norway wants to be a pioneer
Norway, which in 2020 became the first country in the world where electric cars represent more than 50% of new cars sold, wants to be a pioneer in offshore mining and could issue licenses as early as 2023.
Speaking to Automotive News, Tony Christian Tiller, secretary of state in Norway's oil and energy ministry, declined to comment on this moratorium, but confirmed that the government of that northern European country has already “started a process of opening up for high mining sea, where environmental conditions are a key area in impact assessment”.
