Science and Engineering News

The Environmental Cost of Future Nickel Mining

By Murphy Lunney (Year 11 UQ Science Ambassador)

Nickel has become one of the world's most demanded minerals due to it being essential for producing batteries used in electric vehicles, storage, and modern electronics. As many countries push towards decarbonization, the global demand for nickel is projected to significantly rise over the next few decades. The challenge is that many of the higher-grade deposits for nickel are located in rich tropical regions such as Southeast Asia, the Pacific, and Southern America. Mining in these areas can lead to large-scale habitat loss for native wildlife, soil erosion, water contamination, and long-term ecosystem damage which can also affect you and me.

A transition to clean energy relies heavily on materials that can cause significant environmental harm being used less and less. Many scientists are now modelling the effect on the quantity of the nickel supply if mining avoided the most sensitive conservation areas. This pressure is driving research into many alternate battery chemistries, as well as improved recycling systems, and more sustainable mining practices. The broader issue of solving climate change must be taken into account and not come at the cost of destroying ecosystems that we are trying to protect.

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