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The Changing Geopolitics of Critical Minerals and the Future of the Clean Energy Transition
›At a recent Wilson Center event on the shifting geopolitics of critical minerals, Cory Combs, Associate Director at Beijing-based Trivium China, noted that “the nature of global resource competition is changing—and quite rapidly.”
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A Land Grab or a Boon for Communities: Renewable Hydrogen in the Norwegian Arctic
›Green hydrogen is often portrayed as a key component in the green energy transition, since it is produced with renewable energy through electrolysis – the splitting up of freshwater into hydrogen and oxygen – and it does not emit carbon dioxide when combusted. Yet green hydrogen’s huge potential for the decarbonization of hard-to-abate sectors (e.g. steelmaking and production of fertilizers) as well as maritime shipping and aviation are not the only promises that it harbors. Green hydrogen’s use as an energy storage solution makes it particularly promising for remote and sparsely populated areas with an abundance of renewable energy resources such as the Norwegian Arctic.
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Climate Security and Critical Minerals Mining in Latin America: How Can Business Help?
›Guest Contributor // March 7, 2023 // By Héctor Camilo Morales Muñoz, Johanna Dieffenbacher, Raquel Munayer & Beatrice MoselloThe amount of critical minerals required to develop low-carbon energy technologies is predicted to be six times higher than what is needed today. Yet meeting this demand is necessary to enable a global transition that will address climate change and comply with agreements such as the European Green New Deal.
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States Show Leadership on Climate Action
›In a time of increasing urgency and regulatory restraint in U.S. climate policy, state-level climate work has been critical. States such as California, Louisiana, and Washington have taken the absence of federal policy as an opening to innovate, and responded thoughtfully and creatively to the challenge.
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Conflict and Copper
›Guest Contributor // February 13, 2023 // By Morgan Bazilian, Aaron Malone & Eliseo Zeballos ZeballosGlobal demand for copper has climbed dramatically in recent years, a trend that is likely to continue apace. Peru is the world’s second largest producer of copper. Yet the clamor for copper is an opportunity that the nation is unable to seize upon at present. Peru is now undergoing severe political upheaval and protests that have brought new attention to the underlying risks in extractive industries and supply chains. Production cuts stemming from protests and blockades could amount to 3 percent of global copper output.
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America Reenters Competition for Global Nuclear Energy Markets
›During the 2010s, the United States was on the verge of permanently losing competitiveness in global nuclear energy markets. This weakness threatened American geopolitical goals, with Russia further extending its nuclear market dominance and China eyeing reactor exports across the Belt and Road.
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What Can California Teach the Federal Government on Air Pollution? A Conversation With Richard Corey
›In August 2022, California’s Air Resources Board (CARB) announced a new regulation requiring all new vehicles sold in California to be zero emission by 2035, paving the way for an emission-free future. But what exactly is CARB—and why do its decisions carry such weight? To answer those questions and more, the Wilson Center’s Environmental Change and Security Program partnered with Climate Break (with support from the Henry M. Jackson Foundation) for a joint podcast featuring CARB’s former Executive Officer, Richard Corey. The conversation ranged from the agency’s history, to what Corey has learned about how to implement effective policy, and his view of lessons for the federal government as it moves more aggressively on climate action.
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One Earth, one security space: from the 1972 Stockholm Conference to Stockholm+50 and beyond
›The 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment marked a watershed in world environmental politics. Gathered in Stockholm, Sweden, the international community collectively recognized that the technologies and economic models that enable modern development were also driving unsustainable environmental degradation, compromising the vital natural systems on which human well-being depends.
Showing posts from category energy.