Deep Sea Mining: A Solution in Search of a Problem
The ocean's depths are the planet's final frontier - mysterious, untouched, and teeming with life. Yet a recent U.S. Executive Order promoting deep-sea mining (DSM) threatens to turn this pristine wilderness into yet another industrial sacrifice zone in pursuit of minerals that are available terrestrially and, in some cases, are becoming rapidly obsolete.
Chinese battery giant CATL recently announced it has reached mass production of sodium-ion batteries. Sodium-ion batteries use cheap, abundant salt and iron rather than the lithium, nickel, and cobalt found in nodules coveted by deep sea mining companies. It’s the perfect example of a technology that eliminates the need to go to the deep-sea for previously key battery components. This breakthrough in technology promises 1,500 km range batteries with 520 km of charge in just five minutes.
As You Sow recognized early-on that protecting ecosystems is not only an environmental imperative, but an economic one. Over half of global GDP depends on nature's services, but extractive industries like deep sea mining can put these critical systems at risk. When DSM emerged as a new threat to biodiversity, carbon sequestration, and marine-based economies, As You Sow saw an opportunity to work with public companies to understand the risks and ensure more economically beneficial, less harmful solutions.
Across the globe, innovators are finding smarter, more efficient ways to either avoid the need for critical minerals or to source them more sustainably. Circular economy solutions offer a viable alternative to the destructive folly of deep seabed mining. Companies like Redwood Materials are perfecting battery recycling techniques that recover over 90% of lithium and cobalt. Researchers are also extracting rare earth elements from coal ash and other industrial byproducts. Even electronic waste -- from old smartphones to discarded wind turbines -- is a renewable resource for rare earth minerals.
The future of clean energy isn't a race to the bottom of the ocean. It's in our laboratories, recycling centers, and in our ability to innovate without destroying the planet or the economy. The global economy now faces a critical choice. Will we double down on yesterday's extractive thinking, alienating allies and investors in the process? Or will we embrace the cleaner circular solutions?
As investors and policymakers, we must collectively recognize when a "solution" is actually a problem -- and have the wisdom and vision to avoid the costly dead ends that endanger our communities and our global commons. The deep sea is a biodiversity hotspot and fragile ecosystem, a vital carbon sink and its waters border globally important fishing habitats. Destroying this ocean system for short-term mineral gains would be an act of profound economic and ecological shortsightedness.