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Transcript/ScriptPACIFIC CRITICAL MINERALS - Stone
HEADLINE: Debate churns over mining Pacific seabed for green-energy minerals
TEASER: Tech companies seek environmentally friendly approach to mining, while others want to postpone it until more impact studies are done
PUBLISHED:
BYLINE: Jessica Stone
CONTRIBUTOR:
DATELINE: Washington
VIDEOGRAPHER:
PRODUCER:
SCRIPT EDITORS: KEnochs; Reifenrath
VIDEO SOURCE (S): VOA, Zoom, AFP, Reuters
PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV _x_ RADIO _x_
TRT: 3:00
VID APPROVED BY: KE
TYPE:
EDITOR NOTES:))
((ANCHOR INTRO))
[[People from across the globe are convening on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York City for Climate Week. On the agenda: the environmental impact of seabed mining. The discussion comes as tech companies seek ways to fuel the green revolution while minimizing environmental impacts. VOA’s Jessica Stone has more.]]
((NARRATION))
The global energy transition is powered by critical minerals: lithium…cobalt…manganese…nickel…and copper.
All of which the International Seabed Authority says are plentiful across the floor of the Pacific Ocean — formed into rocks more than four thousand meters under the sea.
((Mandatory Courtesy: The Metals Company))
The Pacific Island nations of Tonga, Kiribati and Nauru have partnered with Canadian deep-sea mining firm The Metals Company to explore harvesting "nodules" ((end courtesy)) — or aggregates of minerals — in a deep part of the Pacific Ocean called the Clarion-Clipperton Zone.
Gerard Barron is CEO of The Metals Company.
(Gerard Barron, The Metals Company)) ((COURTESY: ZOOM))
“Our collector methodology is to put a robot on the seafloor which crawls along the ocean floor and fires a jet of water at the nodule, and it creates an inverse pressure and lifts the nodule up, and so we don’t go down and scour the seafloor.”
((NARRATION))
But critics like Greenpeace and Eddie Palu from the Tonga Fishery Association worry that harvesting these mineral-rich rocks will disrupt biodiversity. Palu wants to hold off on mining.
((Eddie Palu, Tonga Fishery Association))
“We demand a moratorium on the seabed mining until the environment[al], social and economic risk are comprehensively understood.”
((radio: Shiva Gounden is with Greenpeace Australia Pacific))
((Shiva Gounden, Greenpeace Australia Pacific))
“We know only very little of the deep sea, and the race for the final frontier could cause irreversible damages to the people and communities of our Pacific.”
((NARRATION))
Some scientists have noted that with little oxygen and no light, life in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone is mostly limited to bacteria and small invertebrates, though the extent of the biodiversity is still unknown.
Barron of The Metals Company contends that climate change is a bigger threat to biodiversity than mining.
((Gerard Barron, The Metals Company)) ((COURTESY: ZOOM))
"The oceans are impacted by every single thing we do today, especially global warming. So we need to address the main driver for climate change and reduce emissions."
((Begin Courtesy: Impossible Metals))
U.S.-based Impossible Metals is testing a robot that can avoid mineral deposits where it detects life and harvest those where it does not.
Oliver Gunasekara is its CEO.
((Oliver Gunasekara, Impossible Metals)) ((Courtesy: ZOOM))
“So the vehicle hovers above the seabed, uses ((end courtesy)) the camera and it actually picks up the nodules one by one. So this really minimizes all of the negative concerns around big sediment plumes.”
((Begin Courtesy: Viridian Biometals))
And Viridian Biometals bypasses energy-intensive processes such as smelting by using bacteria which can separate metal ore from the rock around it.
((radio: Eric Macris is the company’s CEO))
((Eric Macris; Viridian Biometals)) ((COURTESY: ZOOM))
"And the bacteria need oxygen just like ((end courtesy)) we do to breathe. And when there's not enough oxygen in the water around them, the bacteria have learned that there's oxygen in the rocks, and they have adapted to breathe that oxygen."
((NARRATION))
As these companies continue to innovate, they say they are committed to mitigating the environmental damage that comes from mining the seafloor and lowering the cost of the minerals that contribute to the green economy, all while combating climate change.
((Jessica Stone; VOA News.))
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
Subtitles / Dubbing AvailableNo
NetworkVOA
Embargo DateSeptember 19, 2024 14:28 EDT
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
