Ghent University and Bluebridge will organize on Friday 22nd of October, 2021 the Think-Tank ‘Global mineral supply and meeting the challenge of future demand’. The Think-Tank will join leading scientists, policy makers, experts and entrepreneurs to debate on four themes:
Climate change, population growth and metal demand. Prof. dr. Jean-Pascal Van Ypersele, UCL
The mitigation of climate change e.g. increase of renewable energy could increase the need of metals. The evolution of the world population and the tendency towards urbanization could have an impact on demand for metals. In this topic the impact of both evolutions on the demand for raw materials will be discussed. This means debating the likely magnitude of both phenomena and their impact on the demand for metals.
2. Europe and the search for mineral and metal supply. Prof. dr. Jonathan Holslag, VUB
The presence of metals is unevenly distributed around the world. This doesn’t only relate to the geographical distribution of the sources, but also to the control over them. In this topic we discuss Europe’s geopolitical position concerning the access to metal market.
3. Recent evolutions: innovations, circular economy and deep-sea mining. Prof. dr. Eric Pirard, Université de Liège
The themes mentioned above can’t be decoupled of technological evolution. What is the possible impact of transforming to a circular economy? What are the technological possibilities to limit the demand of metals? What timeframes of these technological innovations are desirable/possible/realistic?
4. Comparing Impact through Life Cycle Assessments. Prof. dr. Jo De Wulf, Ghent University
The debate about deep-sea minerals automatically triggers the discussion about the various possibilities for mining metals. In this topic the predominant focus shall be on the comparison between deep-sea mining, versus land mining without extending the existing mines versus land mining with extra mines. This mainly concerns the ecological impact (biodiversity, for example), pollution and CO2 emissions (life-cycle assessment).
More info: https://thinktankminerals.eu/