Are We Going to Scale Back Our Expectations?

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We're going to have a frank discussion of what minerals we think we need versus what we've got, he says. We'll start doing things like making batteries out of sodium or sand, silica or fluoride or zinc or lead. Low tech scalable things that don't give us the dopamine return on investment, but they are cheap and functional. They keep it alive. And can be recycled. Right? So that's what we're going to first scale back our expectations and our requirements for complex complex technology. Then we're goingto start sourcing our minerals from our waste products because it's all around us. Can we do stuff with what we have instead of trying to mine it in the first

On this episode, mining and geology expert Simon Michaux returns to give a preliminary framework for responses to the coming energy and material constraints described in the previous episode. This includes both practical thoughts for how to organize communities around resources and also a shift in mindset from short term to long-term and from competition to cooperation. How do we simultaneously lay out all of the biophysical constraints on the table so that we can begin preparing for and adapting to a changing future?

About Simon Michaux

Dr. Simon Michaux is an Associate Professor of Geometallurgy at the Geological Survey of Finland. He has a PhD in mining engineering. Dr. Michaux’s long-term work is on societal transformation toward a circular economy.

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