BBC Inside Science
Better Than Gold: Critical Minerals
Apr 3, 2025
Elsa Pancharoli, an NERC Independent Research Fellow at the National Museum of Scotland, discusses the groundbreaking discovery of a Jurassic fossil on the Isle of Skye. She shares the challenges her team faced while extracting a 166-million-year-old treasure. The conversation also dives into the geopolitical importance of critical minerals, essential for technology and sustainability, and how they impact the race for resources, especially in Ukraine. Exciting news from lunar exploration and dinosaur finds rounds out this fascinating discussion!
28:31
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Quick takeaways
- Critical minerals are crucial for modern technology and green energy, significantly influencing geopolitical dynamics and supply chains.
- The mining process for critical minerals is complex and lengthy, affected by geological conditions and environmental regulations, posing sourcing challenges.
Deep dives
The Significance of Critical Minerals
Critical minerals are vital components in modern technology and green energy initiatives, as they are essential for manufacturing electric cars and renewable energy systems. Notably, minerals like lithium, cobalt, and rare earth elements are crucial for batteries, electric motors, and solar panels. Due to their increasing demand and limited supply, these minerals have gained geopolitical importance, particularly in the context of US aid deals with Ukraine. Understanding the dependencies and risks associated with these minerals highlights their role in achieving net zero carbon targets and the challenges of sourcing them sustainably.
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