This is a question that may surprise and yet it appears implicitly in our PODCAST “Click – The Turning Point” of this week which questions our dependence on metals. They are more and more present in our daily lives without us always realizing it. They are also increasingly strategic in the context of the energy transition and the technological revolution.
Only here, today, Europe has very little control over these resources, which it nevertheless uses abundantly. The Neodymium necessary for the manufacture of high-powered magnets for wind turbine rotors comes mainly from China, the Lithium (for our batteries) comes mainly from Australia and South America, the Cobalt comes from the Democratic Republic of Congo… and many other examples might be cited.
This dependence raises economic questions. The recent past has shown that China, for example, by limiting its exports might drive up the price of certain materials. It also raises questions on the geostrategic level since Europe has very little control over the supply of certain metals that are essential for the economy, for the energy transition, etc. Finally, it raises questions on the ethical level since entrusting other countries with the exploitation of resources used for our consumption amounts to relocating the environmental and social cost of these resources.
“Or else we give up the smartphone”
Does all this force us to reconsider the possibility of opening mines in Wallonia? For Eric Pirard, professor of geological resources and circular economy at Uliège, “we must at the very least ask ourselves the question… We cannot continue to take advantage of a whole series of technologies while ignoring all the industrial activity that is necessary to manufacture them. I’m always very shocked when mining operations are denounced as being very polluting… without realizing that we don’t dig holes for fun. It is particularly useful for the manufacture of our smartphones… so either we give up the smartphone and we are consistent, or we accept the idea that behind these smartphones there needs to be a whole industrial sector and mines to extract primary resources. We must reconcile everyone with the impact of their consumption“.
The UNamur geology professor Johan Yans explains that Europe is becoming aware of this issue. “For two good decades, Europe has undertaken an inventory of the resources found in its subsoil. We therefore have a good idea today of what is potentially possible as an exploitation in Europe. It remains now, if we want to exploit them, to authorize their extraction… and here we know that the population is not in favor of the opening of new mines in Europe… even if they are very different from the image “Germinal “that we have coal mines, still today in our imagination. But we cannot avoid asking ourselves the question…”.
So will we go so far as to exploit new mines in Europe? What potential also for recycling here? How dependent are we on China for our metals? We deal with all these questions in our new episode of “Le Tournant” to listen to in full ici.
