2023-07-13 15:15:23
A large mineral deposit was recently discovered in Norway. It might help the planet sustain its needs for batteries and solar panels for the next hundred years.
Huge phosphate deposits discovered in southwestern Norway might make electric vehicles, solar panels and fertilizers for a hundred years.
The precious ore was discovered in 2018 by Norway Miningwhich revealed in May that it had found 70 billion tons of the material.
Phosphate is rich in phosphorus, a key element in many green technologies and fertilizers. This discovery comes at a crucial time when Europe is facing supply problems.
EU warns of phosphate shortage
In 2012, The Hague released a report warning of upcoming phosphate shortages. There Russia controls the largest deposit of this chemical component, but imports have been reduced since the invasion of Ukraine.
The Moroccothe Chinel’Iran and the Syria also have large deposits of this mineral, but the war has had an impact on its exploitation, which has resulted in a increased cost of fertilizer.
Earlier this year, scientists warned of a “phosphogeddon”.
We have to be “much smarter in the way we use phosphorus”said the professor Phil Haygarthof the’Lancaster Universityto the British newspaper The Guardian. _”If we don’t, we are heading for a disaster.”_The professor Penny Jonesof the’University of Bristolwas even more direct: “There is no life on Earth without phosphorus”.
Phosphate fertilizers have become essential to ensure the world food production. But their exploitation is also associated with algal blooms that threaten fish stocks and produce methane that warms the planet.
Norway has enough phosphorus to make energy for a century
These new deposits discovered in Scandinavia might theoretically meet the global demand for batteries and solar panels for a hundred years, confirmed the company Norway Mining.
After the discovery of the rock, Jan Christian VestreNorwegian Minister for Trade and Industry, said that Norway had “the obligation” to develop “the most sustainable mineral industry in the world”.
The global economy consumes 45 million metric tons of phosphorus each year. Once mined, the ore can be transformed into phosphoric acid and provide a wide range of uses, including lithium-iron-phosphate batteries and animal feed.
An important discovery
“When you find something of this magnitude in Europe, which exceeds all other sources we know of, it is significant”said Michael WurmserFounder and Deputy CEO of Norway Miningto the information website Euractive.
“We believe that the phosphorus we can produce will be important for the West, because it gives them autonomy”he added.
However, phosphorus refining has always been very carbon intensivewhich partly explains why there has been little production in Europe in recent years.
Norway Mining plans to use carbon capture and storage to offset the environmental impact of production, although the effectiveness of these technologies is often questioned.
It’s not just phosphate that was discovered at the site. Large deposits of essential raw materials – titanium, frequently used for joint prostheses and in aircraft construction, and vanadium, used to strengthen steel – were also present.
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