Energy & Development

Supporting developing economies in establishing sustainable energy systems and reducing energy poverty around the globe

Supporting developing economies in establishing sustainable energy systems and reducing energy poverty around the globe

Accelerating a transition to a radically different, and inclusive, energy system is a generational challenge. The poorest three-quarters of the global population still use only about 10% of global energy. Giving power to the poor through effective energy and development is a key factor in ensuring vibrant economic development around the world.

Access to modern energy services has been called the “golden thread” of development. As nations develop, energy demand continually increases as does the need for further infrastructure.

The Payne Institute at the Colorado School of Mines and our partners are focusing on the interconnected impacts of energy development on markets, trade, security, geopolitics and environment in creating vibrant industrialized societies. We are together creating a home for global discussion on the issue of energy and development.

NEWS

How Europe’s Carbon Tax is Reshaping Mineral Markets 4/15/26

How Europe’s Carbon Tax is Reshaping Mineral Markets

Payne Institute Student Researcher Sravan Lavudya and Geothermal and Low Carbon Technologies Program Manager Anna Littlefield write how across the global minerals sector, from mines in Australia to refineries in Brazil and smelters in South Africa, a new force is reshaping the landscape.  It is not being driven by markets or technology but by policy coming out of Brussels. April 15, 2026.

A Closed Strait of Hormuz Risks a Global Food Security Crisis

A Closed Strait of Hormuz Risks a Global Food Security Crisis

Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian, Gabriel Collins and Senior Research Associate Jahara Matisek write about the war in Iran and how it has done more than rattle energy markets. It has exposed an ordinary farm input as a strategic commodity. Urea is a concentrated, easy-to-transport nitrogen fertilizer that increases the yields of many crops, especially staple grains like corn, rice, and wheat. April 13, 2026.

Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining developing in Chile: Impact and Structural Barriers to Formalization 4/10/2026

Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining developing in Chile: Impact and Structural Barriers to Formalization

Payne Institute Research Associate Isabel Guajardo, Critical Minerals Program Manager Clarkson Kamurai, Energy Finance Lab Program Director Brad Handler and Faculty Fellow Ian Lange write about how artisanal and Small-Scale Mining (ASM) plays a meaningful, though often understated, role in Chile’s mining sector and regional economies.  April 10, 2026.

The Hidden Supply Chain Risk in AI:US Reliance on China’s Yttrium 4/9/26

The Hidden Supply Chain Risk in AI: US Reliance on China’s Yttrium

Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian, Senior Research Associate Jahara Matisek, and Macdonald Amoah write about the biggest consequence of the artificial intelligence (AI) buildout.  Aside from the water, electrical, and mineral demands, it is the scramble for gas turbines. Data centers, especially hyperscale AI centers, need power at an immense scale that many local grids cannot deliver, forcing developers to build their own large-scale natural gas generation in the race. April 9, 2026.

Sustainable development and Africa’s critical minerals: A multi-framework approach 3/28/2026

Sustainable development and Africa’s critical minerals: A multi-framework approach

Macdonald Amoah, Benjamin Sovacool, Zainab Usman, Abay Yimere, Fellow Cullen S. Hendrix, Nathaniel Dolton-Thornton, Karla Cervantes Barron, Director Morgan Bazilian, John Ayaburi, and Critical Minerals Program Manager Clarkson Kamurai examine how the disconnect between Africa’s continental governance framework, and the lived realities of resource extraction, by investigating how “top-down” industrial policies often marginalize local communities and the artisanal sector. Employing a multi-method qualitative approach, the research integrates a comparative analysis of mining impacts in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zimbabwe, and Zambia with primary stakeholder interviews along the cobalt value chain.  March 28, 2026.

Tin Demand Is Booming; Opportunities and Risks for Small Communities in Indonesia 3/25/2026

Tin Demand Is Booming; Opportunities and Risks for Small Communities in Indonesia

Payne Institute Student Researchers Andrew Bauman and Jason Gustely, Faculty Fellow Ian Lange, and Energy Finance Lab Program Director Brad Handler write about how artisanal and small-scale miners (ASM) in Indonesia, who provide as much as 12% of global supply, have a significant opportunity to benefit from the strong tin demand. March 25, 2026.

Every Time the World Asks “Who Are the Kurds?” There Is a Crisis in the Middle East 3/16/2026

Every Time the World Asks “Who Are the Kurds?” There Is a Crisis in the Middle East

Payne Institute Fellow Peri-Khan Aqrawi-Whitcomb writes about how whenever a “Who Are the Kurds?” explainer appears in your feed, and they’re landing right now, you already know two things: there is war somewhere in the Middle East, and someone is hoping the Kurds will help win or contain it.  Spread across Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and Syria, they are widely regarded as the largest stateless nation in the world. March 16, 2026.

How to Fix America’s Broken Arsenal 1/8/2026

How to Fix America’s Broken Arsenal

Macdonald Amoah, Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian, and Fellow Jahara Matisek write about how the defense establishment has severe knowledge gaps about its own, aging industrial base.  The United States cannot build what it needs because it does not have the workforce, the factories, or the partnerships to do so.  January 8, 2026.

Scale Matters: Even Climate Hawks Are Embracing Nuclear Power 12/22/25

Scale Matters: Even Climate Hawks Are Embracing Nuclear Power

Payne Institute Accelerated Methane Reduction Program Manager Simon Lomax writes about how nuclear energy is the No. 1 source of carbon-free electricity in the US, producing more than wind turbines and solar panels combined.  Even so, support for nuclear has been soft among so-called climate hawks — the public officials and thought leaders who rank global warming as one of the top issues facing the US and the world. December 22, 2025.

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For more information about the Energy & Development Research Area at the Payne Institute for Public Policy, please contact our Deputy Director, Gregory Clough, at gclough@mines.edu.