Energy Security & Resilience

Global research and analysis on energy risks ranging from climate change to resource competition to population and demand growth to governance and infrastructure investment

Nearly two billion people around the world live in areas and regions that suffer from conflict violence and instability. As we design new energy systems in the developing world, there are energy security and resilience challenges unique to each local environment. This is also true in developed nations that are now going through energy transitions and are creating infrastructure with new renewable energy options. The optimal electrification mix is sensitive to each local environment.

The Payne Institute is recognizing these sensitivities by connecting the breadth of engineering experience across the energy system at the Colorado School of Mines with the public policy world making decisions on energy infrastructure. By taking a comprehensive look at environmental, economic, political and other elements in each local environment, The Payne Institute is supporting the design and creation of secure and resilient energy systems throughout the globe.

NEWS

Monitoring China’s Mineral Stockpiling and Understanding Its Military Implications 7/26/2024

Monitoring China’s Mineral Stockpiling and Understanding Its Military Implications

Payne Institute Communication Associate Gregory Wischer and Director Morgan Bazilian co-author an article about discerning when China is stockpiling – and why – is increasingly challenging given China’s increasing secrecy about mineral-related information. Concerns continue apace about the meaning of China stockpiling minerals. In addition to China’s government statements and military activities, stockpiling minerals is one potential indicator that China may be preparing for a military invasion of Taiwan. 7/26/2024.

Readying for war or being prepared for crises? China’s stockpiling of resources raises eyebrows and questions 7/18/2024

Readying for war or being prepared for crises? China’s stockpiling of resources raises eyebrows and questions

Payne Institute Fellow Gregory Wischer contributes to this article about how while China’s stockpiles are a tightly guarded state secret, analysts CNA spoke to agree that a heightened degree of resource amassing is being carried out, citing recent news reports. Grain, oil, copper, cobalt and iron ore are some of the key resources and minerals China has recently been amassing, in an alleged pattern of behaviour that has blared red for some observers and rival superpower the United States. July 18, 2024.

RADIOACTIVE 7/17/2024

Radioactive

Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Ian Lange contributes to this article about how Energy Fuels Inc., a Denver company, is seeking to mine uranium near the Grand Canyon — and an Indigenous tribe’s long fight to stop it. Prices for uranium rose enough for the company to seek to bring uranium ore to White Mesa from one of the company’s mothballed uranium mine sites. July 17, 2024.

Mineral Supply Chains and Space Assets 7/9/2024

Mineral Supply Chains and Space Assets

Payne Institute Fellow Gregory Wischer, Gregory Autry, and Director Morgan Bazilian write about how both the United States and China seek to build and deploy significant numbers of space assets, most of which are mineral intensive. The mineral compositions of three important space assets—satellites, direct-ascent antisatellite weapons, and rocket bodies—require the United States to import minerals, particularly from China, for their construction. Consequently, the US space industry, and thus the US government, faces the associated risks of supply chain disruptions that can restrict mineral availability and cause price volatility, negatively impacting space asset production. This article proposes three policies to mitigate such risks to the mineral supply chains. July 9, 2024.

Comparable to Germany before World War II? China’s strategic metal reserves have attracted attention, especially copper and cobalt 6/20/2024

Comparable to Germany before World War II? China’s strategic metal reserves have attracted attention, especially copper and cobalt

Payne Institute Communications Associate Greg Wischer contributes to this article about how China’s control and reserves of key mineral resources such as rare earths, lithium, copper (Copper) and cobalt (Cobalt) have increasingly attracted the attention of the United States and the West. In addition to worries about being too dependent on China for key minerals, China’s control and reserves of key minerals also make the United States and the West worried that China is preparing for a potential war. June 20, 2024.

Microgrid design and multi-year dispatch optimization under climate-informed load and renewable resource uncertainty 5/28/2024

Madeline Macmillan, Alexander Zolan, Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian, and Daniel L. Villa write about how microgrids are an increasingly popular solution to provide energy resilience in response to increasing grid dependency and the growing impacts of climate change on grid operations. They develop a two-stage stochastic programming extension of an existing microgrid design and dispatch optimization model to obtain uncertainty-informed and climate-resilient energy system decisions that minimizes long-term costs. May, 28, 2024.

Biden’s Green Agenda Could Be In Trouble As China Moves At Breakneck Speed To Corner Key Resources 5/21/2024

Biden’s Green Agenda Could Be In Trouble As China Moves At Breakneck Speed To Corner Key Resources

Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian contributed to this article about how President Joe Biden’s climate agenda could be in trouble as China continues to rapidly expand its control over the production of valuable minerals essential to green technology like electric vehicles. China is growing its operations in the harvesting and production of nickel, lithium and cobalt as the U.S. and its allies suspend business at a number of plants in response to a glut in global supply. May 21, 2024.

China Is Winning the Minerals War 5/21/2024

China Is Winning the Minerals War

Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian contributes to this article about how western efforts to make a dent are languishing; ‘China is not just standing still waiting for us to catch up.’ Chinese mineral companies are expanding operations, supercharging supply and causing prices to drop. Their challengers can’t compete. May 21, 2024.

SATELLITE DATA CAPTURES POWER OUTAGES IN SUDAN’S CIVIL WAR 5/19/2024

SATELLITE DATA CAPTURES POWER OUTAGES IN SUDAN’S CIVIL WAR

Payne Institute Earth Observation Group Research Associate Mikhail Zhizhin, Communications Associate Kristin Ziv, Senior Research Associate Christopher Elvidge, and Director Morgan Bazilian write about how a horrible full-scale civil war in Sudan is creating chaos, anarchy, mass starvation, and the world’s largest population of internal refugees – approximately nine million. The researchers have created a temporal profile of nighttime lights for Khartoum where seasonal variations in lights within a year can be seen, but the interannual radiance was stable until the conflict started in April 2023. May 19, 2024.

US Lawmakers Left the LNG Pause in Place, So What Next? 5/15/2024

US Lawmakers Left the LNG Pause in Place, So What Next?

Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian, Policy and Outreach Advisor, Responsible Gas Simon Lomax, and Deputy Director Greg Clough write about how US lawmakers did not force President Joe Biden to lift his pause on LNG export approvals in exchange for the recent approval of a $95 billion security aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. This likely means the US Department of Energy (DOE) can complete a review of the economic and climate impacts of LNG exports, which was the stated purpose of the pause. May 15, 2024.

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