Filtered News
CHINA, CLEAN TECHNOLOGIES, AND NATIONAL SECURITY 10/2/2024
CHINA, CLEAN TECHNOLOGIES, AND NATIONAL SECURITY
Payne Institute Fellow Joshua Busby, Director Morgan Bazilian, and Emily Holland write about how the Biden administration announced sweeping 100 percent import tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles as well as the batteries and minerals that go in them. While these minerals and refined products are sourced from various countries, China heavily dominates their processing and other stages along various supply chains. In what way is China’s domination of minerals processing, batteries, and potentially automobiles a threat to U.S. national security? October 2, 2024.
Giant sinkholes in a South Dakota neighborhood make families fear for their safety 9/21/2024
Giant sinkholes in a South Dakota neighborhood make families fear for their safety
Payne Institute Fellow Paul Santi contributes to this article about how sinkholes are fairly common, due to collapsed caves, old mines or dissolving material, but the circumstances in South Dakota stand out, said Paul Santi, a professor of geological engineering at the Colorado School of Mines. The combination of such large sinkholes endangering so many homes makes the Hideaway Hills situation one to remember. September 21, 2024.
Indonesia ‘blood nickel’ risks too grave to ignore 9/21/2024
Indonesia ‘blood nickel’ risks too grave to ignore
Payne Institute Student Researcher Gabriel Collins, Director Morgan Bazilian, and Policy and Outreach Advisor Simon Lomax write about how manufacturers and investors should beware the reputational and operational risks of dealing in Indonesian nickel. Earlier this month, the US government sounded the alarm over the use of forced labor in the nickel mines of Indonesia, and the major implications for the energy transition. September 21, 2024.
Community Benefit Agreements are key to mining battery minerals on public lands 9/20/2024
Community Benefit Agreements are key to mining battery minerals on public lands
Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Elizabeth Holley writes this article about meeting energy transition goals for decarbonization and how it will require huge increases in the production of battery minerals such as copper, cobalt, nickel, manganese, lithium and graphite. The USA is almost entirely dependent on imports for most of these minerals, and the potential for geopolitical supply chain disruption has led to new federal policies that prioritize domestic mining. September 20, 2024.
Deployment of Climate Change Adaptation Technologies 9/20/2024
DEPLOYMENT OF CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION TECHNOLOGIES
Payne Institute Fellow Jamal Saghir writes about how developing countries are seriously impacted by climate change, and achieving the long-term goals of the 2015 Paris Agreement to tackle climate change adaptation would require both new and emerging technologies as well as innovative business models and markets for their successful deployment at scale in developing countries. September 20, 2024.
The U.S. Needs to Produce More Minerals at Home. Current Policies Only Take Us Partway. 9/19/2024
The U.S. Needs to Produce More Minerals at Home. Current Policies Only Take Us Partway.
Payne Institute Communications Associate Gregory Wischer and Director Morgan Bazilian write about how the U.S. government has sought to increase domestic mineral production and processing through supply side policies, however boosting production also requires ramping up demand for domestic minerals. The U.S. government is already taking some valuable steps to support demand, but there is much more it could do. September 19, 2024.
Kamini Singha selected to 2024 class of AGU Fellows 9/18/2024
Kamini Singha selected to 2024 class of AGU Fellows
Payne Institute Fellow, Kamini Singha has been named to the 2024 class of fellows for the American Geophysical Union (AGU). She joins a distinguished group of 54 individuals from this year’s class. AGU, the world’s largest Earth and space science association, bestows this honor annually to a select number of individuals who have made exceptional contributions. Since its inception in 1962, less than 0.1% of AGU members have been selected as fellows each year. September 18, 2024.
Colorado’s quantum hub will revolutionize technology, with Colorado School of Mines helping lead the way 9/16/2024
Colorado’s quantum hub will revolutionize technology, with Colorado School of Mines helping lead the way
Payne Institute Fellow Lincoln Carr contributes to an article about Zhexuan Gong and other Mines researchers on how they turned to a quantum simulator made of a particular experimental device that uses electrodes and lasers to trap charged atoms. By controlling the interactions among the trapped ions, Gong and his collaborators were able to create a brand-new synthetic quantum material—the world’s first 1D magnet, made of just 23 atoms. September 16, 2024.
Senator Hickenlooper announces bipartisan legislation at the Mines Critical Minerals Symposium 9/13/2024
Senator Hickenlooper announces bipartisan legislation at the Mines Critical Minerals Symposium
The Payne Institute at Colorado School of Mines hosted Senator John Hickenlooper delivered a keynote address at our Critical Minerals Symposium on September 13. Hickenlooper proposes national leadership and innovation for clean and responsible critical mineral sourcing. During his speech, Hickenlooper announced a pair of bipartisan bills to guide a national strategy on a clean, responsible and innovative approach to sourcing critical minerals. September 13, 2024.
Keynote Video
Could Justice40 reproduce injustices in the critical mineral sector? 9/13/2024
Could Justice40 reproduce injustices in the critical mineral sector?
Payne Institute Research Associate Aaron Malone and Faculty Fellows, Raphael Deberdt, Nicole M. Smith, and Elizabeth A. Holley write about how the United States is reprioritizing domestic extraction and processing of critical minerals, with billions of dollars of investments. Because of their uses in low-carbon technologies, the mining and processing of these resources falls under the scope of the Justice40 Initiative, the Biden administration’s flagship environmental justice policy that prioritizes green investments to benefit communities deemed disadvantaged, including all recognized Tribes. September 13, 2024.
Mines faculty member testifies before congressional critical minerals working group on U.S. mineral workforce 9/13/2024
Mines faculty member testifies before congressional critical minerals working group on U.S. mineral workforce
Payne Institute Fellow Elizabeth Holley testifies before the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party’s Critical Minerals Policy Working Group. The working group, chaired by Rep. Rob Wittman (R-VA) and Rep. Kathy Castor (D-FL), explored the need to develop a skilled domestic workforce to support U.S. economic, energy and national security through the responsible sourcing of critical minerals. September 13, 2024.
Hickenlooper, Tillis to unveil bipartisan minerals bills 9/13/2024
Hickenlooper, Tillis to unveil bipartisan minerals bills
The Payne Institute for Public Policy was pleased to host Senator John Hickenlooper for our Critical Minerals Symposium where he announced his new legislative efforts. The two bills are intended to stimulate innovation in the U.S. to produce technologies for identifying, mining, processing and recycling minerals. September 13, 2024. EVENT VIDEO
COMPARISON OF CO-LOCATED LASER AND METAL OXIDE CONTINUOUS MONITORING SYSTEMS 9/12/2024
COMPARISON OF CO-LOCATED LASER AND METAL OXIDE CONTINUOUS MONITORING SYSTEMS
Payne Institute Research Scientist Kellis Ward, Student Researcher William Daniels, and Faculty Fellow Dorit Hammerling write about how accurate measurement of methane (CH4) concentrations on oil and gas sites is essential for accurate estimates of methane emission rates via inversion algorithms. Different types of continuous monitoring sensors are offered as commercial solutions, with varying accuracy. In this paper we compare data from co-located Metal Oxide (MOx) and Laser Spectroscopy (LS) sensors on a midstream oil and gas site, with the goal of quantifying the differences in raw concentration measurements between the two technologies. September 12, 2024.
America’s mineral blind spot – the trillion-dollar opportunity hiding in plain sight 9/11/2024
America’s mineral blind spot – the trillion-dollar opportunity hiding in plain sight
Payne Institute Student Researcher Gabriel Collins, Faculty Fellow Ian Lange, and Director Morgan Bazilian write about how In the sprawling mines of Utah and Arizona, where global giants extract copper and nickel by the ton; germanium, gallium, tellurium—names that don’t make headlines, but underpin the technologies of tomorrow—are discarded as waste or left ignored in tailings ponds. While China tightens its grip on these critical minerals, the US sits idle, stymied not by geology but by corporate calculus. September 11, 2024.
Trump, Harris back mining, but producers unsatisfied 9/9/2024
Trump, Harris back mining, but producers unsatisfied
Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian contributes to this article about how Democrats and Republicans alike have been expressing support for US metal extraction, allowing domestic miners to bask in a rare moment of bipartisan support, though they say turning that backing into barrier-clearing action remains a tough pull. September 9, 2024.
Colorado School of Mines, Payne Institute for Public Policy announce grant from Quadrature Climate Foundation 9/5/2024
Colorado School of Mines, Payne Institute for Public Policy announce grant from Quadrature Climate Foundation
The Payne Institute for Public Policy and the Mineral and Energy Economics Program at Colorado School of Mines are pleased to announce the award of a three-year grant from Quadrature Climate Foundation in support of critical mineral development in resource communities, with an emphasis on the Global South. September 5, 2024.
Government stockpiles of metals, materials could aid clean energy transition 9/4/2024
Government stockpiles of metals, materials could aid clean energy transition
Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian on a podcast discussing the history and possible future directions of critical minerals stockpiling for energy transitions and national security. Some experts argue that the NDS, U.S. National Defense Stockpile, could be mobilized against another threat — climate change — by helping to transform the nation’s energy infrastructure. September 4, 2024.
Alexis Navarre-Sitchler named department head for Geology and Geological Engineering 8/30/2024
Alexis Navarre-Sitchler named department head for Geology and Geological Engineering
Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Alexis Navarre-Sitchler has been named department head for Geology and Geological Engineering at Colorado School of Mines. A member of the Mines faculty since 2012, Navarre-Sitchler is a professor of geology and geological engineering. Her new appointment began July 1. August 30, 2024.
The US government should build a Resilient Resource Reserve for wartime and peacetime 8/29/2024
The US government should build a Resilient Resource Reserve for wartime and peacetime
Payne Institute Communications Associate Gregory Wischer and Director Morgan Bazilian write about how if Congress proceeds—as it should—with creating a Resilient Resource Reserve, it should establish a physical stockpile that can meet the critical mineral demands of the US military in a major conflict, as well as influence domestic mineral prices to incentivize expanded US mineral production. August 29, 2024.
Forging a Greener Future: The Imperative of Decarbonizing Steel Production 8/26/2024
Forging a Greener Future: The Imperative of Decarbonizing Steel Production
Payne Institute CCUS Program Manager Anna Littlefield and PhD candidate at School of Mines Edikan Udofia write about the EVRAZ Rocky Mountain Steel mill, a longstanding institution in this industrial area for more than a century and how it is evolving as part of the push to decarbonize the global steel industry. Collaborating with Lightsource bp, the mill is shifting to solar energy, positioning itself as the first steel mill in North America to operate predominantly on solar power. The solar conversion is set to abate almost half a million tons of greenhouse gas emissions. August 26, 2024.