Supply Chain Transparency

Understanding How the Future Energy System Will Impact the Global Supply Chain and Associated Effects on Markets, Communities and the Environment

Understanding How the Future Energy System Will Impact the Global Supply Chain and Associated Effects on Markets, Communities and the Environment

The global supply chain continues to grow at an incredible rate, but within that growth, a lack of transparency undermines many industries and consumers as they struggle to understand the effects of the supply chain on the markets, communities and the environment.

Payne Supply Chain Transparency works with the Critical Materials Institute, the U.S. government, and policy other stakeholders to better understand the challenges and opportunities related to growing critical mineral demand.

Low-carbon scenarios often have—implicitly or explicitly—high and diverse material needs, depending on what assumptions are made about the nature of future energy systems. As certain technologies become more prominent, it becomes easier to identify what materials will be needed in the near term.

It is important to acknowledge the inherent tensions that exist between building a sustainable future and not managing or understanding the sources and materials with which it is built.

For more information about the Supply Chain Transparency Initiative at the Payne Institute for Public Policy, please contact our Deputy Director, Gregory Clough, at gclough@mines.edu.

NEWS

Cheap Drones, Dry Taps: The Iran War Opens a New Era of Water Infrastructure Risk 8/14/2026

Cheap Drones, Dry Taps: The Iran War Opens a New Era of Water Infrastructure Risk

Gabriel Collins and Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian write about how water and energy infrastructure have become one of Iran’s main levers of deterrence against the United States. Iranian Foreign Minister Aragchi recently made it clear to Gulf states that if the U.S. military renewed large-scale strikes on Iran, their critical infrastructure would be struck. August 14, 2026. 

We Thought Tech Would Make War More Precise. We Were Wrong. 8/7/2026

We Thought Tech Would Make War More Precise. We Were Wrong.

Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian contributed to this article about how until recently, attacking civilian energy infrastructure was unacceptable. The dynamics of modern war have changed that.  August 7, 2026.

Making Government Equity Ownership Official 8/7/2026

Making Government Equity Ownership Official

Payne Institute Energy Finance Lab Director Brad Handler and Student Researcher Matthew Safran write about how in June, the House and Senate Armed Services Committees advanced the FY2027 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), Congress’s annual defense policy bill. The legislation covers hundreds of defense programs and policies but one small provision, Section 1051, tackles a different challenge: managing the risks of an untested facet of the current administration’s more muscular industrial policy.  August 7, 2026.

The geometry of shortage: Part 1 8/6/2026

The geometry of shortage: Part 1

Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian and Fellow Jamie Webster write about how the US and Israel’s strikes on Iran spiked oil prices and prompted large releases from reserves, but such moves only buy time.  August 6, 2026.

The Grid is the Kill Web: Rethinking Power Wars as a Mesh Force Problem 8/6/2026

The Grid is the Kill Web: Rethinking Power Wars as a Mesh Force Problem

Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian and Senior Research Fellow Jahara Matisek contributed to this article about how electricity is becoming to 21st century militaries what oil was to the 20th, and the United States is entering this competition with an electrical grid that was never designed to be a strategic asset.  August 6, 2026.

Iran War Exposes US Military Aluminum Chokepoint 8/5/2026

Iran War Exposes US Military Aluminum Chokepoint

Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian contributed to this article about how Iran’s Hormuz closure chokes 22% of US aluminum imports as LME prices hit $3,492 a ton, already exposing a military deficit a Pentagon war game flagged.  August 5, 2026.

Why the US Needs a Quantum Workforce 8/5/2026

Why the US Needs a Quantum Workforce

Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian and Macdonald Amoah write about how commercial success in quantum computing will depend as much on engineers, technicians, and skilled trades as on scientific breakthroughs.  August 5, 2026.

Mines metallurgists turning waste into valuable critical minerals 8/4/2026

Mines metallurgists turning waste into valuable critical minerals

Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Jihye Kim is featured in this article about Mines researchers leading the way with creative new recovery and recycling methods, developing innovations in retrieving metals from end-of-life batteries, secondary resources like steel slag, and abundant but low-grade sources of copper.  August 4, 2026.

Pakistan’s Solar Surge 8/3/2026

Pakistan’s Solar Surge

Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian and Debabrata Chattopadhyay write about how Pakistan has become one of the world’s largest importers of solar panels. This is one of the most consequential energy transformations underway in any developing economy, and one that carries particular significance given the war with Iran.  August 3, 2026.

Read All News