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

U.S. policymakers turn to Mines for trusted expertise on critical minerals 12/1/2025

U.S. policymakers turn to Mines for trusted expertise on critical minerals

Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Elizabeth Holley and Director Morgan Bazilian contribute to this article about how when Congress and federal agencies grapple with how to secure and strengthen critical mineral supply chains, meet increasing energy demands, build new and repair existing infrastructure and more, they are increasingly turning to Mines for trusted expertise and actionable, data-driven solutions.  December 1, 2025.  

Mines researcher receives Schmidt Family Foundation funding to explore mine water treatment 11/21/2025

Mines researcher receives Schmidt Family Foundation funding to explore mine water treatment

Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Amir Riahi was awarded $100,000 from the Schmidt Family Foundation for a six-month project investigating a new approach to treating the water that collects in mines. Riahi will use the Schmidt funding to study how gentle but powerful vibrations can help biochar capture metals and other contaminants from mine water more effectively.  November 21, 2025. 

Operationalizing the National Defense Industrial Strategy for great power competition 11/18/2025

Operationalizing the National Defense Industrial Strategy for great power competition

Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian and Fellow Lt. Col. Jahara “Franky” Matisek write about how actions by Moscow and Beijing to secure their own mineral supply chains signal that despite the growing prominence of digital-age economies in the 21st century, economic and military capabilities are still constrained by industrial capacity.  The United States, by contrast, remains an innovator without a foundation.  November 18, 2025.

Supply-chain delays, rising equipment prices threaten electricity grid 11/14/2025

Supply-chain delays, rising equipment prices threaten electricity grid

Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian and Kyri Baker write about how the crisis facing the U.S. power grid that can’t be solved simply by building more power lines, approving new power generation, or changing out grid software.  Supply-chain bottlenecks are taking years to clear, delaying projects, inflating costs and threatening reliability.  November 14, 2025.

Argentina’s Copper Opportunity 11/13/2025

Argentina’s Copper Opportunity

Payne Institute Critical Minerals Research Associate Isabel Guajardo writes about how Argentina stands at a pivotal juncture in its mining trajectory. With 76 copper projects officially recognized by the government across eight of the country’s 24 provinces, the nation is gradually emerging as a new player in the global copper market.  November 13, 2025.

From Criticality to Bankability: A Structural Taxonomy for Strategic Minerals 11/12/2025

From Criticality to Bankability: A Structural Taxonomy for Strategic Minerals

Kruthika A. Bala and Payne Institute Senior Research Fellow Robert J. Johnston introduce the Critical Metals, Minerals, and Materials (CM3) taxonomy, a structural–financial model for assessing mineral bankability. Unlike conventional criticality frameworks that focus on geological scarcity or import dependence, CM3 identifies the economic and institutional conditions that determine whether projects can attract private investment.  November 12, 2025.

Tokenizing EAC’s for LNG 11/11/2025

Tokenizing EAC’s for LNG

Payne Institute Energy Finance Lab Director Brad Handler on a podcast discussing systems developing to track and trade environmental attributes like methane.  Topics include the emerging demand for reliable Carbon Intensity (CI), the standards for reporting that CI, and how tokenizing environmental attributes can make them useful for commodity traders and the financial community.  November 11, 2025.

Data Centers at Risk: The Fragile Core of American Power

Data Centers at Risk: The Fragile Core of American Power

Payne Institute Communications Associate Macdonald Amoah, Director Morgan Bazilian, Fellow Lt. Col. Jahara Matisek, and Col. Katrina Schweiker write about how when the supply chains for data centers and industry falter, compute slows, translating into degraded command-and-control capabilities for the US military.  November 11, 2025.

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