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

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AI, Defense Spending Fuel the Rush to Mine Minerals, Report Says 7/14/2026

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Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Ian Lange contributes to this article about how the global mining industry says more extraction of rare earth minerals is necessary to fight climate change. But a new report says conventional industries, AI and defense are driving much of the demand.  July 14, 2026.

China’s Tungsten Controls Expose a Semiconductor Chokepoint 7/13/2026

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Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian, Senior Research Fellow Jahara Matisek, and Brandon Owens write about how WF6, a critical semiconductor gas, remains available despite reports of Japanese production exits. Yet China-linked tungsten feedstock controls, price spikes, concentrated supply, and 18–24-month qualification cycles expose a deeper bottleneck AI-driven chip demand cannot quickly solve.  July 13, 2026.

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Payne Institute Research Associate Mikhail Zhizhin and Director Morgan Bazilian write about how the VIIRS DNB detected a clear nighttime-light loss in southwestern Crimea, strongest on the night of July 5–6 UTC, centered on the Sevastopol–Simferopol focus area.  July 9, 2026.

The US paper fleet: The Jones Act and the 2026 Iran war stress test 7/8/2026

The US paper fleet: The Jones Act and the 2026 Iran war stress test

Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian, Senior Research Fellow Jahara Matisek, and Fellows Alex Gilbert and Jamie Webster write about how the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a choke point for about 20 percent of global oil supplies, and 30 percent of global liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies was precisely the kind of national security emergency the Jones Act was designed to weather.  Instead, the Iran crisis triggered a cascade of failures and forced the White House to admit that the Jones Act itself was a liability.  July 8, 2026.

The Age of Energy Warfare: Lessons from the Ukraine and Iran Wars 7/8/2026

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Olga Khakova, Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian, Macdonald Amoah and Senior Research Fellow Jahara Matisek write about how one of the biggest marvels of the twentieth century has been the centralized power grid. Increasingly, it is also a major vulnerability in modern warfare.  July 8, 2026.

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