As the latest meetings of the International Seabed Authority get underway in Jamaica to discuss possible mining of the deep sea for minerals such as cobalt, copper, nickel or manganese, a paper published today by the Blue Climate Initiative discusses advances in electric vehicle (EV) battery technology. It notes the accelerating adoption of these technologies, which are leading to the replacement of EV batteries previously dependent on cobalt, nickel, and manganese.
"The rapid market adoption of these next generation batteries that don't use deep sea metals is transformational," said Jeanne Everett, Director of Operations of the Blue Climate Initiative. "These next generation batteries have swept the market and already represent a third of the global EV battery market. While the International Seabed Authority is meeting this week in Jamaica to consider regulations to strip mine the seabed for these metals - with devastating environmental consequences - technology has moved forward to eliminate the claimed need to mine the ocean for them. As a result, deep sea mining of these metals is neither necessary, economically advantageous, or environmentally advisable."