Will Mining for Clean Energy Cause Harm?

Written By Teacher: Teresa Pettitt-Kenney

Hi there! My name is Teresa and I just finished my Bachelor's degree in Environmental Science and am excited to pursue environmental education in the future! I am extremely passionate about climate change, equitable climate action, and how education can work to address these issues. 

Climate change and renewable energy is a complex issue, so it’s important to acknowledge students' curiosity when talking about the positives and negatives of clean energy. Acknowledge the downsides of renewables while allowing students to explore them further and come to their own conclusions. You can start small with this Introduction to Renewable Energy Lesson, then use this Energy Research and Writing worksheet to facilitate discussions on pros and cons of different energy types. Take it a step further by considering environmental justice concerns and investigating the role of energy in different locations. 

Written By: MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative

The MIT Climate Change Engagement Program, a part of MIT Climate HQ, provides the public with nonpartisan, easy-to-understand, and scientifically-grounded information on climate change and its solutions.

Clean energy technologies, from wind and solar to hybrid and electric vehicles, help us slow down climate change, but they’re not inherently perfect. Currently, they rely on critical minerals that are environmentally costly to mine. You’ve probably heard of some: lithium, copper, graphite, zinc, cobalt, copper, and nickel all make the list, alongside rare earth elements derived from mineral compounds.

And these decarbonization technologies require more of these resources than their fossil fuel-based equivalents. Electric cars, for example, need six times the amount of these minerals compared to gas-powered vehicles, and onshore wind plants need nine-fold more than gas-fired plants. (Hydropower, biomass and nuclear energy technologies have “comparatively low mineral requirements,” according to the International Energy Agency.)

Extracting these minerals also requires energy and freshwater, and produces greenhouse gas emissions and waste. Mining can be dangerous for workers and, in certain places, is tied to labor and human rights abuses. Surrounding communities, often in low-income or developing areas, disproportionately shoulder these burdens, leading to a tangle of land-use and environmental justice conflicts.