- Decarbonising the next generation of nickel mines is significantly cheaper than retrofitting existing mines and provides opportunities to build renewable energy into supply chains from the start. To facilitate this, governments should look to connect renewable energy developers with companies developing new nickel assets.
- Governments, donors and financial institutions should work with processing countries such as the Philippines to identify where support might be prioritised to develop the infrastructure and technology needed to build renewable energy into their nickel industry.
- Ensuring there is a framework for renewable energy development introduced at the beginning of new projects along with feasibility studies would help identify opportunities before development begins. Renewable energy should be considered alongside technology like battery storage, small modular reactors[4] and microgrids, as well as lower carbon fossil fuel options like gas to ensure solutions are context-specific. High quality carbon offsetting and carbon sequestration may also be needed to facilitate decarbonisation.
- Technological advancements are being made that will support the decarbonisation of the nickel industry[5] but there needs to be more public sector and financial support for integrating these into existing markets and ensuring their financial viability.
- The mining industry should look to invest more heavily in research and development to find innovative, tailored solutions to decarbonisation. Technical collaboration through mining hubs would encourage open innovation and the sharing of relevant technological advancements. Instilling innovation as an industry-norm could help overcome longer-term challenges such as declining ore quality and the consequent need for additional processing.
- Bringing OEMs together with nickel associations to discuss how to reduce changing specifications and clarify their needs may help align upstream and downstream priorities.
- While secondary supply from recycled minerals will not be sufficient to meet global demand, advancement in this area could reduce industry emissions and meet up to 7% of requirements by 2050.[6] Improved waste and tailings management also presents an opportunity to process and re-use waste to extract more valuable materials and facilitate a circular economy approach.
