Subscribe to our Mailing Lists (It's free!)
Thursday, May 19, 2022
SAFETY4SEA
  • Home
  • Safety
    • All
    • Accidents
    • Alerts
    • Loss Prevention
    • Maritime Health
    • Regulation
    • Safety
    • Seafarers
    • Security
    mlc

    SRI: More states must ratify MLC

    seafarers minimum wage

    Shipowners, seafarers’ unions reach agreement for new global minimum wage

    mission to seafarers

    New report explores key challenges that women seafarers face today

    BSU

    BSU Investigation: Collision of coastal motor vessel with ferry

  • Green
    • All
    • Arctic
    • Ballast
    • Emissions
    • Fuels
    • Green Shipping
    • Pollution
    • Ship Recycling
    • Technology
    danish shipping

    Danish Shipping: EU ETS still has room for improvement

    hydrogen powered tugboat

    First hydrogen-powered tugboat to be a reality soon

    UK Chamber of Shipping: Mandate green shore power for ports and ships

    bp carbon capture

    BP to take part in major carbon capture and storage project in Texas

  • Smart
    • All
    • Connectivity
    • Cyber Security
    • E-navigation
    • Energy Efficiency
    • Maritime Software
    • Smart
    emsa drones

    EMSA drones to offer Denmark maritime surveillance

    TotalEnergies launches global drone-based methane and CO2 detection campaign

    TotalEnergies launches global drone-based methane and CO2 detection campaign

    remote offshore inspections

    Demonstration shows capability of drones to conduct remote offshore inspections

    uk ship shore integration

    North Star to use AI to cut SOVs emissions

  • Risk
    • All
    • CIC
    • Detentions
    • Fines
    • PSC Focus
    Malaysia crew change

    Identifying Challenging Ports: Key factors for consideration

    tokyo mou cic

    Tokyo MoU Remote Inspections : Lessons Learned

    PSC Focus: Deficiency Code Ranking and Spread

    PSC Focus: Deficiency Code Ranking and Spread

    Ships Re-Inspected in the same port (RSP%): Key considerations

    Ships Re-Inspected in the same port (RSP%): Key considerations

  • Others
    • All
    • Diversity in shipping
    • Maritime Knowledge
    • Offshore
    • Ports
    • Reports
    • Shipping
    • Sustainability
    • Videos
    Malaysia crew change

    Identifying Challenging Ports: Key factors for consideration

    hydrogen powered tugboat

    First hydrogen-powered tugboat to be a reality soon

    certification protocol for raw materials

    First certification protocol for raw materials and maritime launched

    espo women

    Maritime UK launches Global Women in Maritime Series

  • Columns
    Poseidon Principles for Marine Insurance

    Poseidon Principles for Marine Insurance

    Career Paths: Catarina Fant, Wasaline

    Career Paths: Päivi Brunou, Wärtsilä Voyage 

    Career Paths: Catarina Fant, Wasaline

    Career Paths: Catarina Fant, Wasaline

    Trending Tags

    • Career Paths
    • Industry Voices
    • Maripedia
    • Maritime History
    • Resilience
    • Seafarers Stories
    • SeaSense
  • Events
  • Plus
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Safety
    • All
    • Accidents
    • Alerts
    • Loss Prevention
    • Maritime Health
    • Regulation
    • Safety
    • Seafarers
    • Security
    mlc

    SRI: More states must ratify MLC

    seafarers minimum wage

    Shipowners, seafarers’ unions reach agreement for new global minimum wage

    mission to seafarers

    New report explores key challenges that women seafarers face today

    BSU

    BSU Investigation: Collision of coastal motor vessel with ferry

  • Green
    • All
    • Arctic
    • Ballast
    • Emissions
    • Fuels
    • Green Shipping
    • Pollution
    • Ship Recycling
    • Technology
    danish shipping

    Danish Shipping: EU ETS still has room for improvement

    hydrogen powered tugboat

    First hydrogen-powered tugboat to be a reality soon

    UK Chamber of Shipping: Mandate green shore power for ports and ships

    bp carbon capture

    BP to take part in major carbon capture and storage project in Texas

  • Smart
    • All
    • Connectivity
    • Cyber Security
    • E-navigation
    • Energy Efficiency
    • Maritime Software
    • Smart
    emsa drones

    EMSA drones to offer Denmark maritime surveillance

    TotalEnergies launches global drone-based methane and CO2 detection campaign

    TotalEnergies launches global drone-based methane and CO2 detection campaign

    remote offshore inspections

    Demonstration shows capability of drones to conduct remote offshore inspections

    uk ship shore integration

    North Star to use AI to cut SOVs emissions

  • Risk
    • All
    • CIC
    • Detentions
    • Fines
    • PSC Focus
    Malaysia crew change

    Identifying Challenging Ports: Key factors for consideration

    tokyo mou cic

    Tokyo MoU Remote Inspections : Lessons Learned

    PSC Focus: Deficiency Code Ranking and Spread

    PSC Focus: Deficiency Code Ranking and Spread

    Ships Re-Inspected in the same port (RSP%): Key considerations

    Ships Re-Inspected in the same port (RSP%): Key considerations

  • Others
    • All
    • Diversity in shipping
    • Maritime Knowledge
    • Offshore
    • Ports
    • Reports
    • Shipping
    • Sustainability
    • Videos
    Malaysia crew change

    Identifying Challenging Ports: Key factors for consideration

    hydrogen powered tugboat

    First hydrogen-powered tugboat to be a reality soon

    certification protocol for raw materials

    First certification protocol for raw materials and maritime launched

    espo women

    Maritime UK launches Global Women in Maritime Series

  • Columns
    Poseidon Principles for Marine Insurance

    Poseidon Principles for Marine Insurance

    Career Paths: Catarina Fant, Wasaline

    Career Paths: Päivi Brunou, Wärtsilä Voyage 

    Career Paths: Catarina Fant, Wasaline

    Career Paths: Catarina Fant, Wasaline

    Trending Tags

    • Career Paths
    • Industry Voices
    • Maripedia
    • Maritime History
    • Resilience
    • Seafarers Stories
    • SeaSense
  • Events
  • Plus
No Result
View All Result
SAFETY4SEA

Deep sea mining may be the future of electric cars

by The Editorial Team
November 13, 2019
in Technology
deep sea mining
FacebookTwitterEmailLinkedin

EU’s Blue Nodules project, which involves a host of different institutions and countries, focuses on a future of electric cars which to be achieved depend on mining, because of the crucial metals that exist on the ocean floor, as BBC reports.

Specifically, Laurens de Jonge, who’s running the EU project, says the transition to electric cars means that they need the ocean’s resources.

Demand is increasing through years for the metal cobalt, which is a basic ingredient in batteries and abundant in rocks on the seabed.

In 2018, the project launched a prototype mining machine to the seabed, in a location of 15 km off the coast of Malaga in Southern Spain. Cameras attached to the Apollo II machine recorded its progress and, crucially, monitored how the aluminium tracks stirred up clouds of sand and silt as they advanced.

RelatedNews

First hydrogen-powered tugboat to be a reality soon

Scandlines achieves up to 20% emissions reduction on ferry using wind power

The trial was conducted carefully due to the fact that seabed mining smothering could disrupt marine life over a wide area, as Greenpeace has alerted in a report.

Moreover, the project is important due to the demand. The rocks that “live” on the seabed are far richer in valuable metals than those on land and there’s a growing clamour to get at them.

The rocks on the seabed, also known as “nodules” cover the Pacific and other oceans and are brimming with cobalt, suddenly highly sought after as the boom in the production of batteries gathers pace.

For the time being, the world’s most cobalt is mined in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Laurens de Jonge stated that “It’s not difficult to access – you don’t have to go deep into tropical forests or deep into mines. It’s readily available on the seafloor, it’s almost like potato harvesting only 5km deep in the ocean.”

He added that although in the future there might be another way of making batteries for electric cars, for the time being though, the technology requires cobalt.

The Blue Nodule project is also supported by scientists at London’s Natural History Museum and other institutions. Recently, they calculated that in order to meet UK’s 2050 targets for electric cars, this would require nearly twice the world’s current output of cobalt.

BBC reports that although the risks of sea mining are not clear, it is widely accepted that whatever is in the path of the mining machines will be destroyed.

Thus, chief scientist on board, Henko de Stigter of the Dutch marine research institute NIOZ, points out that life in the deep Pacific, where mining is likely to start first, has adapted to the usually crystal clear conditions. So, there is a high possibility that any organisms feeding by filter, waters that are suddenly filled with stirred-up sediment would be threatening.

In the meantime, Ralf Langeler, the engineer in charge of the Apollo II mining machine believes that the design of the technology has many possibilities to minimise the impacts, adding that his technology helps reduce the environmental effects.

Tags: deep oceanelectric vessels

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recommended

danish shipping

Danish Shipping: EU ETS still has room for improvement

May 18, 2022
Malaysia crew change

Identifying Challenging Ports: Key factors for consideration

May 18, 2022
MARITIME EVENTS

Newsletter

GET THE SAFETY4SEA IN YOUR INBOX!

Explore

  • Safety
  • Green
  • Smart
  • Risk
  • Others
  • Events
  • Plus

Useful Links

  • About
  • Disclaimer
  • Editorial Policies
  • Advertising
  • Contact

© 2021 SAFETY4SEA

No Result
View All Result
  • Safety
    • Alerts
    • Accidents
    • Loss Prevention
    • Maritime Health
    • Regulation
    • Safety
    • Seafarers
    • Security
  • Green
    • Arctic
    • Ballast
    • Emissions
    • Fuels
    • Green Shipping
    • Pollution
    • Ship Recycling
    • Technology
  • Smart
    • Connectivity
    • Cyber Security
    • E-navigation
    • Energy Efficiency
    • Maritime Software
    • Smart
  • Risk
    • CIC
    • Detentions
    • Fines
    • PSC Focus
    • Vetting
  • Others
    • Diversity in shipping
    • Maritime Knowledge
    • Offshore
    • Ports
    • Reports
    • Shipping
    • Sustainability
    • Videos
  • Columns
    • Opinions
    • Career Paths
    • Industry Voices
    • Maripedia
    • Maritime History
    • Seafarers Stories
    • SeaSense
  • Events
  • Plus

© 2021 SAFETY4SEA

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Disclaimer.