Deep-sea mining may soon ease the world’s battery-metal shortage

to which it has been granted access. That triggered a requirement for theto produce rules governing commercial exploitation of the deposits. If those regulations are not ready by July 9th—and it looks like they will not be—then the’s plan is about as straightforward as underwater mining can be. Its first target is a patch of the’s boss, estimates there are about 3.8m tonnes of nickel in the area.

As with mining on the land, extracting nickel from the sea floor will damage the surrounding ecosystem. Although the’s robot will destroy any organisms on the seabed it drives across, as well as creatures that live on the nodules it collects. It will also kick up plumes of sediment, some of which will drift onto nearby organisms and kill them .

But it is not enough to simply weigh the biomass in each ecosystem. The amount of nickel that can be produced per hectare is also relevant. The 2.5m hectares thathopes to exploit is expected to yield about 3.8m tonnes of nickel, or about 1.5 tonnes per hectare. All that makes a very rough comparison possible. Around 13 kilograms of biomass would be lost for every tonne ofnickel mined. Each tonne mined on Sulawesi would destroy around 450kg of plants alone—plus an unknown amount of animal biomass, too.

United Kingdom Latest News, United Kingdom Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

Drinking session led to Iron Maiden and Stockport brewery taking world by stormHow a drinking session led to Iron Maiden and Stockport brewery creating a beer that has taken world by storm
Source: MENnewsdesk - 🏆 23. / 69 Read more »

Vincent Bolloré, the conservative billionaire taking on France’s mainstream media\n\t\t\tGet local insights from Lisbon to Moscow with an unrivalled network of journalists across Europe,\n\t\t\texpert analysis, our dedicated ‘Brussels Briefing’ newsletter. Customise your myFT page to track\n\t\t\tthe countries of your choice.\n\t\t
Source: FT - 🏆 113. / 51 Read more »

Disposable vape ban to be debated by council in bid to stop kids taking up habitThere are fears single-use vapes have contributed to a seven-fold increase in the number of under-18s taking up the habit in 10 years.
Source: ShropshireStar - 🏆 98. / 51 Read more »

PSA: you need to stop feeling guilty about taking holiday from workLet’s face it: work will always be there, so it’s important to make sure that we don’t miss out on too many opportunities to make memories and have experiences.
Source: StylistMagazine - 🏆 133. / 51 Read more »

Jesy Nelson taking break from music and social media to fulfil big dreamJesy Nelson has announced she's taking a break from music to travel the world 🌍 ‘I’m going to be off my social media for a while, I’ll see you when I’m back.’
Source: MetroUK - 🏆 13. / 82 Read more »

Big Freedia, Queen Of Bounce Music, Is Taking A Victory LapThe queer icon just released Central City, her first studio album in nine years.
Source: HuffPostUK - 🏆 108. / 51 Read more »