Green transition
Growing nickel demand threatens conservation in the tropics
Up to 83 per cent of nickel supply could come from laterite deposits typically beneath tropical rainforests but accessing them requires large scale clearing. Photo: Tom Hegen/University of Queensland
Meeting future nickel demand for stainless steel and clean energy technologies will require tough decisions with potential environmental trade-offs, a new study has found.
- Nickel demand is surging for clean energy especially to make batteries for electric vehicles
- Researchers built a model to help plan for nickel to be sourced responsibly, taking into consideration the ecological importance of land and ocean regions
- Excluding the top 10 per cent of environmentally sensitive areas for nickel mining would significantly reduce risks to biodiversity but could lead to nickel shortfalls
An international research team, led by The University of Queensland with support from others including Centre researcher Sebastian Luckeneder, analysed known nickel deposits, current mining and demand forecasts.
“Nickel is in everything from steel in infrastructure to the pots and pans in our kitchens, and demand is surging for clean energy especially to make batteries for electric vehicles,” explains Dr Jayden Hyman, lead author of the study.
“But the decisions being made now about where to source nickel could lock in impacts for decades in some of Earth’s most biodiverse and carbon-rich ecosystems.”
The study found that up to 83 per cent of nickel supply could come from laterite deposits typically beneath tropical rainforests but accessing them requires large scale clearing – most notably, this is accelerating in Indonesia.
Recycling and low-nickel battery technologies are important pieces in the puzzle to reducing the long-term need for mining. But in the short run, we will also need new mines.
Sebastian Luckeneder, Centre researcher
The researchers built a model to help plan for nickel to be sourced responsibly, taking into consideration the ecological importance of land and ocean regions. This framework helps to understand and model different scenarios as well as the trade-offs that might need to be made, according to the researchers.
The analysis also modelled what would happen if mining were avoided in areas most important to conserve biodiversity.
It found excluding the top 10 per cent of environmentally sensitive areas would significantly reduce risks to biodiversity but could lead to nickel shortfalls of up to 18 per cent of demand by 2050, unless new resources are identified and alternative supplies are developed.
“Recycling and low-nickel battery technologies are important pieces in the puzzle to reducing the long-term need for mining. But in the short run, we will also need new mines,” says Centre researcher Sebastian Luckeneder.
The researchers see their article as a call to action to work together to develop strategies for environmentally responsible mineral supply so we can build the clean energy future we need.
Hyman, J., Sonter, L.J., McDonald-Madden, E., Watson, J.E.M., Mervine, E.M., Bull, J.W., Dawson, C., Lloyd, T.J., Luckeneder, S., Maron, M., Mendonca Severiano, B., Raymond, S., Schlacher, T.A., Sreekar, R., Valenta, R.K., Visconti, P., Werner, T.T. & Northey, S.A. 2026. Growing nickel supply from the tropics threatens priority conservation areas. Nature Ecology & Evolution.
-
Positive tipping points for whom?
Tipping points can have winners and losers. That’s why one shouldn’t call them positive or negative, according to a new article.
-
How sand mining threatens our planet—and what we can do about it
For most of us, sand is just something that sticks to our feet at the beach. But in the global economy, sand mining is big business — and its’ effects on ecosystems and societies worldwide are often devastating, according to two recent studies by Centre researchers.
