Scientists have developed a new method of combatting climate change while enhancing green technology for environmental use.

They are using bacteria to assist in the extraction of rare metals, highlighting that without these microbes, there would be a scarcity of raw materials to build turbines, electric cars, and solar panels. 

The initiative is led by scientists from the University of Edinburgh, aiming to use the bacteria to extract lithium, cobalt, manganese, and other minerals from old batteries and electric equipment. These scarce and expensive materials are essential for building devices dependent on green technology, such as electric cars, Professor Louise Horsfall, chair of the university's sustainable biotechnology, highlighted. 

“If we are going to end our dependence on petrochemicals and rely on electricity for our heating, transport, and power, then we will become more and more dependent on metals,” said Horsfall, adding that “All those photovoltaics, drones, 3D printing machines, hydrogen fuel cells, wind turbines and motors for electric cars require metals – many of them rare – that are key to their operations.”

The extraction and recycling process

Scientists stressed that politics is an additional issue concerning raw materials, since China controls the main supplies of the elements and their processing. 

"To get around these problems we need to develop a circular economy where we reuse these minerals wherever possible, otherwise we will run out of materials very quickly,” the professor said.

“There is only a finite amount of these metals on Earth and we can no longer afford to throw them away as waste as we do now. We need new recycling technologies if we want to do something about global warming," she added. 

Horsfall highlighted that the microbe is essential to the recycling process since it converts metal atoms into nanoparticles as a detoxification process, explaining that "Basically they latch on metal atoms and then they spit them out as nanoparticles so that they are not poisoned by them.”

Horsfall and her teams have utilized these bacterial strains to extract waste from electronic batteries and cars, dissolving it, and allowing the bacteria to latch on to the specific metals and convert them into solid chemicals. 

“First we did it with manganese. Later we did it with nickel and lithium. And then we used a different strain of bacteria and we were able to extract cobalt and nickel.”

The bacteria strains used for metal extraction were naturally occurring. However in order to enhance the output of metals, Horsfall and her team plan to use gene-edited versions in the future. 

“For example, we need to be able to extract cobalt and nickel separately, which we cannot do at present," she said.

The next phase of the process is to demonstrate that these materials can be used as constituents of new batteries or electronic devices once they have been extracted from the old electronic waste.

“Then we will know if we are helping to develop a circular economy for dealing with green technologies," Horsfall said, highlighting, "New legislation has decreed that by the next decade recycled metals will have to be used at significant levels for manufacturing new green technology devices. Those goals will be hard to achieve and bacteria will be vital in achieving them."

Drop in mineral prices indicate lack in green energy investment: IEA

A sharp drop in mineral prices critical for green energy production is masking a looming shortage due to inadequate investment, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on May 17. 

In its first review of the market for critical materials, the IEA pointed to the prices of key minerals used in the production of electric vehicles, wind turbines, and solar panels, saying that the prices fell back to pre-pandemic levels as supplies surpassed demand.

The Paris-based agency said it is concerned that the price drops will deter investment needed to meet the demands of the green energy transition. Demand is expected to take a sharp rise, as many governments work on phasing out internal combustion engines in favor of electric vehicles in the next decade.

As such, the IEA says that announced projects, concerned with the sourcing and production of minerals and metals, will only be able to meet 70% of copper and 50% of lithium requirements in 2035. The IEA based its estimates on a scenario in which all countries would meet their national climate goals for 2035.

"The world’s appetite for technologies such as solar panels, electric cars, and batteries is growing fast – but we cannot satisfy it without reliable and expanding supplies of critical minerals," IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said in a statement.