7 Sustainability Trends in the Mining Industry — plus 1
Do you think that mining has nothing to do with you directly? Think again. And take a look at WEF’s Sustainable Mining Paper. Besides the nice graphics it comes up with a list of 7 trends which dominate the industry. Not surprising, the sustainability aspect of mining is number one.
One aspect is missing, though. What about space mining? I know, it sounds futuristic at this point. But why? Is it really that far away?
When examining the reasons, we can quickly identify transportation cost as the main prohibitive driver. Currently, all transportation to and from space — and space really relates to orbits around earth and at most the moon — is done through rockets. Even with per-kg-payload launch cost coming down, we are a long way from transporting the massive amounts of minerals that are being moved in commercial mining operations to-and-from space at current cost.
What if? A question that is at the beginning of many great innovations. So, what if we can lower transportation cost to-and-from space by a factor of 1.000? At the same time: What if we could do that in a fully sustainable way without burning any fossil fuels?
Well, the solution is not that far away. Actually, it has been around since the 50’s when General Atomics developed the first electromagnetic launcher for the US Navy, called EMALS. With current-state solar panels of 400W and declining prices, a electromagnetic accelerator could be powered by the Sun.
Interestingly, all other components needed to reach Low-Earth-Orbits (and eventually the Moon) have been around for a while. Electromagnetic acceleration — proven concept in passenger trains since the 60's. Solar Energy — very popular recently but around since the 19th century when discovered by AE Becquerel. Nowadays, it’s installed on many private houses even in geographically sub-optimal regions like Germany. Capacitor Technology — room for development but sufficient. Carbon enhanced materials — we’re still learning but sufficient material science discoveries have been made to design and produce a reusable nose-cone which can be used to transport payloads.
It’s the re-combination of proven technologies that points to the solution. By building an solar-powered electromagnetic accelerator, reaching the moon for mining could move from the what-if stage to “why didn’t we do this before” in a matter of years.
Björn Holste — Space One
