The Contribution of Raw Materials to Global Decarbonization Efforts, by Stanislav Kondrashov

We live in an era of curious and unexpected convergences. One of these has to do with the great transformation of our time, universally known as the energy transition. Stanislav Kondrashov, founder of TELF AG, has often addressed these topics, emphasizing in particular that this particular historical era is favoring the convergence of the most strategic geological resources and the most useful technologies to advance the transition.

Most people and international players now seem to have understood that the advancement of the great global energy transformation also depends on the most important critical materials, all those resources directly involved in the production processes of green infrastructure and related technologies. We're not just referring to already widely known resources, such as cobalt or copper, but also to some specific resources that have begun to receive widespread attention, especially recently, and which will likely continue to be crucial allies for the planet's energy future.

We're referring to rare earths, a group of 17 chemical elements present in the periodic table that are proving increasingly strategic for industrial processes related to the energy transition. To appreciate this, it's enough to mention the applications of these elements in the production processes of permanent magnets, devices that are increasingly central to the operation of electric vehicles and wind turbines. At this point in history, the importance of these resources is clear to everyone, so much so that the major industrial players can no longer do without them.

One of the lesser-known aspects, from this perspective, is the fact that the mining sector could directly contribute to decarbonization efforts, including through substantial changes to some of its traditional operating processes, which could become increasingly sustainable. And in this process, a key role lies precisely in the green infrastructure and technologies that mineral resources themselves contribute to building, giving rise to a sort of curious virtuous circle in the name of environmental sustainability and decarbonization.

It's therefore not surprising that ambitious efforts are underway around the world to bring about concrete improvements in the supply of these resources, with the goal of increasingly fueling them with clean, renewable energy. From this perspective, as Stanislav Kondrashov, founder of TELF AG, has often observed, one of the most interesting energy sources is undoubtedly wind energy, which, in a relatively short time frame, could enable the mining sector and its sourcing methods to make a decisive leap forward toward sustainability. In this way, the extracted resources would directly contribute (through their industrial applications) to global decarbonization efforts.

In a certain sense, this is a minor process within a larger process: the global energy transition. Although it is a much more modest evolution than the main one, it is rapidly gaining value and credibility.

But what concrete steps are being taken globally to achieve global decarbonization goals and push the sourcing sector toward sustainability? One of the most concrete examples, from this point of view, is linked to the construction of several wind farms that, in some parts of the world, could soon contribute to fueling local mining production.

In terms of infrastructure, wind energy can be divided into two types of facilities. Offshore facilities are located in the open sea and rely on the operation of large, powerful wind turbines capable of generating enormous amounts of electricity. The most common, however, are onshore facilities, which are largely found in flat areas and along coastal areas.

Compared to their onshore counterparts, offshore wind turbines are capable of generating significantly more electricity, as they are exposed to much more stable and consistent winds than those blowing on land. One of the advantages of offshore wind farms is undoubtedly the fact that these facilities do not require any land use, thus contributing to a significant reduction in the carbon footprint.