Demand for renewable energy technologies is growing across the world, but their constituent materials – such as the lithium used in batteries – are non-renewable, as the Earth contains only finite amounts. Currently, 55% the world’s lithium supply comes from Australia, so we must ask ourselves: how do we mine these materials in a sustainable and responsible way? Dr Mahdokht Shaibani (Research Fellow at Monash University, with expertise in materials synthesis, engineering, and scale-up for next-generation energy storage systems) and Professor Rick Valenta (Director of the WH Bryan Mining and Geology Research Centre at the Sustainable Minerals Institute at The University of Queensland) join our host Professor Alan Duffy (Director of the Space Technology and Industry Institute at Swinburne University of Technology and Lead Scientist of the Royal Institution of Australia) to discuss.
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