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Is the "Green Transition" a logistical impossibility?

In this episode of TBLI Radical Truth, host Robert Rubinstein sits down with Professor Simon Michaux, Associate Professor of Geometallurgy at the Geological Survey of Finland (GTK) — one of the most provocative and rigorous voices in the global energy transition debate.

Simon brings decades of mining engineering expertise to answer the $100 trillion question: do we actually have enough minerals to replace fossil fuels? His research reveals a staggering gap between political ambition and geological reality — and delivers a wake-up call that every ESG investor, policymaker, and sustainability professional urgently needs to hear.

In this episode:

• Whether the mineral supply chains required for Net Zero actually exist at the scale needed
• Why copper, lithium, and cobalt are becoming critical bottlenecks — not an engineering problem, but a geological one
• The hard numbers behind replacing every combustion engine with a battery-powered EV
• Why our financial models are dangerously disconnected from biophysical and geological reality
• How the current industrial system must be fundamentally redesigned to operate within planetary limits
• What a genuinely viable post-fossil-fuel transition actually requires — beyond political slogans
• Why parallel, complementary technology systems and circular economy solutions are essential

The key insight: The existing strategic plans for the energy transition are logistically impractical as currently designed. This is not an argument against transition — it is an argument for radical honesty about what transition actually demands.

⏱️ Episode Guide:

• 12:10 — The 1,000-page reality check: calculating the true material cost of Net Zero
• 23:45 — Critical mineral scarcity: why copper, lithium, and cobalt are the new bottlenecks
• 35:15 — The EV delusion: can we realistically replace every combustion engine with a battery?
• 48:30 — Biophysical economics: why our financial models are disconnected from geological reality
• 1:02:05 — The path forward: designing an industrial system that fits within planetary limits

👤 About Professor Simon MichauxSimon Michaux is an Associate Professor of Geometallurgy at the Geological Survey of Finland (GTK), working in the Circular Economy Solutions unit. He holds a Bachelor of Applied Science in Physics and Geology and a PhD in Mining Engineering from the Julius Kruttschnitt Mineral Research Centre (JKMRC) at the University of Queensland, graduating in 2006. Simon Michaux He spent 18 years studying and working at the JKMRC's Sustainable Minerals Institute, involved in several high-profile industry-funded research programmes. Simon Michaux His landmark 2021 GTK report demonstrated that transitioning away from fossil fuels would require mining of minerals and use of recycled metals on a scale far greater than current strategic plans anticipate. GTK His work has brought him before government teams, economists, and policymakers around the world.

Whether you are an impact investor, an energy policymaker, or a sustainability strategist, this episode is essential listening for anyone serious about the real constraints of the green transition.

ABOUT TBLI RADICAL TRUTHReal experience. Real results. No greenwashing. TBLI Group is the world's leading ESG and impact investing network — educating, advising, and connecting investors for 25 years.

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