Critical Resources and Innovation for a Just and Sustainable Energy Transition

Dear Colleagues,

Energy transitions are in progress across the world, with the broader aims (as per the SDGs) to “Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all”, and “Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts” (https://sdgs.un.org/goals). These transitions are occurring at various speeds and in a variety of directions, significantly dictated by local and national contexts, as well as global drivers such as innovation and progress in technology and manufacturing. Technologies in the transition cover the entire supply chain from generation to consumption, with a key focus on renewables with storage, nuclear power variants, and hydrogen for decarbonization.

It is apparent that to meet the energy requirements of growing populations with greater per capita energy demand, there is a need for dramatic increases in the installed clean energy infrastructure. It is also apparent that for many of these technologies, the requirement for metals and non-fuel minerals will be much higher than for unabated fossil fuel technologies. Many of these minerals have therefore become classified as “critical” resources that are highly important to society and the economy and carry the high risk of supply disruption.

It is believed that supplies of these minerals must be increased by using new mines or mining techniques, expanding existing mine production, or by recovery from waste streams. All of these options require innovation.

The expansion and evolution of mineral extraction is anticipated to provide positive economic benefits for producing nations and companies. But the consideration of local social and environmental impacts is still inadequate in critical mineral studies. Notably, the consideration of “justice” in the communities that host mining is needed.

This Special Issue seeks submissions that consider the complexities of transforming resource supply chains for the energy transition, and the competing drivers and barriers.

Topics of interest

Papers submitted to this Special Issue may come from a variety of academic backgrounds, including both social and natural sciences and engineering, and could include topics such as (but not limited to) the following:

• Innovation in mining and its impact on host communities;
• Critical mineral requirements for new energy technologies;
• Social risks and their integration into criticality assessments;
• Hydrogen energy systems and their integration in mining supply chains;
• Critical mineral extraction and rehabilitation of legacy mines and tailings;
• Deep sea mining and its implications for critical minerals;
• Decarbonization as a transformation of mining and mineral markets.

Reviews, articles, and detailed technical notes are welcomed.

All submissions should consider the potential resource implications.

Prof. Dr. Benjamin McLellan
Prof. Dr. Damien Giurco
Dr. Zhili Zuo
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Resources is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• innovation
• critical minerals
• mining
• just transition
• energy
• supply chain