Abstract
AbstractThe technology used in renewable energy production is resulting in a material increase in the demand for many minerals and metals. While the mining industry contributes to global carbon dioxide emissions, the industry is also critical to lowering global carbon emissions across the broader economy. Here we test the impact of a hypothetical international carbon taxation regime on a subsection of the mining industry compared to other sectors. A financial model was developed to calculate the cost of carbon taxes for 23 commodities across three industries. The findings show that, given any level of taxation tested, most mining industry commodities would not add more than 30% of their present product value. Comparatively, commodities such as coal could be taxed at more than 150% of their current product value under more intense carbon pricing initiatives, thereby accelerating the transition to renewable energy sources and the consequent demand benefits for mined metals.
Funder
Gouvernement du Canada | Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
NSERC Tier 2 Canada Research Chair
Funding supported by: University of British Columbia Bradshaw Research Initiative on Mining and Metals (BRIMM) and Ernst and Young.
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Subject
General Earth and Planetary Sciences,General Environmental Science
Reference53 articles.
1. IPCC. Summary for Policymakers. In: Global Warming of 1.5 °C. An IPCC Special Report on the Impacts of Global Warming of 1.5 °C Above Pre-industrial Levels and Related Global Greenhouse Gas Emission Pathways, in the Context of Strengthening the Global Response to the Threat of Climate Change, Sustainable Development, and Efforts to Eradicate Poverty (IPCC, 2018).
2. Meinshausen, M. et al. Greenhouse-gas emission targets for limiting global warming to 2 °C. Nature 458, 1158–1162 (2009).
3. UNEP. Emissions Gap Report 2020. https://www.unep.org/emissions-gap-report-2020 (2020).
4. Lèbre, É. et al. The social and environmental complexities of extracting energy transition metals. Nat. Commun. 11, 1–8 (2020).
5. Ballinger, B. et al. The vulnerability of electric vehicle deployment to critical mineral supply. Appl. Energy 255, 113844 (2019).
Cited by
40 articles.
订阅此论文施引文献
订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献