Mervine Evelyn M, Valenta Rick K, Paterson James S, Mudd Gavin M, Werner Tim T, Nursamsi Ilyas, Sonter Laura J
School of GeoSciences, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom.
School of the Environment, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, QLD, Australia.
Nat Commun. 2025 Jan 8;16(1):481. doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-55703-y.
Global nickel demand is projected to double by 2050 to support low-carbon technologies and renewable energy production. However, biomass carbon emissions from clearing vegetation for nickel mining are rarely included in corporate sustainability reports or considered in mineral sourcing decisions. Here, we compiled data for 481 nickel mines and undeveloped deposits to show that the footprint of nickel mining could be 4 to 500 times greater than previously reported (depending on the mine site), and thus the environmental impacts of nickel products, including batteries, have been underestimated to date. We found large variation in biomass losses among mines, and, in many cases, these unaccounted carbon emissions were significant relative to other Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions from nickel extraction and processing. Reporting emissions from biomass losses from mining is key for strategic decision making on where to source nickel needed for effective climate action.
预计到2050年，全球镍需求将翻倍，以支持低碳技术和可再生能源生产。然而，为镍矿开采而砍伐植被所产生的生物质碳排放在企业可持续发展报告中很少被纳入，在矿产采购决策中也很少被考虑。在此，我们汇总了481个镍矿和未开发矿床的数据，结果表明镍矿开采的足迹可能比之前报告的大4至500倍（取决于矿址），因此，包括电池在内的镍产品对环境的影响迄今一直被低估。我们发现各矿山之间的生物质损失差异很大，而且在许多情况下，这些未计入的碳排放相对于镍提取和加工产生的其他第一类和第二类排放而言颇为可观。报告采矿造成的生物质损失所产生的排放对于有效应对气候变化所需镍的采购地点的战略决策至关重要。
