UTC Marine Minerals

Minerals is key for the energy transition. Join us to learn more about the main drivers, knowledge status, challenges and opportunities for marine minerals.

The energy transition requires a huge increase of the supply of minerals. This demand is mainly driven by the growth in renewable energy and batteries.

IEA and Rystad Energy estimates a quadrupling of minerals required to meet the sustainable development scenario by 2040, and orders of magnitude for several “energy transition minerals”.

Marine minerals could be one of the options to access the new materials needed to enable the rapid energy transition required to reach the climate goals. There are still many questions to be answered, but marine minerals will surely contribute to the diversification of the supply.

This seminar is targeting decision makers, managers, business and technology developers who would like an overview of the key drivers, knowledge status, technologies, legal framework and environmental aspects related to marine minerals.

Programme

The UTC Market Outlook Seminar, focusing on the oil and gas market, will commence from 15:00-19:00, followed by the UTC Icebreaker from 19:30 to 23:00.  Read more and sign-up

About the speakers

• Erik Giercksky, Head Ocean Stewardship Coalition at United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), will talk about some of the global dilemmas in ensuring a sustainable energy transition. We need to protect the ocean, yet we depend on its resources. UNGC is the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative. Giercksky will give his thought on corporates and clusters as drivers for change and sustainability.
• Magnus Ericsson, RMG Consulting and adjunct professor in mineral economy at Luleå University of Technology, will talk about minerals as a key enabler for the energy transition. Ericsson has numerous publications and presentation on the global perspectives on the mineral economy, including studies for the International Seabed Autoroty (ISA).
• Lars Eirik Nicolaisen, Senior Partner & Deputy-CEO at Rystad Energy, will talk about the value creation potential for marine minerals in Norway. Nicolaisen was the main author of the Rystad Energy report in 2020, which is forecasting a new billion-dollar industry. Here, he will provide an update view to this as well as his thoughts on Norway’s unique global position within this field.
• Hildegunn T. Blindheim, Director General at Norwegian Oil and Gas, will talk about the possibility for the Norwegian industry to embark on a new industry adventure. Blindheim will outline how the Norwegian oil and gas industry is addressing the energy transition and working with technology transfer into new business opportunities.
• Thomas Dahlgren, Research Professor at NORCE and researcher at the University in Gothenburg, will talk about the experience and knowledge status from environmental baseline studies in the Pacific and what could be learnt from these. Dahlgren has numerous publications on deep sea biology and ecosystems and has been part of several environmental baseline studies in the Pacific, the latest in the end of 2021.
• Geir Bjørkeli, CEO at Corvus Energy, will talk about the need for, and importance of scaling the battery production capacity to a new level to be able to achieve a zero-emission maritime industry. Bjørkeli will outline the expected growth rates for batteries and the need for responsible mineral sourcing to achieve this energy transition in a responsible way.

Changes in the programme might occur.

Participation and Costs

The event is open for all and a participant fee of 995,- NOK excl. VAT will apply.

You need to purchase a separated ticket for the UTC Marine Minerals Seminar, as this is not included in the UTC 2022 Delegate Fee.

Students: Free of charge. Please contact jon.hellevang@gceocean.no if you would like to attend.

Registration

Register for this event.

This event is organised as part of UTC 2022.

UTC is hosted by The Underwater Technology Foundation (UTF) and GCE Ocean Technology.