Japan found $26 billion under the sea, but this new scientific breakthrough might sink it before it starts
Science Surfaces a New Solution
— mcgillu (@mcgillu)
From Boom to Bust?
A Win for Oceans, If Not for Industry?
Just off the shores of Minami-Tori-shima , a remote Japanese island more than 1,200 miles from Tokyo, lies a treasure chest of rare metals . Discovered by a joint survey from The Nippon Foundation and the University of Tokyo , the seabed nearly 5,700 meters below the surface holds dense fields of manganese nodules. These nodules are packed with cobalt and nickel—two of the world's most sought-after elements for electric vehicle (EV) battery production.According to figures cited in a Business Insider report, this underwater find could yield 610,000 metric tons of cobalt and 740,000 metric tons of nickel—worth an astonishing combined total of $26.3 billion. Japan saw the discovery as a game-changer for resource security and planned a major extraction effort starting in 2026, aiming to tap into three million tonnes of nodules annually. With global EV demand booming, the future looked bright.But in the ever-shifting landscape of technological advancement, even the most lucrative plans can be swiftly upended.Enter McGill University , where researchers, in collaboration with scientists from the U.S. and South Korea, have introduced a potentially world-changing alternative. In a recent breakthrough, the team successfully created new lithium-ion battery cathodes using no cobalt or nickel at all. Instead, they developed high-quality disordered rock-salt (DRX) cathode particles—uniform in size, energy-efficient to produce, and ready for mass manufacturing.These DRX cathodes don't just match previous performance—they outperform them. According to study author and Assistant Professor Jinhyuk Lee, 'Our method enables mass production of DRX cathodes with consistent quality, which is essential for their adoption in electric vehicles and renewable energy storage.'The implications are enormous. Not only do these new materials make battery production cheaper and greener, but they also remove the need for hard-to-source metals like cobalt and nickel . Suddenly, Japan's underwater goldmine may no longer be as essential to the EV revolution as once imagined.The revelation brings a tough question to the forefront: Is Japan's $26 billion find already becoming obsolete before a single shipment reaches the surface? The country's future plans hinge on high cobalt and nickel prices. But if the new DRX-based technology scales up—and all signs point that it will—demand for these expensive minerals could fall significantly.For Japan, this shift is more than economic. It's also political and environmental. A joint venture involving multiple Japanese companies was slated to begin mining operations in just a year's time. The find was seen as a potential bulwark against rising import costs and resource dependencies. But the rapid pace of clean-tech innovation may be rewriting that story in real time.While the news may sting Japan's industrial ambitions, environmentalists are breathing a cautious sigh of relief. Deep-sea mining has long been criticized for its irreversible ecological damage. A previous test just off Minami-Tori-shima—lasting a mere two hours—caused fish and shrimp populations to drop by 43% within a year.As researcher Travis Washburn has warned, 'Even limited mining can have far-reaching, long-lasting impacts on ocean life.' Add to that the risk of destroying yet-undiscovered species and altering fragile ecosystems, and the stakes go far beyond economics.If the world can now build EVs without cobalt and nickel, perhaps nature will finally get to keep its secrets buried beneath the sea.Japan's undersea mineral trove was once thought to be a jackpot for the energy transition. But science may be offering a better way—one that trades mining for innovation, destruction for discovery.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Scroll.in
an hour ago
- Scroll.in
Is population decline good for nature? Japan shows that may not be the case
Since 1970, 73% of global wildlife has been lost, while the world's population has doubled to 8 billion. Research shows this isn't a coincidence but that population growth is causing a catastrophic decline in biodiversity. Yet a turning point in human history is underway. According to UN projections, the number of people in 85 countries will be shrinking by 2050, mostly in Europe and Asia. By 2100, the human population is on course for global decline. Some say this will be good for the environment. In 2010, Japan became the first Asian country to begin depopulating. South Korea, China and Taiwan are following close behind. In 2014, Italy was the first in southern Europe, followed by Spain, Portugal and others. We call Japan and Italy 'depopulation vanguard countries' on account of their role as forerunners for understanding possible consequences in their regions. Given assumptions that depopulation could help deliver environmental restoration, we have been working with colleagues Yang Li and Taku Fujita to investigate whether Japan is experiencing what we have termed a biodiversity ' depopulation dividend ' or something else. Since 2003, hundreds of citizen scientists have been collecting biodiversity data for the Japanese government's Monitoring Sites 1,000 project. We used 1.5 million recorded species observations from 158 sites. These were in wooded, agricultural and peri-urban (transitional spaces on outskirts of cities) areas. We compared these observations against changes in local population, land use and surface temperature for periods of five to 20 years. Our study, published in the journal Nature Sustainability, includes birds, butterflies, fireflies, frogs and 2,922 native and non-native plants. These landscapes have experienced the greatest depopulation since the 1990s. Due to the size of our database, choice of sites and the positioning of Japan as a depopulation vanguard for north-east Asia, this is one of the largest studies of its kind. Japan is not Chernobyl Biodiversity continued to decrease in most of the areas we studied, irrespective of population increase or decrease. Only where the population remains steady is biodiversity more stable. However, the population of these areas is ageing and will decline soon, bringing them in line with the areas already seeing biodiversity loss. Unlike in Chernobyl, where a sudden crisis caused an almost total evacuation which stimulated startling accounts of wildlife revival, Japan's population loss has developed gradually. Here, a mosaic pattern of changing land use emerges amid still-functioning communities. While most farmland remains under cultivation, some falls into disuse or abandonment, some is sold for urban development or transformed into intensively farmed landscapes. This prevents widespread natural succession of plant growth or afforestation (planting of new trees) that would enrich biodiversity. In these areas, humans are agents of ecosystem sustainability. Traditional farming and seasonal livelihood practices, such as flooding, planting and harvesting of rice fields, orchard and coppice management, and property upkeep, are important for maintaining biodiversity. So depopulation can be destructive to nature. Some species thrive, but these are often non-native ones that present other challenges, such as the drying and choking of formerly wet rice paddy fields by invasive grasses. Vacant and derelict buildings, underused infrastructure and socio-legal issues (such as complicated inheritance laws and land taxes, lack of local authority administrative capacity, and high demolition and disposal costs) all compound the problem. Even as the number of akiya (empty, disused or abandoned houses) increases to nearly 15% of the nation's housing stock, the construction of new dwellings continues remorselessly. In 2024, more than 790,000 were built, due partly to Japan's changing population distribution and household composition. Alongside these come roads, shopping malls, sports facilities, car parks and Japan's ubiquitous convenience stores. All in all, wildlife has less space and fewer niches to inhabit, despite there being fewer people. What can be done Data shows deepening depopulation in Japan and north-east Asia. Fertility rates remain low in most developed countries. Immigration provides only a short-term softer landing, as countries currently supplying migrants, such as Vietnam, are also on course for depopulation. Our research demonstrates that biodiversity recovery needs to be actively managed, especially in depopulating areas. Despite this there are only a few rewilding projects in Japan. To help these develop, local authorities could be given powers to convert disused land into locally managed community conservancies. Nature depletion is a systemic risk to global economic stability. Ecological risks, such as fish stock declines or deforestation, need better accountability from governments and corporations. Rather than spend on more infrastructure for an ever-dwindling population, for example, Japanese companies could invest in growing local natural forests for carbon credits. Depopulation is emerging as a 21st-century global megatrend. Handled well, depopulation could help reduce the world's most pressing environmental problems, including resource and energy use, emissions and waste, and nature conservation. But it needs to be actively managed for those opportunities to be realised.
Time of India
3 hours ago
- Time of India
Coming soon, white paper on public transport in Mumbai
Mumbai: The Maharashtra Institution for Transformation (MITRA), functioning as a state govt advisor similar to NITI Aayog, is preparing to release a white paper addressing public transport buses, encompassing BEST and private bus aggregators in Mumbai. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now The report will present recommendations to the state govt regarding the enhancement of BEST's financial status and operational efficiency in Mumbai, while improving services for passengers using premium aggregator buses such as Cityflo and inter-state buses. A meeting was convened by MITRA on Wednesday, with participation from CEO Pravin Pardeshi, BEST general manager SVR Srinivas, WRI India representatives, and various transport specialists and analysts. The discussions included proposals for BEST to utilise private school and corporate buses during their inactive periods for transporting passengers on shorter routes. This arrangement would provide additional income for private operators while helping BEST, whose fleet reached its lowest point in 15 years, to service feeder routes, particularly near railway and Metro stations with continuous passenger flow. Another proposal discussed at Wednesday's meeting involved developing space above BEST depots, allocating two floors for BEST offices whilst designating remaining floors for commercial use, ensuring steady revenue for the financially constrained organisation. This concept draws from Japanese cities where land resources generate supplementary income for public transport operations. A recent MITRA meeting also explored the possibility of allowing premium aggregator buses to park in designated areas within BEST depots. This arrangement would provide parking facilities for private operators to expand their fleet whilst generating revenue for BEST through substantial parking fees. The meeting suggested the development of underground and multi-deck parking facilities at BEST's 27 depots to increase capacity. All these will be part of the white paper being prepared in order to revive BEST, streamline private bus operations, and improve services for commuters for all categories of buses.
Time of India
4 hours ago
- Time of India
US inflation trend: Producer prices remain flat in June; tariff effects may hit harder from August
Wholesale inflation in the US showed no increase in June, indicating continued restraint on upstream price pressures despite mounting concerns over President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs, according to fresh data from the Labor Department. The producer price index (PPI), which tracks prices before they reach consumers, was flat in June compared to the previous month, following a 0.3% uptick in May. On a year-on-year basis, wholesale prices rose 2.3%, the smallest increase since September and lower than economists had forecast, AP reported. Core PPI—which excludes food and energy—was also unchanged from May and up 2.6% from June 2024. The report came a day after the government said consumer prices rose 2.7% year-on-year in June, the sharpest rise since February. That increase was attributed in part to tariffs raising prices on imported goods ranging from appliances to groceries. However, economists warned that wholesale and retail inflation do not always move in lockstep. Bradley Saunders, North America economist at Capital Economics, flagged a 0.3% increase in core wholesale goods as a sign of tariffs beginning to bite. 'Furniture prices rose 1% from May and home electronics 0.8%,' Saunders noted, pointing out both are heavily import-reliant sectors. Still, wholesale steel prices fell 5.5%, defying expectations despite Trump's 50% tariff on imported steel. Saunders suggested some companies may be drawing on pre-tariff inventories, but warned this buffer may soon run out. New 25% tariffs on Japanese and South Korean imports are set to kick in from August 1. 'We are not out of the woods yet,' he cautioned. Retailers too are feeling the squeeze. Profit margins at auto retailers dropped 5.4%, suggesting dealers are absorbing some of the cost from Trump's 25% tariff on foreign cars and parts. That aligns with Tuesday's consumer inflation report showing a dip in new vehicle prices. Samuel Tombs, chief US economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, told AP this may not last. 'We doubt that auto retailers will continue to absorb the tariffs indefinitely,' he wrote, adding that prices could fall further before rebounding. Wholesale prices offer early signals of inflationary trends that affect consumers. They also feed into the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge, the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) index. After raising interest rates 11 times across 2022 and 2023 to combat post-pandemic inflation spikes, the Fed cut rates three times in 2024. But in 2025, it has paused further easing as it monitors the impact of Trump's trade policies. The president has also stepped up political pressure on the Fed to resume rate cuts, raising concerns about the central bank's independence. Stay informed with the latest business news, updates on bank holidays and public holidays . AI Masterclass for Students. Upskill Young Ones Today!– Join Now
