UK Natural History Museum Head of Earth Sciences Prof Richard Herrington and fellow expert members of SoS MinErals (an interdisciplinary program of NERC-EPSRC-Newton-FAPESP funded research) recently wrote a letter to the UK Committee on Climate Change pointing out that meeting UK electric car targets for 2050 would require production of just under two times the current total annual world cobalt production, nearly the entire world production of neodymium, three quarters the world’s lithium production and at least half of the world’s copper production. A 20% increase in UK-generated electricity would be required to charge the current 252.5 billion miles to be driven by UK cars. Last month, the Committee on Climate Change published a report— Net Zero: The UK’s Contribution to Stopping Global Warming —which concluded that “net zero is necessary, feasible and cost effective.” Using its scientific expertise and collection of geological specimens, the Museum is collaborating with […]