Pandemic showed value of clean energy

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, greenhouse gas emissions went down and outdoor air quality went gone up. Shut-downs of economic activity caused transporta- tion-related pollution to momentarily decrease.

However, as we appreciate this silver lining from an otherwise dismal pandemic, the reality is that the only way for us to leave our children, grandchildren, and future generations a healthy planet is to ensure that we don’t take our collective feet off the alternative energy pedal.

The COVID-19 pandemic, which drastically reduced traffic, industrial and commercial activity, led to a significant decline in air-polluting emissions. We’ve been given an unprecedented glimpse into what happens to the air we breathe when emissions are eliminated. In a post=pandemic world, when we look at how best to ensure the world’s clean energy revolution, an examination of the transportation sector is vital. “Given the role that transport plays in causing greenhouse gas emissions, any serious action on climate change will zoom in on the transport sector,” said Yvo de Boer, Executive Security of United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, in 2009.

Flash forward 15 years. Today’s transport sector is responsible for about a quarter of global energy-related carbon emissions. You’ve no doubt heard from the growing chorus of health officials working to implement policies that reduce carbon emissions from the transportation sector. It is clear that a paradigm shift is happening now. The way we humans use energy, store it, and think about it, is being trans-

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Hank Van Alphen Guest Commentary VAN ALPHEN

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formed by new technology and applications. Hydrocarbons are a store of energy, and have powered the world for over a century.

However, in order to release energy from hydrocarbons, we need to burn them. This burning process causes pollution and, ironically, energy loss. Plus, it still relies on a mechanism to get that released energy to do a job.

Even in cases where we still use hydrocarbons, we can use them more efficiently and generate less pollution by using lithiumion batteries. A single hydrocarbon- fired power plant that sends electricity to households to charge multiple electric vehicles is much more efficient and generates less pollution than each of those vehicles running their own individual hydrocarbon-fired power plant. The promise of electric vehicles (EV) is the most visible aspect of the profound changes happening in the world today thanks to the energy paradigm shift being led by lithium-ion battery technology.

Battery makers worldwide are expanding their production and will continue to do so over the coming years.

For our world to reach its environmental and life-saving goals, it is important to understand the necessity of acquiring an ample supply of lithium from geopolitically stable countries. The paradigm shift is accelerating, and as lithium-ion batteries are more widely used in automobiles and power storage devices, demand is accelerating as well.

Henk Van Alphen is CEO of Wealth Minerals, Inc. in South America.