![]() As of May 2019, it has issued 29 licenses to countries across the world for deep-sea mining, including to India. The International Seabed Authority (ISA), a UN authority, was set up to regulate the exploration and exploitation of marine non-living resources residing in oceans, and thus in international waters. While the initial phase of this exploration ended by 1982, a new phase of commercial interest re-emerged by the 1990s. Regardless, the race to reach the bottom of the ocean has piqued much interest across the world. Once out of water and processed, these elements are used in smartphones, and green technologies like wind turbines, solar panels, and batteries for Electric Vehicles (EVs).Ĭonsidering the impact underwater that the above experiment showed (one of several similar experiments carried out between 1972-1997!), it seems that ‘green’ energy solutions like solar panels and EVs may not have a green supply chain. More specifically, the experiment was a result of an industry buzz surrounding potato-sized nodules on the ocean floor containing Copper, Nickel, Cobalt, as well as Manganese and Iron. The experiment aimed to mimic the impacts of deep-sea mining-a process that retrieves mineral deposits from below 200m of the ocean. The study also indicated a reduction in biomass. When an impact assessment was studied post the disturbance, it was found that there was a change in the physic-chemical conditions of the waters. In a small area on the ocean bed, a ‘disturbance’ was caused. In 1997, an experiment was conducted in the Central Indian Ocean Basin in the middle of diverse underwater ecosystems.
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