Biomass carbon emissions from nickel mining have significant implications for climate action

Evelyn M. Mervine (), Rick K. Valenta, James S. Paterson, Gavin M. Mudd, Tim T. Werner, Ilyas Nursamsi and Laura J. Sonter
Additional contact information
Evelyn M. Mervine: The University of Edinburgh
Rick K. Valenta: The University of Queensland
James S. Paterson: The University of Edinburgh
Gavin M. Mudd: RMIT University
Tim T. Werner: The University of Melbourne
Ilyas Nursamsi: The University of Queensland
Laura J. Sonter: The University of Queensland

Nature Communications, 2025, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: Abstract Global nickel demand is projected to double by 2050 to support low-carbon technologies and renewable energy production. However, biomass carbon emissions from clearing vegetation for nickel mining are rarely included in corporate sustainability reports or considered in mineral sourcing decisions. Here, we compiled data for 481 nickel mines and undeveloped deposits to show that the footprint of nickel mining could be 4 to 500 times greater than previously reported (depending on the mine site), and thus the environmental impacts of nickel products, including batteries, have been underestimated to date. We found large variation in biomass losses among mines, and, in many cases, these unaccounted carbon emissions were significant relative to other Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions from nickel extraction and processing. Reporting emissions from biomass losses from mining is key for strategic decision making on where to source nickel needed for effective climate action.

Date: 2025
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-55703-y Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-024-55703-y

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-55703-y

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().