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Building Resilience from the Ground Up

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Barry Barton examines the extent to which exposure to disruption can be reduced by local provision and demand-side measures, as to energy and minerals.

Image courtesy of interviewee. March 26, 2024

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This video video discusses the increasing significance of resilience in energy and natural resources law, particularly in light of disruptions like the COVID-19 pandemic and natural disasters. A collaborative project initiated by a group within the International Bar Association focuses on the interconnectedness of energy security and minerals security.

The author emphasizes that resilience can be approached from both supply and demand sides. Traditionally, energy security has focused on supply chains and the flows of crude oil, but there is a growing need to consider demand-side management and energy efficiency. Enhanced energy efficiency can reduce dependency on large energy supplies, thus increasing resilience against disruptions.

The discussion includes examples of how to improve energy efficiency through policies that promote advanced technologies in transport and building insulation, recognizing the economic viability of these investments despite upfront costs. This video video also addresses the evolving demands in the minerals sector, particularly due to the energy transition, highlighting the significance of materials like lithium and cobalt for battery production in electric vehicles.

The author advocates for the development of critical mineral strategies to ensure the necessary supply chains for future economies while balancing environmental concerns. Approaches to promote a circular economy are suggested, encouraging reuse and recycling of materials to reduce raw material dependency.

The conclusion highlights the potential for energy and mineral use to be optimized through both supply and demand strategies, allowing societies to pursue economic growth while minimizing energy and material consumption. The author calls for legal and policy measures to support these initiatives, stressing the role of renewables and distributed generation in enhancing resilience.

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The idea for work on this, came out of a group of us,

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who decided that resilience was something

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that needed attention in the sphere of, energy

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and natural resources law, which is where we work.

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Uh, obviously the COVID-19 pandemic was part of that.

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And then, massive disruptions not only

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to people's mobility, but also to, shipping,

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supply chains, all kinds,

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for me here in, New Zealand, art New Zealand,

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there was also a set of questions about,

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disruption from, natural disasters, such

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as earthquakes, and, and storms.

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Uh, so, a group of US international group, working,

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within the context of the International Bar Association,

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put together a, a project on resilience, in,

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in relation to energy and natural resources.

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Uh, and within that, I was attracted to the idea of,

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of doing something on, ideas about energy security

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and, consequentially, minerals security,

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which might sound a bit odd, and,

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but it drew, drew together things

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that I knew a little bit about.

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But, where there are some quite significant parallels

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to be made about the current situation

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and what we can do about it in law and policy responses.

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The way I went about that, this was essentially to ask,

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questions, first of all about, supply side

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and then demand side.

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Uh, and then I found I could ask them in a parallel sort

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of way, both for energy

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and for minerals, which was something of a, of a surprise.

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We often, think of, resilience

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and, energy security, from a supply side point

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of view, but there is also a demand side as well.

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Uh, supply, historically in relation

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to energy security has been a concern about flows

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of crude oil, and,

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and to a lesser degree other, energy sources.

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But, there's a need to basically, rethink that

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as we go into the energy transition.

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But then also to look at the demand side includes,

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a wide range of things that you can think of in terms

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of demand, side management, and energy efficiency.

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So, energy efficiency, spans a, a number

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of different things about the way we use energy.

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For example, the energy required, to,

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to drive a car forward or, or, or, or a truck.

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Uh, some engines

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and some, motor vehicles are more efficient than others,

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and a lot of policy effort goes into,

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promoting more efficient, means of transport.

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Over time, the, energy efficiency

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of motor vehicles has gradually improved.

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Uh, the challenges to is to really push

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that forward more vigorously, and it,

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and it can be done with suitable policy instruments,

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electrification, of transport leads

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to efficiency gains as well.

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Uh, in other energy fields we see, efficiency.

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Uh, simple example is, is, insulation in buildings.

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Uh, you can, you can put a building together, a new building

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with relatively little insulation,

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or you can, really put some effort in

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and put in a lot of insulation, good quality windows,

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double glazed, even triple glazed,

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and a variety of other measures to, maximize the,

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the energy performance of the building, both in relation

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to hot weather and cold weather.

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Uh, those, so there's a couple of examples about,

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how, we can, think about energy,

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efficiency in, in the energy demand side.

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And the thing that, that relates to resilience is

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that the less helplessly dependent you are on large amounts

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of energy, the more you are a, a, a,

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careful energy user, the less,

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completely at the mercy of disruptions.

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You, you are. Um, so you can get by

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and, lead a good life

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or have a successful economy, with,

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lower energy requirements.

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So energy requirements that are, less easily,

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disrupted by the unexpected.

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There, there are a lot of ways that,

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policy measures can be put in place

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to obtain gains in energy efficiency.

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Uh, but also, the,

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the private sector has usually got a considerable,

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interest in, energy efficiency.

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If, if you're a company that has, has large,

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energy needs, in your, in your, in your factories

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or, or even in your commercial office space, something like

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that, then, and,

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and if you are looking at that as an asset that you are,

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working over time,

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and wanting a, a return of investment over time, then

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benefits of a little extra capital investment at the outset,

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for example, for installation or more efficient boilers

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or, or, or more efficient heating

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and cooling, will, will pay off, o over time.

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What we find is, is that, however, in some cases

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and in, more the retail and domestic

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and individual, case, it is harder

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to persuade people to make that upfront investment.

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Uh, the capital cost is a deterrent.

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Uh, sometimes people would

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Say, I'd really love to buy a super efficient car,

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but, it costs an extra $5,000,

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and I just don't have that money, so I'm going to buy a 10

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or a 20-year-old car that has poor energy performance.

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Uh, and that's what I know.

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It's not good, and I know it'll cost me more over time,

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but that's where I'm stuck.

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So, a policy maker can think of, of whether

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to provide financial incentives to get over that hump

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for an individual or a family,

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but also at the, at the corporate level to, to, to make,

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energy efficiency projects, possible

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that would not otherwise be possible.

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And when you're doing that, you are working on the, on the,

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demand side of the equation, rather than simply saying

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that the solution is to produce more electricity,

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to bring in more natural gas, more coal, and,

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and, and more oil.

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Um, and in that you are, essentially,

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safeguarding ourself, against disruptions,

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that might be, from, things out of your control.

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The mining and minerals,

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and materials world is, is, is always changing in,

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in response to demand.

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Uh, the, the, the, the, the big change

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that's happening in the, in the minerals world,

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at the moment is the, is is driven by the energy transition,

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the net zero transition and,

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and thoughtful people in the mining industry realize

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that this isn't, some passing fad,

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but that it fundamentally affects what they do.

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The internationally energy agency has, is one

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of a number of, of organizations that has, has,

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has done substantial studies about how this affects demand

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for minerals.

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Uh, and let, let's just,

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think about it in terms of motor vehicles.

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Uh, the, the conventional, internal combustion,

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vehicle, requires a lot of steel.

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And basically, engine has made of steel,

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and the, the, the, the fuel tank has made of steel.

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Uh, you need a bit of copper

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for your electrics, but not much.

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Uh, and you need a few specialist, ingredients

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for alloys, cobalt mo them and and so forth.

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Some cars will use a certain amount of, of aluminum.

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An electric vehicle, is different.

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It has, much more electrics, big electric motors,

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and, it has, batteries rather than a gas tank.

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Uh, and those batteries need a, an unusual set of,

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minerals, battery chemistry, changes and evolves.

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Uh, there are a number of different possibilities that,

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different companies are, are working with.

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Um, but what we see is the demand for

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battery minerals,

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really appearing on the scene in mining.

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Uh, so, lithium, cobalt

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graphite, are some of the,

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the ones that are much talked about.

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It isn't entirely a one way street.

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Uh, minerals prices are volatile,

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and, for example, the price of lithium has really crashed,

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this last year.

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But the, but a lot of players are, are seeing

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that in the long term, there will be a lot more demand

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for, for lithium.

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Same too, with, rare earth elements,

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cobalt, depending what you're doing, bear in mind that

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for electrification of the vehicle fleet, you need,

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charges, which are essentially big transformers.

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So a lot of copper has to go into beam.

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Copper is one that people don't particularly think of

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as a critical mineral,

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but it is actually going to be one

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of the pinch points in many ways.

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So, too, on the generation that side, the supply side,

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if you are building a, a wind farm

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or a, a solar farm array, then,

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you need a lot more copper.

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Uh, and for the wind farm, you, you need the, materials

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to build, a sophisticated complex,

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generators and so forth.

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Uh, again, you need a certain amount of steel,

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but your demand for other minerals,

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is quite substantial.

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So a much wider range of minerals than before.

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So the, the, the consequence is that, a lot

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of companies are, are asking, you know,

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what are we gonna be mining in the next 10, 20 years?

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Uh, some of them are realizing, you know, we, we,

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are probably not going to be opening a whole lot

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of new coal mines.

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Uh, and some of the bigger companies are sort

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of shuffling their way gradually out of coal or,

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or thermal coal.

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In, in particular, critical mineral strategies have emerged

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as policymakers, realize that,

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the whole energy transition

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and indeed the future of the economies,

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could be at stake if there aren't good supply chains,

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for the necessary minerals.

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Uh, so,

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and again, the International Energy Agency has seen a need

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for a, a focus on energy security, not in terms

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of tanker loads of crude oil,

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but in terms of, flows

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and stockpiles, of the, the minerals

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that will be necessary to build the new economy.

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Uh, critical mineral strategies, can, be,

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they, they vary.

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Uh, they can be pretty general.

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Some of them, however, some of them, contemplate,

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quite substantial tax breaks,

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or straight out subsidies, to encourage the development

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of processing, facilities or of new mines.

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Uh, they, can also, change

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the rules under which, mines are opened

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and, and developed.

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Um, there are reasons for concern there.

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If the, if the policy makers are saying, we need

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to get more, mines open fast for critical minerals,

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therefore, let's turn to the environmental laws

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and, weaken them

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and, make sure that there's a super fast track

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for anything we declare to be a strategic or a,

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or a, a critical minerals project,

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for real concerns there.

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Um, if we are saying, well, we've got to save a planet,

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from, CO2 emissions,

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but if we then, wreck other aspects

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of the planetary system, there are many ways

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to breach planetary boundaries, and,

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and opening new mines

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and places where they shouldn't actually be open,

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is, is one of them.

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It's a fluid situation.

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At the same time, we also have the demand side

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to think about in relation to minerals.

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And, and there in particular, we've got to think about the,

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the, the, the concept of the circular economy

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and the, the, the possibilities of radically rethinking,

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how we, use materials.

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Uh, instead of, take, make, use, dispose,

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we've got to think of, of, of, take, make, use,

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reuse, keep in service for as long as possible, repair,

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repurpose, and, and recycle.

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Uh, instead of stuff ju just going straight to the dump.

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Uh, we can do a lot with, all kinds of waste,

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but electronic waste as, as a good example, where,

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we can, look to the demand side

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of the mineral use, to, improve our performance,

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collectively.

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Uh, and that has, again, that has, has benefits in terms of,

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self-sufficiency and, and, and resilience.

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The main conclusion, well, what was most striking to me is

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that you can, look at energy

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and minerals, through,

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asking these two questions about,

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what can be done on the, on the supply side to in increase,

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resilience and, capability of dealing with,

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disasters or, or disruptions or,

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or geopolitical disruptions, wars.

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Um,

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but then on the, on the demand side, asking seriously,

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what can we do to, get what we want in terms

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of economic growth and, and prosperity

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and the good life, without needing as much,

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as we did say in the 1940s, to use, energy

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and materials, more intelligently,

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than, than we have.

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And there are similarities in the, in the, in the legal and,

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and policy, responses that one can make,

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to, to bring that about.

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We see it also in, you know, with the,

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the energy transition with, renewables.

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Um, renewables are often going to be, closer to home,

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than, you know, fossil fuels.

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Uh, most electricity, is, is generated in,

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in the country or the jurisdiction rather than

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being imported.

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And if you have switched from oil to electricity,

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then you're actually doing yourself a favor in terms of,

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resilience.

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Um, distributor generation, if you can,

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generate electricity on your rooftop,

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through a solar array, selling some to the grid,

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using some yourself, if there's, a typhoon

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or a cyclone, and your system is intact,

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but the grid as a whole is down, then

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your neighbors might be very glad to,

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to have your assistance in providing a bit

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of basic electricity to keep things working.

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So, policymakers have got a range of,

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of options open there to increase resilience,

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and so too do individuals and,

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and companies, without the, without government, .

Enhancing Resilience in Energy and Resources Law

00:00:00 - The idea for work on this, came out of a group of us, who decided that resilience was something that needed attention in the sphere of, energy and natural resources law, which is where we work. obviously the COVID-19 pandemic was part of that. And then, massive disruptions not only to people's mobility, but also to, shipping, supply chains, all kinds, for me here in, New Zealand, art New Zealand,
00:00:35 - disruption from, natural disasters, such as earthquakes, and, and storms. so, a group of US international group, working, within the context of the International Bar Association, put together a, a project on resilience, in, in relation to energy and natural resources. and within that, I was attracted to the idea of,
00:01:09 - and, consequentially, minerals security, which might sound a bit odd, and, but it drew, drew together things that I knew a little bit about. But, where there are some quite significant parallels to be made about the current situation and what we can do about it in law and policy responses. The way I went about that, this was essentially to ask,
00:01:37 - and then demand side. and then I found I could ask them in a parallel sort of way, both for energy and for minerals, which was something of a, of a surprise. We often, think of, resilience and, energy security, from a supply side point of view, but there is also a demand side as well. supply, historically in relation
00:02:08 - of crude oil, and, and to a lesser degree other, energy sources. But, there's a need to basically, rethink that as we go into the energy transition. But then also to look at the demand side includes, a wide range of things that you can think of in terms of demand, side management, and energy efficiency. So, energy efficiency, spans a, a number
00:02:41 - For example, the energy required, to, to drive a car forward or, or, or, or a truck. some engines and some, motor vehicles are more efficient than others, and a lot of policy effort goes into, promoting more efficient, means of transport. Over time, the, energy efficiency of motor vehicles has gradually improved.

Enhancing Energy Efficiency and Resilience

00:03:13 - that forward more vigorously, and it, and it can be done with suitable policy instruments, electrification, of transport leads to efficiency gains as well. in other energy fields we see, efficiency. simple example is, is, insulation in buildings. you can, you can put a building together, a new building with relatively little insulation, or you can, really put some effort in
00:03:47 - double glazed, even triple glazed, and a variety of other measures to, maximize the, the energy performance of the building, both in relation to hot weather and cold weather. those, so there's a couple of examples about, how, we can, think about energy, efficiency in, in the energy demand side. And the thing that, that relates to resilience is
00:04:19 - of energy, the more you are a, a, a, careful energy user, the less, completely at the mercy of disruptions. You, you are. so you can get by and, lead a good life or have a successful economy, with, lower energy requirements. So energy requirements that are, less easily, disrupted by the unexpected.
00:04:50 - policy measures can be put in place to obtain gains in energy efficiency. but also, the, the private sector has usually got a considerable, interest in, energy efficiency. If, if you're a company that has, has large, energy needs, in your, in your, in your factories or, or even in your commercial office space, something like that, then, and, and if you are looking at that as an asset that you are,
00:05:21 - and wanting a, a return of investment over time, then benefits of a little extra capital investment at the outset, for example, for installation or more efficient boilers or, or, or more efficient heating and cooling, will, will pay off, o over time. What we find is, is that, however, in some cases and in, more the retail and domestic and individual, case, it is harder to persuade people to make that upfront investment.
00:05:55 - sometimes people would Say, I'd really love to buy a super efficient car, but, it costs an extra $5,000, and I just don't have that money, so I'm going to buy a 10 or a 20-year-old car that has poor energy performance. and that's what I know. It's not good, and I know it'll cost me more over time, but that's where I'm stuck. So, a policy maker can think of, of whether to provide financial incentives to get over that hump

Shifting Demand in Energy and Minerals Sector

00:06:26 - but also at the, at the corporate level to, to, to make, energy efficiency projects, possible that would not otherwise be possible. And when you're doing that, you are working on the, on the, demand side of the equation, rather than simply saying that the solution is to produce more electricity, to bring in more natural gas, more coal, and, and, and more oil. and in that you are, essentially, safeguarding ourself, against disruptions,
00:07:00 - The mining and minerals, and materials world is, is, is always changing in, in response to demand. the, the, the, the, the big change that's happening in the, in the minerals world, at the moment is the, is is driven by the energy transition, the net zero transition and, and thoughtful people in the mining industry realize that this isn't, some passing fad, but that it fundamentally affects what they do.
00:07:31 - of a number of, of organizations that has, has, has done substantial studies about how this affects demand for minerals. and let, let's just, think about it in terms of motor vehicles. the, the conventional, internal combustion, vehicle, requires a lot of steel. And basically, engine has made of steel, and the, the, the, the fuel tank has made of steel. you need a bit of copper
00:08:01 - and you need a few specialist, ingredients for alloys, cobalt mo them and and so forth. Some cars will use a certain amount of, of aluminum. An electric vehicle, is different. It has, much more electrics, big electric motors, and, it has, batteries rather than a gas tank. and those batteries need a, an unusual set of,
00:08:35 - there are a number of different possibilities that, different companies are, are working with. but what we see is the demand for battery minerals, really appearing on the scene in mining. so, lithium, cobalt graphite, are some of the, the ones that are much talked about. It isn't entirely a one way street.
00:09:04 - and, for example, the price of lithium has really crashed, this last year. But the, but a lot of players are, are seeing that in the long term, there will be a lot more demand for, for lithium. Same too, with, rare earth elements, cobalt, depending what you're doing, bear in mind that for electrification of the vehicle fleet, you need, charges, which are essentially big transformers.

Critical Minerals: Demand, Supply, and Sustainability

00:09:35 - Copper is one that people don't particularly think of as a critical mineral, but it is actually going to be one of the pinch points in many ways. So, too, on the generation that side, the supply side, if you are building a, a wind farm or a, a solar farm array, then, you need a lot more copper. and for the wind farm, you, you need the, materials to build, a sophisticated complex,
00:10:05 - again, you need a certain amount of steel, but your demand for other minerals, is quite substantial. So a much wider range of minerals than before. So the, the, the consequence is that, a lot of companies are, are asking, you know, what are we gonna be mining in the next 10, 20 years? some of them are realizing, you know, we, we, are probably not going to be opening a whole lot of new coal mines. and some of the bigger companies are sort of shuffling their way gradually out of coal or,
00:10:36 - In, in particular, critical mineral strategies have emerged as policymakers, realize that, the whole energy transition and indeed the future of the economies, could be at stake if there aren't good supply chains, for the necessary minerals. so, and again, the International Energy Agency has seen a need for a, a focus on energy security, not in terms of tanker loads of crude oil,
00:11:08 - and stockpiles, of the, the minerals that will be necessary to build the new economy. critical mineral strategies, can, be, they, they vary. they can be pretty general. Some of them, however, some of them, contemplate, quite substantial tax breaks, or straight out subsidies, to encourage the development of processing, facilities or of new mines.
00:11:42 - the rules under which, mines are opened and, and developed. there are reasons for concern there. If the, if the policy makers are saying, we need to get more, mines open fast for critical minerals, therefore, let's turn to the environmental laws and, weaken them and, make sure that there's a super fast track for anything we declare to be a strategic or a, or a, a critical minerals project,
00:12:12 - if we are saying, well, we've got to save a planet, from, CO2 emissions, but if we then, wreck other aspects of the planetary system, there are many ways to breach planetary boundaries, and, and opening new mines and places where they shouldn't actually be open, is, is one of them. It's a fluid situation. At the same time, we also have the demand side to think about in relation to minerals. And, and there in particular, we've got to think about the,

Rethinking Material Use for Resilience

00:12:45 - and the, the, the possibilities of radically rethinking, how we, use materials. instead of, take, make, use, dispose, we've got to think of, of, of, take, make, use, reuse, keep in service for as long as possible, repair, repurpose, and, and recycle. instead of stuff ju just going straight to the dump.
00:13:18 - but electronic waste as, as a good example, where, we can, look to the demand side of the mineral use, to, improve our performance, collectively. and that has, again, that has, has benefits in terms of, self-sufficiency and, and, and resilience. The main conclusion, well, what was most striking to me is that you can, look at energy
00:13:49 - asking these two questions about, what can be done on the, on the supply side to in increase, resilience and, capability of dealing with, disasters or, or disruptions or, or geopolitical disruptions, wars. but then on the, on the demand side, asking seriously, what can we do to, get what we want in terms of economic growth and, and prosperity and the good life, without needing as much,
00:14:25 - and materials, more intelligently, than, than we have. And there are similarities in the, in the, in the legal and, and policy, responses that one can make, to, to bring that about. We see it also in, you know, with the, the energy transition with, renewables. renewables are often going to be, closer to home, than, you know, fossil fuels.
00:14:56 - in the country or the jurisdiction rather than being imported. And if you have switched from oil to electricity, then you're actually doing yourself a favor in terms of, resilience. distributor generation, if you can, generate electricity on your rooftop, through a solar array, selling some to the grid,
00:15:46 - or a cyclone, and your system is intact, but the grid as a whole is down, then your neighbors might be very glad to, to have your assistance in providing a bit of basic electricity to keep things working. So, policymakers have got a range of, of options open there to increase resilience, and so too do individuals and, and companies, without the, without government, .

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