Tania Urmee

At Bantaeng in South Sulawesi a new industrial scale port will be built to serve the KIBA industrial precinct where smelters produce nickel for global electric vehicle battery markets. A 1-2Mtpa low-carbon geopolymer concrete plant is proposed for precast production of some 1,600 port modules as well as other infrastructure requiring some 750,000 cum of concrete and thereafter the plant can be repurposed for other products for local markets such as reef modules and wall panels. Geopolymer concrete can be the replacement for conventional concrete and be made from wastederived materials thereby having a significantly lower carbon footprint. The plant is designed to be operated by renewable energy and an energy audit estimated that a 1Mtpa geopolymer production plant needs 100-200 GWh pa to operate. This could be served by a renewable energy power station with a mix of wind turbines and solar PV farm producing green hydrogen for energy storage and electric fuel cells. In the option of PV50%+wind50%+hydrogenstorage the total cost was estimated to be ∃20-30M USD. If electricity is assumed ∃100/MWh then this is worth ∃10-20M USD pa and the payback is 15 years approx.

There has been a conversation about developing electric vehicle industries in Indonesia and Australia. While many studies have identified the barriers and opportunities for developing the industry, limited studies have been conducted to estimate the demand and supply of critical minerals to produce electric vehicle batteries, particularly in Indonesia. This study investigates the future demand for lithium, nickel, and cobalt in Indonesia and Australia by considering multiple scenarios and technological options. The study highlights the importance of circular economic intervention, such as material substitution and recycling, to ensure a sustainable supply of these minerals. The result shows that the lithium, nickel, and cobalt reserves will be adequate for developing the domestic electric vehicle industry in Australia. The domestic production will consume between 0.4 per cent and 4.5 per cent of the available reserve. In Indonesia, domestic production will consume up to 1.2 per cent of the available nickel reserve. However, it will consume more than a quarter of cobalt reserve in a scenario where high-nickel cathode dominates the market. Indonesia might also need to import lithium. Therefore, the result emphasises the need to foster bilateral cooperation between Indonesia and Australia to develop a secure and resilient electric vehicle industry in the region. The study concludes that a multifaceted approach, including technological and policy advancement in sustainable consumption and production practices, is essential to mitigate climate change in these countries.

Access to affordable electricity supply is crucial to help achieve the seventeen Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. However, there are several unelectrified rural areas in developing countries. These locations are primarily distant from the central grid and best suited for decentralized mini-grids. However, these systems are capital-intensive and require meticulous planning to ensure their sustainability. The situation is exacerbated when they are deployed using intermittent renewable energy resources. Using the Political, Economic, Social, Technical (PESTLE) framework, the authors analyzed the key factors that can drive the sustainable implementation of such systems in developing countries using Ghana as a case study. The results indicated that economic and technical drivers played a significant role in adopting the technology, while social-cultural drivers were the least impactful. The authors made recommendations that can inform policy and decision-makers on the areas that need improvement when planning and implementing future mini-grids in Ghana.