Innovation. Powered by imagination, possible by mining.
Canada has all the ingredients—sustainably-sourced minerals, metals and energy products—needed for the technologies that are powering imaginations and enabling the transition to a low carbon future.
There is a natural synergy between mining and clean technology. Raw materials are transformed into technology that, having gone full circle, help mining operations reduce their environmental footprint and improve energy efficiency. These same raw materials are also enabling the world to transition to a low carbon future.
A 2017 World Bank report concluded that the increased use of low carbon technologies in the areas of wind, solar and energy storage will serve to increase the demand for mineral and metal products.
Another report by Clean Energy Canada highlights the opportunity that a low carbon economy presents to Canada and its mining industry, noting that Canada has rich deposits in many of the minerals and metals needed in renewable energy technologies. For example, Canada is home to 14 of the 19 metals and minerals needed to make a solar PV panel.
Clean Energy Canada encourages Canada to become the world’s leading supplier of the mining products integral to a low carbon economy. In its report, the think tank points to the Canadian mining industry’s sustainability standards, including MAC’s Towards Sustainable Mining® initiative, and the fact that it operates some of the lowest carbon-intensive mines in the world thanks to Canada’s energy mix and company adoption of low emission technologies at their sites.
