Researchers from The Australian National University (ANU) will partner with Rio Tinto to ensure First Nations cultural knowledge and perspectives are central to the global energy transition.
The Rio Tinto Centre for Future Materials, created with an investment of AUD240 million from Rio Tinto over the next 10 years, will connect ANU with researchers and industry bodies from around the world.
Together, they aim to transform how materials are sourced, processed, used and recycled to make them more environmentally, economically and socially sustainable.
In collaboration with Rio Tinto, Imperial College London will lead the Centre and act as a hub for collaboration with other leading global institutions, including ANU, the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.
ANU is the only Australian university involved in this global partnership and will advise on several aspects of the Centre’s work, including ensuring that cultural knowledge is considered and respected.
“It is exciting to be bringing together expertise from across a range of societal, Indigenous, environmental, scientific, social scientific, and technological perspectives,” ANU Vice President (First Nations) Professor Peter Yu. “The sense of urgency around this work is not just about our changing climate or the projections around the volume of minerals needed to replace fossil fuels in our global energy systems; it is equally rooted in fostering Indigenous rights and creating a more equitable society for all.”
“Meeting growing demand for the materials the world needs requires both urgency and care,” said Rio Tinto Chief Innovation Officer Dan Walker. “We’re working to increase production of materials needed for the energy transition while reducing environmental impacts and ensuring Indigenous communities have a meaningful voice in decisions that affect their lands and lives. This means reimagining how we operate, from exploration through to rehabilitation.”
“The path to net zero demands innovation and collaboration,” he added. “Many technologies needed for the energy transition don’t exist yet, and no single organisation can solve these challenges alone. Our partnerships with ANU and other research universities will help us develop better ways to produce materials responsibly.”
ANU Professor Caitlin Byrt will carry out critical research to determine how best to extract the materials we need for the energy transition. She said the successful delivery of solutions for equitable and sustainable material supply begins with responsible research and development.
The first big challenge for the new Centre will focus on a major bottleneck to electrification: copper.
Copper is critical to electricity generation, storage and transmission, and the world needs more copper in the next ten years than has been mined in the last century. There is, therefore, a need to both reduce our demand for copper and work out how to extract it from the ground in the most sustainable way possible.
The ANU node has engaged research strengths in the humanities and sciences across four of the university’s six colleges and the First Nations portfolio.
