Massive phosphate deposits discovered in southwestern Norway could be large enough to supply electric vehicles, solar panels and fertilizer for at least 50 years. The depost contains 70 billion tonnes of the material. Phosphate contains phosphorus which is a key component of many green technologies as well as fertilizer.
In 2012, The Hague released a report warning of upcoming phosphare shortages. Russia has the biggest deposit of the compound but imports have been restricted since the Ukraine invasion.
Morocco, China, Iran and Syria also have large deposits of the material, but the war has also had an impact.
After the discovery, Jan Christian Vestre, Norway’s minister of trade and industry, said Norway had an “obligation” to develop “the world’s most sustainable mineral industry”.
The global economy uses 45 million metric tons of phosphorus each year.
“When you find something of that magnitude in Europe, which is larger than all the other sources we know – it is significant,” said found and deputy CEO of Norge Mining.
“We believe the phosphorus that we can produce will be important to the West – it provides autonomy,” he added.
But the refining of phosphorus has historically been very carbon intensive, which is partly why there has been little production in Europe in recent years. Norge Mining plans to use carbon capture and storage to offset the environmental impact of production.