German media: To ensure energy security, the EU plans to mine the moon

According to Politico, geopolitical instability is forcing Europe to look to space to ensure energy security. In other words, the EU needs to mine lunar resources.

The European Commission's sixth annual "Strategic Foresight Report" released on the 9th warned: "The global order has suffered a major shock. Non-EU countries may no longer be able to stably supply the key materials required for low-carbon energy technologies."

The report stated: "As a response, there may be increasing emphasis on advanced mining technologies, including space mining, and lunar mining is one of them."

Metals such as lithium, copper, nickel, and rare earths are essential for renewable energy and electric vehicles, but the EU's internal mining output is extremely limited. The European Commission is concerned that countries with rich resource reserves may collude to control supply, similar to how OPEC affects the oil market.

Indeed, space mining has already received support from multiple government agencies around the world, including NASA and JAXA. Within the EU, Luxembourg has positioned itself as Europe's space mining hub, hoping to use robotics to mine the moon and asteroids. These celestial bodies often contain useful metals, such as rare earths, aluminum, titanium, and manganese, as well as precious metals like gold and platinum.

However, large-scale industrial space mining remains a distant dream, and practical solutions for transporting mined metals back to Earth are still in their early stages.

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The report points out that the energy transition is increasing demand for critical minerals. However, due to the small land area, dense population, strict environmental standards, and active civil society in the EU, even if resources are found, it is difficult to truly develop mineral resources.

Additionally, the EU has already fallen behind in key raw material supply chains and refining capabilities.

A report published last year by the Jacques Delors Centre showed that China has firmly controlled the supply chain of critical raw materials: 40% of global copper, 60% of lithium, 70% of cobalt, and nearly 100% of graphite are refined in China.

Source: DW

Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1842896222554123/

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