W&M Homepage

Fossil Fuels, Mineral Resources, and Geopolitics: Insights into the Coming Energy Transition

Robert J. Finley

Out of the 2020-2021 energy industry and political turmoil, aggressive targets for emissions reductions are emerging, led by a shift to renewably-generated electricity. Simultaneously, critical commodity awareness is lagging as prices for metals essential to batteries, transmission infrastructure, and electric motors are spiking. These geologic materials will need to be mined, refined, and made available for electric vehicles, charging stations, new power lines, wind turbines, and millions of solar panels. At the same time, natural gas will continue to play a key role in emissions reductions as it replaces coal in the generation mix. The coming energy transition will require integration of currently isolated and disparate approaches needed to achieve realistic climate mitigation goals.

Dr. Robert J. Finley is a retired research geologist who has spent his career at the state geological surveys in Texas and Illinois. He headed the first carbon dioxide storage project which was sourced from a US biofuel plant that injected one million metric tons of carbon dioxide into Cambrian sandstones in the Illinois basin. Rob lives in Charlottesville, VA and lectures on energy resources, responses to climate change, and global energy policy for the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Virginia.