The fuel of the future & Water Insecurity in South Africa’s Platinum Belt

Hydrogen fuel is becoming a central pillar of global decarbonization strategies. The hype over green hydrogen (the “fuel of the future”) and its potential to provide an abundance of low carbon fuel to transportation and industry has enticed several major emitting countries to scale up its production. And a UN-backed initiative wants to achieve a 50-fold production increase in the next six years. How will it happen? Mining for platinum group metals (PGMs), which are critical to unlocking green hydrogen’s potential. These metals are used as a catalyst in electrolyzers that use renewable energy to split water. Current platinum production only supports 3 gigawatts (GW) to 7 GW of manufacturing capacity. But present ambitions call for PGM production that will need to satisfy demands for 100 GW by 2030.

The world is looking to South Africa to supply this surge. An estimated 84 percent of the world’s PGM reserves lay beneath a water scarce region in South Africa—the nation’s “platinum belt.” Yet the scarcity of water in the belt matters. Mining platinum is an extremely water intensive activity which heavily pollutes precious water resources. And a 2020 study on green energy minerals, platinum came out on top as the metal with the highest ESG Risk. South Africa is already a water-scarce country. As recently as 2018, Cape Town was on the brink of becoming the first major city in the world to run out of water. South Africa’s government estimates that demand will outstrip supply as early as 2025.

Can South Africa balance the extraction of these metals and the environmental, economic, and social costs of doing so? Read more here.