Minerals For Climate Action

Period: Second Semester

Course Unit Contents:

Climate, Energy, and the Role of Materials
- Climate changes: evidences, causes, effects, and solutions
- Global energy demand vs. population growth
- Primary energy supply and fuel share
- Annual world material production by use
- Critical Raw Materials (CRM): definitions and examples
- Factors controlling mineral availability: geological, engineering, environmental, economic
- Supply-chain risk and material market disruption

The Geological Landscape
- Origin of minerals and their transformations
- Mineral deposits: classification and characteristics
- Marine minerals in different environments

Non-Renewable Energy Resources
(A) Fossil Fuels
- Conventional hydrocarbons: oil, gas, coal
- Unconventional hydrocarbons: tar sands, shales, tight gas, coalbed methane
- Hydraulic fracturing and its environmental impact
- Gas hydrates (clathrates)
(B) Nuclear Energy and Materials
- Basics of nuclear fission and energy
- The uranium cycle and nuclear fuel forms
- Materials challenges in nuclear reactors
- Types of waste forms
- Nuclear waste classification and storage materials

Carbon Capture, Storage, and Utilization (CCSU)
- CO2 sources and need for CCSU
- Options for carbon sequestration
- Capture technologies: post-, oxyfuel- and pre-combustion
- Materials used in capture systems

Renewable Energy Technologies and Electrochemical Energy Storage
(A) Solar Energy and Photovoltaics
- Historical solar energy uses
- PV technologies: photovoltaic and concentrating photovoltaics
- Materials for solar cells
- Transparent conductors
- Concentrating solar thermal
(B) Wind Power
- Wind turbine types and components
- Permanent magnets and rare earth elements
- Inshore vs. offshore wind power
- Sustainability of wind power
(C) Ocean, Hydropower, and Geothermal Energy
- Basics of ocean, tidal, wave, and geothermal energy
- Mineral-related materials for energy transfer
(D) Bioenergy and Hydrogen
- Biofuels and biohydrogen
- Hydrogen as emerging energy vector
(E) Electrochemical Energy Storage
- Primary and secondary batteries
- Functional materials for primary and rechargeable batteries
- Li-ion batteries: anode, cathode, electrolyte
- Materials for supercapacitors
- Materials for hydrogen storage

Examples of Key Minerals for Climate Solutions
(A) Perovskites
- Crystal structure and geologic relevance
- Perovskite solar cells
- Inorganic nanocrystalline perovskites and photoluminescence
(B) Other Candidate Minerals
- Spinels, olivines, phosphates, …

Brief Notes on Medical (Environmental) Mineralogy
- The health implications of mineral-human interactions in occupational settings related to climate action.

Experimental Techniques and Laboratory
- Electromagnetic radiation and radiation-matter interaction
- X-Ray Diffraction, XRD (from single crystal and powder)
- X-ray Fluorescence, XRF
- Scanning Electron Microscopy, SEM
- Raman Spectroscopy
- Infrared Spectroscopy, FT-IR

Planned learning activities and teaching methods:

The course is organized into lectures that use pictures, diagrams, and videos to present the material, and laboratory group work.
Teaching is interactive. Questions, numerical exercises, and case study presentations encourage discussion and critical thinking.
Seminars on specific topics may be led by experts.

Students experiment with using AI to verify the consistency of the scientific content proposed by the lecturer with the official scientific literature.

In addition to contacting the course instructor, students with disabilities, Specific Learning Disorders (SLD), Special Educational Needs (SEN), and other health conditions can reach out to the Student Services Office - Inclusion Unit to receive more information about opportunities to access teaching with specific support and tools.