The Purple Energy Transition – an AusIMM Metallurgical Society webinar.

On the 29th January 2025 the AusIMM Metallurgical Society delivered a webinar on the challenges and bottlenecks for the green transition. The talk was delivered in English by Simon P. Michaux, associate professor mineral processing & geometallurgy, Finland. The title of the presentations was “Black Swans, White Swans and the Purple Transitions”.

Simon stated from the beginning that the green energy transition as put forward by most of the world’s bodies, will not work. The records of power deliverer by wind & solar can not be reasonably be extracted to support present and future growth in global power demand. Furthermore, the associated need for power storage (batteries) is excessive. For example, a power system in Spain is estimated to need back up for 16 days of buffer capacity and be stored for approximately 4- 6 months. Fossil fuels presently provide the bulk of support for reliable power. Global reserves of minerals are insufficient, and production of minerals (particularly copper) is incapable of providing raw materials to support government commitments to meet the construction plans for building renewable wind & solar plants. Such technical details can be found in various publications, including Geologian Tutkimuskeskus bulletin 416 – special issue “Estimated of the quantity of metals to phase out fossil fuels in a full system replacement compared to mineral resources” by Simon P. Michaux.

Simon then provides some possible solutions funder his concept of The Purple Transition for the future development of power generation, transport and some aspects of manufacturing. This includes Thorium nuclear micro reactors for electricity generation, ammonia for transportation, and burning Fe for smelting. These solutions still require careful planning and frugal management of energy, plus a complete restructuring of society will be done in a decentralized form.

Discussion suggested that the development of initial stocks of Thorium may come from reprocessing existing nuclear waste, or from complex processing monazite. Governments may be required to fund such processes, as there is no established commercial market for thorium.