Welcome to this episode of Hardware to Save a Planet. Our guest today is Oliver Gunasekara, Co-Founder and CEO of Impossible Metals Inc., a company focused on responsible seabed mining to drive a transition to circularity in mining.
Join us as we discuss the controversial topic of deep-sea mining and its potential impact on the environment. Oliver shares his personal journey to climate tech and explains their innovative approach to collecting battery metals from the ocean floor without harming marine ecosystems. They discuss the economic factors, regulatory aspects, and challenges involved in deep-sea mining.
Our goal is to build underwater robotic vehicles to collect battery metals from the ocean floor without harming the environment. These metals, such as copper, manganese, and cobalt, are essential for the energy transition as the demand for electric vehicles and grid-scale batteries increases.
— Oliver Gunasekara
About Oliver
Oliver is a business leader with thirty+ years of experience that encompasses three major technology trends: mobile computing, cloud computing, and multimedia technologies. He is a three-time Founder, two-time CEO, Investor, and advisor in DeepTech / ClimateTech and an early employee at ARM.
Oliver is an experienced, driven, and innovative executive in business development, product management, and corporate strategy. He possesses a unique ability to bridge the business, technology, and consumer experience domains. He has a demonstrated track record of working with cross-functional teams to lead and drive new strategic initiatives. He has a history of generating multimillion-dollar revenue growth, enhancing global market share, and developing innovative consumer / mobile technology solutions.
An intro to the topic
Impossible Metals Inc.’s goal is to build underwater robotic vehicles to collect battery metals from the ocean floor without harming the environment. These metals, like copper, manganese, and cobalt, are critical to supporting the energy transition as we manufacture more electric vehicles and grid-scale batteries. Deep sea mining is often a controversial topic that has stirred up some vigorous debates about the potentially harmful effects of mining oceans. Oliver helps us counter this narrative.
Want to learn more?
Check out the key takeaways of this episode below. Better still, listen to the podcast!
Key highlights
- 09:49 – 12:34 – Seabed mining while protecting the biodiversity: Oliver explains that they use a fleet of autonomous underwater robots for deep-sea exploration. Each robot is launched from a transport ship, operates untethered, and is equipped with battery power and stereo cameras to survey the seabed. The robots identify and collect nodules while avoiding disturbing sediment or damaging marine life. Once full, they return to the surface using buoyancy engines for recovery and maintenance. This method minimizes environmental impact by selectively harvesting only the nodules that have no marine life attached to them, thereby preserving seabed ecosystems.
- 15:32 – 16:50 – A pivot from polluting land-based mining to green seabed mining: Oliver highlights the vast potential of deep-sea mining, estimating a value of around $100 trillion in metal resources. Exploration permits for approximately 40 areas have been granted, allowing for resource assessment and environmental studies. Deep-sea mining is anticipated to provide enough metal to electrify global transportation for the next century. As the industry scales by 2030, it is expected to surpass land-based mining in cost-effectiveness, resource abundance, and reduced environmental impact. This shift could lead to a positive change, alleviating the environmental and social concerns associated with traditional mining practices in regions like Indonesia and Africa.
- 23:20 – 26:36 – The challenges of designing robots for mining 6,000 feet underwater: Oliver discusses the challenges of operating technology in the ocean due to corrosive saltwater and extreme pressure. Specialized materials like titanium and glass are used to withstand pressure at great depths. Communication relies on acoustic modems due to the ineffectiveness of radio waves underwater, resulting in low bandwidth and latency. Robots must function autonomously due to unreliable communication, providing periodic updates on status and position. GPS is ineffective, so alternative methods like acoustic triangulation are used. Despite these obstacles, advancements in sensor technology help ensure accurate navigation and operation of underwater vehicles in hazardous ocean environments.
Podcast
