Adaptation Actions for a Changing Arctic: Perspectives from the Barents Area

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Chapter 6 · Impact analysis and consequences of change

6.3.4 Mining In general, socio-economic factors have a greater impact on the mining sector than climate change.Nevertheless, the sector both contributes to such change through operation emissions and needs to adapt to the impacts of climate change.The sensitivity of mining to hydrological change caused by climate change requires adaptation actions as explained in the Kittilä case study (Box 6.5; see alsoBox 9.3).Modern society requiresmineral-basedproducts, where the demand for a broad range of metals and minerals is increasing in parallel with modern technology, especially in resource-efficient and low carbon technologies (Andrew, 2014). This has resulted in a rapid increase in the number of mines worldwide, including in the Barents area. Current demand and supply imbalances for raw materials are likely to intensify over the coming decades.Although the development of less resource intensive technologies will continue, the anticipated rise in global population and living standards in developing countries is expected to continuously increase the demand for a wide range of resources (Andrew, 2014). Increasing global demand will be a major factor influencing the price of raw materials. Other factors include the exhaustion of current deposits, increasing difficulty in accessing known and future deposits, higher overall costs and increasingly stringent safety and environmental standards. Current recycling rates and the provision of secondary materials appear insufficient to meet current market demand for metals. Changes in the global geopolitical situation also affect the market for raw materials, such as by curbing investment. Environmental impacts from mining may be both direct and indirect and occur through complex impact chains, such as ecological change.External impacts include emissions towater and air,noise andodor nuisance,aswell as destruction anddisturbance of ecosystems. Impacts on the environment relate to different phases of the lifecycle of a mine: prospecting,mine construction, production, closure and aftercare.Mining and especially refining processes are energy intensive and thusmines represent significant indirect sources of greenhouse gas emissions. Small particles in air emissions can cause health problems and contaminate the surrounding environment (Sondergaad et al., 2011). Alternative techniques in tailings management such as storage in land-based tailings ponds or submarine tailings disposal cause different ecological impacts. Concentration processes, such as flotation processes,are verywater intensive.Wastewater fromconcentration processes and drainage from surface and underground mines as well as from waste areas may contaminate waterbodies. Acid mine drainage is responsible for the most serious and pervasive environmental problems related to mining and occurs when iron sulfide minerals are exposed to, and react with, oxygen and water (UNEP, 1997; Kauppila et al., 2013; Jantunen et al., 2015). The nature and magnitude of the emissions and environmental impacts inmetal oremining are largely dependent on the geology of the deposit, its size and shape, the concentrations of minerals, the excavation and beneficiation methods, and the technology and processes used in purification. For coal mining, the main environmental impacts are largely the same as those formetal ore mining (impacts on land use,water pollution,acidmine drainage, dust and noise). It is crucial that mine operators are committed to maintaining and developing operations in such a way that emissions into the environment are kept to minimum.

temperature differentials between the Equator and the poles, and changes in atmospheric Rossby waves. Overall,Arent et al. (2014) concluded that the wind energy sector is unlikely to face intractable challenges from climate change. For example, Schaeffer et al. (2012) pointed out that wind power systems have a shorter lifetime than hydropower systems which makes them more adaptable to climate change over the long term. At present, there is one Russian nuclear power plant operating in the Barents Region (Kola) and plans to build a large reactor unit in northern Finland (near Oulu). Small modular reactors are part of a newgeneration of nuclear power plant designs being developed in several countries. The aim of these facilities is to provide a flexible, cost-effective energy alternative, particularly for remote locations.Small nuclear reactors have been considered environment-friendly solutions to many energy applications (process and district heating in addition to power production) in remote hard-to-reach places, provided that due attention is paid to the safety of the plants during normal operation and in relation to accidents. Safe solutions for addressing the management and disposal of nuclear wastes are being introduced in several countries, including Finland and Russia. According to climate change mitigation scenarios, solar energy is likely to increase from its present small share in the global energy mix (Arent et al., 2014). Climate change can affect solar power resources by changing atmospheric water vapor content, cloudiness and cloud characteristics (Schaeffer et al., 2012). Concentrated solar power (CSP) is most vulnerable to cloudiness. It is a common misconception that solar energy is not a viable option in the North due to low solar radiation,when in fact the Barents area has similar annual radiation to northern Germany.The timing of insolation is more concentrated in the summer months in the Arctic, which necessitates improved storage technologies and smart grid approaches, which allow higher shares of intermittent electricity generation in the grid. Countries in the Barents area have vast forest resources, and boreal and tundra forests provide an essential source of raw materials for Arctic communities and the countries as a whole, including biomass for bioenergy.Because the treeline is expected tomove northward,thismay imply increased availability of forest biomass (Section 6.2.1),where forest growth could increase by up to 20–50%by 2100 depending on species (Parviainen et al.,2010). Other climate change impacts, including storms (Peltola et al., 2010) and forest pathogens and pests (Parviainen et al., 2010) will lead to forest damage and impede overall growth, which in turn will have consequences for the biomass (Section 6.3.1.3). One of the important future challenges of the energy system in the Barents area is related to the intermittent nature of renewable power sources such as solar energy and wind power.The energy production and consumption profilesmay not necessarilymatch, which creates a need for energy storage and intelligent power managing practices.Smart grid and building automation are key solutions – especially since buildings are a key energy consuming sector in the Barents area.Due to the small scattered communities and the large distances involved,amicrogrid (a local energy grid, fully functional as a stand-alone entity) can be a cost-effective alternative to the renewal of the aging macrogrid infrastructure and a solution to increased damage to the electricity networks due to climate change (Kirkinen et al., 2005).