Professor of Land Management at the University of Extremadura

31 Jan
A great article by the Professor of Land Management at the University of Extremadura
I expect a rather large rerating on INF in the coming months
I will post the link in the next comment

Lithium, an opportunity for Cáceres? 37 Julián Mora Aliseda01/31/2021Given that the Valdeflórez mine and the annexed facilities for the transformation of lithium have become a controversial issue for some groups of Cáceres, and as the media and different associations ask me for my opinion on the matter, I will give answers to everything that it has come to me.Contextualizing, it should be noted that the European Union has assumed in its environmental and economic Agenda, drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions (-55% until 2030), and thus comply with the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals (ODS -ONU), clearly betting on the Green and Circular Economy, as we also verify in the postCovid Reactivation funds (NextGenerationEU). For this, it has declared lithium (an essential component of batteries) a strategic metal of the new economy, as it is necessary in electric mobility, electronic devices and energy storage systems that guarantee the supply of energy from renewable sources.I have carefully analyzed the documents of the Environmental Impact Study (EsIA), accessible on the Cáceres City Council website, on the Valdeflórez mine project and the lithium transformation facilities, having verified that it meets the requirements established by European and Spanish legislation, given that as an instrument of environmental policy, it aims to prevent, mitigate and restore damage to the environment generated by any type of activity (including mining, industrial or energy) in order to minimize the negative effects on nature and implement the positive ones on the economy.Comparing the data, it is found that the cut area (hole) represents about 27 hectares (1.7% of the entire surface of the Mountain) that is equivalent to 1.5% of the urbanized land of the city of Cáceres (2,000 ha). And, likewise, the total area delimited for all activities (extraction and processing facilities and waste treatment), together with the wide security perimeter, amounts to 397 ha. In other words, an area almost identical to that which the recently started Los Arenales solar plant will occupy, also in this municipality.In short, the totally demarcated area represents 19.6% (1/5 part) of what the urban area of Cáceres occupies and an insignificant 0.3% of the area protected as SPA (considering that the Sierra de la Mosca was excluded from the Natura Network for not meeting the environmental requirements given the high profusion and dispersion of recreational housing, more than 500, and without counting on the imposing “concrete and tar barrier” of the Ronda Sur that impacts frontally on the best panoramic view of the historic city, which it definitely isolates from the mountain.Well, the EsIA in its 6 parts of the Report and Annexes, contains all the aspects related to the complete lithium extraction and transformation project (with details of all the actions inherent to the activity, both in the realization phase and in the functioning). That is, the types, quantities and composition of waste, accumulation and treatment, noise emissions, vibrations, suspended particles, etc. are analyzed, together with the “environmental inventory” that allows assessing the impacts on the population and the economy, the flora, fauna, soil and subsoil, the climate or the cultural heritage that will be affected.Likewise, the measures to correct, eliminate and compensate for the significant effects are detailed, through an environmental monitoring plan and with the necessary funds to be used for landscape restoration actions.However, the company should introduce complementary measures to those already foreseen in said Study, although this implies a higher cost of execution, but everything that results in the suppression of impacts already minimized is an obligation, such as: reducing the extraction area; incorporate plant screens, for visibility, absorb dust and muffle noise; use recycled and reused water tanks for tailings, avoiding raising dust during the transport of the material; the tailings must be from dry deposits compared to storage in ponds with the danger that it entails; and, in addition, against noise, exploitation work must be prohibited at night, as well as the facilities must be covered for the same purpose. Environmental monitoring by the administration must be very strict for environmental compliance.In short, complying with environmental regulations as demanding as the European ones, and passing the administrative processing phase, this project is an opportunity to place Cáceres on the map of the Green Economy, both for being the municipality with the largest protected area in Spain as for being the one that provides the key material for the long-awaited paradigm shift towards an ecological and decarbonized model. Although, it is necessary to demand compensation from the State for this function of sinking CO2, and from the company the fulfillment of the job offered, in order to reduce the demographic drain (3,000 young people have emigrated) and the outrageous figure of 9,200 unemployed (1 of 4 in working age).* Julián Mora Aliseda is Professor of Land Management at the University of Extremadura