…says the founder of Ivanhoe Mines at the Bhutan Innovation Forum
Robert Friedland, Founder of Ivanhoe Mines, discusses the pivotal role of critical minerals in driving the energy transition as the world shifts towards renewable energy sources to meet net zero emission targets. Talking at the Bhutan Innovation Forum (BIF) earlier this week, he highlights the potential role of Bhutan in this transition, given its unique position on the south slope of the Andes, facing India, a country blessed with Mahayana Buddhism and a deep cultural tradition.
“Through a long, strange chain of causation, I’ve had the privilege to come back to this part of the world, having been in this area in my youth, studying yoga meditation, and I’ve been drinking out of a fire hose, trying to understand the real situation around the vision of His Majesty the King of Bhutan, who I had the pleasure to meet in New York and listen to what he had to say about the transformation and vision he has for this country, and, more importantly, for his young people in this country,” the mineral magnet introduces himself to around 700 or so pair of eyes whose gazes are fixed on him.
“We’re looking at this whole global situation in the context of the previous discussion we just had about the very apparent warming of the world climate,” Robert continues with his talk, pointing out at the enormous downside dangers that that presents, and then the upside that Bhutan could present in its unique position on the southern slope of the Himalayas, facing India.
Highlighting on the country being blessed with Mahayana Buddhism, a deep cultural tradition, and most importantly, a young enlightened King, Robert presents a development paradigm in this context, all the while preserving the infinite value of the cultural heritage that Mahayana Buddhism represents in this country. All these make it an attractive option for the global energy transition, according to Robert.
“So what part do you think Bhutan can play in the energy transition,” he asks the crowd. He explains that Bhutan is nominally now a carbon negative country, but having enormous challenges. “The hydroelectric potential is really quite green power compared to the alternatives. These are run of the river hydroelectric dams. They’re not big dams like the Hoover Dam. We have the flooding of a big valley, so they have a lot lighter environmental impact than a traditional Hoover type dam,” he says.
“The country is producing two and a half and soon three and a half gigawatts of hydroelectric power. That’s about three and a half nuclear power plants equivalent. That’s more than enough to run the country during the wet monsoon season on the presumption that the monsoon does not fail us, because if it does, a billion people on the Indian subcontinent are at risk. But during the winter months, when months, when the rivers here slow down, power has to be imported from India. And so the scaling of the hydroelectric potential opens up the country to develop a domestic green economy, knowledge based economy, and I think this kind of forum bringing people from all over the world that would like to see a really interesting Integrated Financial Center, educational center, environmental engineering center, Technology Center, running on clean energy. I think it’s fairly unique on a global scale,” he pauses for a while.
“We’ve worked in 64 countries, and this is the last one we’ve come back to. For me, it’s quite amazing to see the upsides, as well as having a sober understanding of the challenges that His Majesty the King faces to realize his vision. And by the way, I think everyone here should do everything they can to back this young, enlightened monarch and what he’s done to democratize the country and to and to worry about a young population, because there really are problems as well as opportunities here to be overcome.”
In the meantime, what Bhutan has is Mahayana Buddhism, according to Robert. “It has mindfulness. It has an ancient tradition of thought combined with green forests and hydroelectric potential and the opportunity to create this forum. So you have to play to that strength. You don’t have huge mountains of copper in this country. You can’t go mining everywhere. Mining should be done where it can be done in a mindful way.”
By Tashi Namgyal, Paro