6.11.2024

Mari Lundström Advances Green Transition Through Research

Professor Mari Lundström is awarded the Alfred Kordelin Prize for exceptional research efforts advancing the green transition. Lundström has developed technologies, such as methods for metal separation, trained specialists, and led the way in technological transformation.

 

The green transition refers to moving away from fossil fuels like oil and coal in energy production. However, achieving the shift to clean energy requires multiple times the amount of metals currently available.

Manufacturing solar panels, wind turbines, and electric vehicle batteries requires, for example, cobalt, copper, and rare-earth elements. To ensure sufficient metal supply, more mining, recycling, and smarter manufacturing methods are needed.

This is the issue that this year’s Alfred Kordelin Prize recipient, Professor Mari Lundström of Aalto University, addresses. She specializes in metallurgy, the science of metal production and refining.

With her research team, Lundström seeks new, more environmentally friendly methods for separating technological metals and aims to reduce the challenges associated with mining. Her area of expertise is hydrometallurgy, which involves extracting metals from ores using water-based solutions.

“Almost all of the world’s technological metals are produced hydrometallurgically. It is the key to producing, for example, all the metals needed for mobile phones. This method is essential for processing both ores and recycling materials.”

Patents and Discussions on the Realistic Implementation of the Green Transition

Lundström research areas have included the recovery of metals from battery materials as well as from electrical and electronic waste. These types of waste are challenging because they contain many metals, sometimes in low concentrations. Current methods do not make it economically feasible to recover all metals.

“Technically, it is possible to separate and recover the metals, as long as it would be economically viable. Recycling is essential because the Earth’s crust does not hold unlimited amounts of metals. On the other hand, establishing a new mining and refining process takes years.”

Lundström has developed new technologies and holds several patents from both the corporate world and Aalto University. Together with her colleague Kirsi Yliniemi, she has developed a method for separating metals by applying pulsed electricity to a solution. This method is used by the company Elmery, which originated from Aalto University and was established in 2022.

Her achievements don’t end there: Lundström has built an internationally significant research ecosystem, BATCircle, focused on battery materials and comprising Finnish research institutions and companies. She has contributed to the creation of Finland’s battery strategy and led the European Union’s working group on battery materials and recycling within Batteries Europe.

“Through the working group, Finland has influenced all of Europe. We played a key role in developing Europe’s roadmap for battery raw materials and recycling.”

In the green transition, Lundström calls for realism. If we want to move away from oil and coal, recycling alone is not enough; new mines must inevitably be opened.

“If mines are not opened in Finland, Sweden, or Europe, the question is, what is the ethically right approach? Is it ‘not in my backyard’ or ‘yes in my backyard’? When mining takes place locally, it’s possible to influence operations by using the most sustainable technologies and minimizing environmental impacts.”

As the green transition progresses, a key question, according to Lundström, is the wise use of metals. Minerals and metals need to be in the right place at the right time.

Trainer of Future Circular Economy Experts

Lundström believes that Finland can punch above its weight on the global stage. For example, in lithium battery value chains, Finland was ranked fourth globally in the esteemed BloombergNEF ranking in 2022.

“Finland has unique conditions for the green transition because we have a long history of mining and metal refining. Although the use of metals is changing, we have training and expertise that can be applied in the future.”

Today, over half of the world’s copper is produced using the so-called flash smelting technology. The technology was developed by Finnish metallurgists when Finland paid war reparations to Russia in copper after World War II.

To harness Finland’s potential in the green transition, skilled professionals are also needed. Lunström is known as an excellent teacher who has trained new experts in the circular economy. She has supervised a significant number of master’s theses, and her research group of 25 has already produced 17 doctoral dissertations.

At Aalto University, considerable effort has been put into increasing the attractiveness of metallurgy as a field of study and keeping it in the spotlight.

Lunström clearly remembers her first days as a student. What especially stuck with her was how professors and company representatives told the new students that they were important to Finland.

“It had a tremendous impact on me to hear, as a young person, that I would be important and intrinsically valuable in the future, without yet having a full understanding of the field.”

Solving Problems Together

Lundström is honored by the Alfred Kordelin Prize and proud that her hard work is recognized. Equally, she acknowledges that everything has been accomplished together, within a vast ecosystem.

“There are people who have seen me, believed in me, welcomed me into the field, offered me a summer job, or guided and encouraged me when I felt like I didn’t know anything. There are people I’ve had the privilege to work with, and people who have wanted to work in my group, conducting a large number of experiments, scientific publications, theses, and dissertations.”

Lundström’s work is not yet finished. She sees many problems she still wants to solve.

“That’s the most wonderful thing about this work. I hope it continues,” Lundström concludes.

Photos: Vilja Pursiainen