Strategic metal shortages and pharmaceutical chemistry: from problems to solutions
Summary
Smartphones, computers, electric or hybrid cars, solar panels, wind turbines, military and space technologies, electronics, the pharmaceutical industry, medical imaging... Modern life is completely dependent on rare and precious metals. The extraction and processing of these metals cause irreversible ecological and environmental disasters. Access to these metals is also a major strategic issue for countries such as France, where they are rare or even non-existent. In a worrying geopolitical and economic context, it is important to take stock of a few key questions: what are the solutions for recycling these over-consumed metals? Can recycling save us? How can we reduce our consumption of these metals in key sectors, such as healthcare? How can we reduce our environmental footprint when using these metals? How can we limit our dependence on metals and minerals? Answers will be provided using concrete examples of recent innovations in the production of drugs that depend on a highly strategic resource, palladium.
This course will be followed by a seminar presented by Guillaume Pitron, associate researcher at IRIS, specialist in critical raw materials, journalist, filmmaker, and author. His seminar will focus on "The War for Strategic Metals."