How Canada's Solution To Copper Might Change The Entire Industry Forever

Copper built the electric age. It's in your walls, your car, your phone and every power line on the continent. But the world may need roughly twice as much copper by 2050, a new mine takes around 17 years to open, and the ore being dug today holds far less metal than it did in 1970. So Canadians are coming at the problem from several directions at once. A Vancouver company is pulling metal out of old electronics, catalytic converters and mine waste without a smelter. Sodium batteries could remove the copper foil from inside the cell entirely. And aluminum, the metal North America gave up on after the house fires of the 1970s, may be making a comeback, made with Quebec's clean hydro power. In this video: how copper became the measuring stick for electricity, why it's getting harder and more expensive to mine, why thieves are cutting it out of phone lines, what really went wrong with aluminum wiring in the 1970s, and the honest obstacles that still stand between these ideas and your wall socket. Like the video if you learned something, and subscribe to Made in Canada for more on what this country builds. Want to lower your home energy bills? The guides for Canadian and American homeowners are in the pinned comment. CHAPTERS 0:00 A Hole Half a Kilometre Deep 0:34 The Copper Squeeze 2:10 The Metal That Built Everything 3:46 Why Copper Is Becoming a Problem 5:39 Copper Without a Mine 7:30 The Battery With No Copper 9:03 The Fear From the 1970s 11:05 The Copper Already Above Ground 12:34 The Long Shots 13:44 Why Canada 14:46 The Honest Part 16:11 Canada in 2050 16:47 Where It Ends