While most clean energy focus falls on what’s above ground, in fact, what’s happening below the surface will in large part determine the success of the Clean Energy Revolution.

Building electric vehicles, solar plants, wind turbines, and many other components of the energy transition will require access to vast quantities of minerals, some of which are hard to find, and nearly all of which Japan needs to secure outside its borders.

The role of securing that supply has fallen to a state-backed corporation traditionally tasked with procuring Japan’s oil and gas. Now, JOGMEC will need to use its prowess in prospecting deep below the Earth’s surface to deliver the minerals required to power Japan’s decarbonization.

However, an entity that’s forged its reputation in fossil fuels also has its own views on the new energy landscape, and not all of JOGMEC’s experts believe that a radical energy shift is the best way to go.