An Ethical and Environmental Comparison of Lab-Grown and Mined Diamonds

Lab-Grown Diamonds from RYIA Fine Jewelry:

• Real diamonds, identical to mined diamonds in physical, chemical, and optical properties.
• Inherently 100% conflict-free.
• Use only 1/48 of the water required for mined diamonds.
• Cause 1/1380 of the land disruption of mined diamonds.
• Produce 1/5200 of the mineral waste compared to mined diamonds.
• Emit significantly lower greenhouse gas emissions compared to mined diamonds. RYIA overcompensates throughout its entire value chain by utilizing renewable energy. 

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Lab-grown diamonds have risen significantly in popularity in recent years, valued for their economic advantages as well as their reduced environmental impact and ethical benefits over mined diamonds. The debate between lab-grown and mined diamonds is often complex and polarized. RYIA takes this matter seriously and is committed to providing clarity. In this article, we offer a perspective on the ethical and sustainable aspects of lab-grown diamonds, drawing on fact-based data and peer-reviewed research.

 

 I. Production of Mined vs. Lab-grown Diamonds

While mined diamonds form over millions of years under extreme pressure and heat deep within the earth, lab-grown diamonds are grown in a lab in a matter of weeks under comparable conditions. However, this is just the first step of how diamonds are created. There is still a long way until the diamonds are ready to be set into a ring.

Figure 1 depicts the production process of mined and lab-grown diamonds. The orange boxes represent the mined diamond production stages, including exploration, mining, ore processing, cleaning, sorting, packaging, and rough diamond sales. The green section outlines two lab-grown diamond production methods: High Temperature and Pressure (HPHT) and Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD). Both types undergo cutting, polishing and grading before gemstone sales (blue). The mined diamond production process is clearly more complex and requires more steps than that of lab-grown diamonds. In terms of authenticity, both mined (natural) diamonds and lab-grown diamonds possess identical optical, physical, and chemical properties, making them equally real diamonds.

Figure 1: Production Process of Mined and Lab-Grown Diamond (Sun et al., 2024)

For production volume, global rough diamond output from 2015 to 2020 ranged between 111 and 152 million carats, as reported by Bain & Company (Linde et al., 2021). In 2020, over 65 million carats of mined rough diamonds were classified as gem- or near-gem quality, suitable for jewelry applications. By contrast, lab-grown diamond production reached approximately 6 to 7 million carats in 2020 (Linde et al., 2021). Evidence suggests that the availability of mined diamonds on the market has been artificially regulated over time, a strategic approach that has reinforced the perception of rarity (de Angelis et al., 2021).

These differences in production have important implications for ethical and environmental considerations, which will be examined in the following sections.

 

III. Environmental Comparison

For an environmental comparison, three major factors require consideration.

1. Water Usage: Excavating one carat of rough mined diamond requires approximately 96 liters of water per carat, while gold mining consumes around 50 liters per carat (Gan et al., 2018; Kusin et al., 2019). In contrast, producing a one-carat lab-grown diamond requires only about 0 to 2 liters of water per carat (Zhdanov et al., 2021).

2. Mineral Waste Disposal and Land Disruption: In genral, diamond mining generates up to 2 million tons of mineral waste for every ton of diamonds produced, whereas other metals such as iron or gold typically produce less than 10 tons of waste per ton mined. Additionally, the waste generated by mining one ton of diamonds is equivalent to the waste from mining 105 million tons (Mt) of nickel (Sun et al. 2024). Further, Bagathi et al. report that mining one carat of diamond disturbs approximately 9 m² of land and generates around 2600 kg of mineral waste, including highly toxic substances like mercury. In contrast, producing one carat of lab-grown diamond involves significantly less environmental impact, with only 0,0065 m² of land disruption and 0,5 kg of mineral waste (2021).

3. Energy Usage and Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions: One of the primary points of criticism for lab-grown diamonds is energy consumption. Let's explore this topic further. Lab-grown diamonds produced via the HPHT method require between 28 and 215 kWh per carat, while the CVD method requires between 77 and 143 kWh per carat (Zhdanov et al., 2021). For comparison, mined diamonds consume between 96 and 150 kWh per carat, based on reports from industry leaders ALROSA and DeBeers, which together represent over 50% of global diamond production (Zhdanov et al., 2021). Thus, lab-grown diamonds can use either less or more energy per carat than mined diamonds, depending on the specific method and laboratory setup.

However, energy consumption alone does not fully determine the environmental impact. A critical factor to consider is the energy source. GHG emissions from electricity production (measured in grams of CO₂ equivalent per kWh, or g CO₂e/kWh) are essential for evaluating the environmental footprint. On average, about 73% of the energy used by DeBeers for diamond mining comes directly from fossil fuels (Zhdanov et al., 2021). Fossil fuels result in CO₂ emissions between 200 to 800 g CO₂e/kWh (German Environment Agency, 2022). The remaining 27% of their energy consumption relies on electricity, though it is unclear whether it is generated from fossil fuels or renewable sources. Mining one ton of rough diamonds generates approximately 57000 tons of GHG emissions, which is twice the amount produced by gold mining and 30000 times greater than that of iron ore mining (Sun et al. 2024).

In contrast, the energy required to create lab-grown diamonds can be sourced entirely from renewable energy, yielding zero g CO₂e/kWh emissions. This process positions lab-grown diamonds as an exceptionally sustainable option, as they can be produced with no greenhouse gas impact when renewable sources are used.

At RYIA, our commitment to sustainability extends beyond the production of lab-grown diamonds to include all upstream and downstream activities (Scope 3). We overcompensate for our total greenhouse gas emissions, offsetting twice the amount generated throughout our entire value chain.

 

References

Bagathi, A. K., Coste-Manière, I., & Gardetti, M. Á. (2021). Lab-grown diamond–the shape of tomorrow’s jewelry. In I. Coste-Manière & M. Á. Gardetti (Eds.), Sustainable luxury and jewelry. Environmental footprints and eco-design of products and processes (pp. 229–253). Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-2454-4_11

Bieri, F. (2010). From Blood Diamonds to the Kimberley Process: How NGOs Cleaned Up the Global Diamond Industry (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315583280

de Angelis, M., Amatulli, C., Petralito, S. (2021). Luxury and Sustainability: An Experimental Investigation Concerning the Diamond Industry. In: Coste-Manière, I., Gardetti, M.Á. (eds) Sustainable Luxury and Jewelry. Environmental Footprints and Eco-design of Products and Processes. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-2454-4_9

Gan, Y., & Griffin, W. M. (2018). Analysis of life-cycle GHG emissions for iron ore mining and processing in China—uncertainty and trends. Resources Policy, 58, 90–96.

Grant, J. A., & TAYLOR, I. (2004). Global governance and conflict diamonds: the Kimberley Process and the quest for clean gems. The Round Table, 93(375), 385–401. https://doi.org/10.1080/0035853042000249979

German Environment Agency - Juhrich, K. (2022). CO₂ Emission Factors for Fossil Fuels. Climate Change 29/2022. German Environment Agency (Umweltbundesamt), June 2022. Retrieved from https://www.umweltbundesamt.de/publikationen/co2-emission-factors-for-fossil-fuels-0 (accessed on 04 November 2024).

Howard, A. (2016). Blood Diamonds: The Successes and Failures of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme in Agnola, Sierra Leone and Zimbabwe. Wash. U. Global Stud. L. Rev., 15, 137.

Keller-Aviram, D. (2021). Traceability, Sustainability, and Circularity as Mechanism in the Luxury Jewelry Industry Creating Emotional Added Value. In: Coste-Manière, I., Gardetti, M.Á. (eds) Sustainable Luxury and Jewelry. Environmental Footprints and Eco-design of Products and Processes. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-2454-4_6

Kusin, F. M., Awang, N. H. C., Hasan, S. N. M. S., Rahim, H. A. A., Azmin, N., Jusop, S., & Kim, K. W. (2019). Geo-ecological evaluation of mineral, major and trace elemental composition in waste rocks, soils, and sediments of a gold mining area and potential associated risks. Catena, 183, 104229.

Linde, O.; Epstein, A.; Kravchenko, S.; Rentmeesters, K. Brilliant Under Pressure: The Global Diamond Industry 2020–21. 8 February 2021. Available online: https://www.bain.com/insights/global-diamond-industry-2020-21/ (accessed on 04 November 2024).

Sun, Y., Jiang, S., & Wang, S. (2024). The environmental impacts and sustainable pathways of the global diamond industry. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 11, 671. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-024-03195-y

Zhdanov, V., Sokolova, M., Smirnov, P., Andrzejewski, L., Bondareva, J., & Evlashin, S. (2021). A comparative analysis of energy and water consumption of mined versus synthetic diamonds. Energies, 14, 7062. https://doi.org/10.3390/en14217062

 

Cite this Article:
Liu, T & Dvornik, V. (2024). An Ethical and Environmental Comparison of Lab-Grown and Mined Diamonds. RYIA Fine Jewelry. Available online: https://ryia.de/blogs/news/an-ethical-and-environmental-comparison-of-lab-grown-and-mined-diamonds