Building new solar PV plants and wind farms, and supporting an expansion of electric vehicles (EVs) and green hydrogen as is planned to meet decarbonization goals, will dramatically expand demand for copper, nickel, cobalt, lithium, and rare earth elements. But the supply of these critical minerals is already fraught with risks, and that is raising serious concerns about their future availability.
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), at the core of this dilemma is its assessment that the world’s energy system is rapidly morphing beyond its traditional fuel-intensive emphasis into a “material-intensive” system.
