Context:The world’s energy system is mainly powered by fossil fuels. The transition to a low-carbon one will shift its underpinnings away from coal, oil, and gas to the minerals needed for solar, wind, nuclear, and other technologies.
Which countries have such mineral reserves that can be mined?
Bauxite: Primary source of aluminum. Essential for wind turbines, solar panels, batteries, electrolyzers, and transmission cables.
Chromium: Key for geothermal and concentrated solar power. Used in wind turbines, and for radiation shielding in nuclear power plants.
Cobalt: Used in consumer electronics, catalysts for the oil industry, resistant metal alloys, critical components in many lithium-ion battery technologies.
Copper: Critical element in solar photovoltaics, wind power, battery storage, and electricity grids.
Graphite: Key component of battery anodes and therefore important for the transition to electric vehicles, and stationary batteries for balancing electricity grids.
Lithium: Core component of lithium-ion batteries.
Manganese: Widely used in solar and wind power, and in lithium-ion batteries for electric cars.
Molybdenum: Has a very high electrical conductivity but expands little when exposed to heat.
Nickel: Key component in the cathodes of lithium-ion batteries in electric cars.
Rare earths: Used in wind power for permanent magnets.
Silver: It’s most important role in clean energy is in solar photovoltaics and electric vehicles.
Uranium: Primary fuel for nuclear energy production.