Metals for the energy transition

Metal consumption of renewable less than fossil energy production

Energy production, whether fossil or renewable, requires large amounts of metals. Industry and politics currently often use the projected increase in metal demand for the expansion of renewables as a legitimacy for the expansion of mining. ‘Whether we are talking about [computer chips] or about solar storage cells – The trainraw materials is crucial for the success of our transformation towards a sustainable and digital economy. Lithium and rare earths will soon be more important than oil and gas”, said Ursula von der Leyen in her State of the Union address in September 2022. Lithium and cobalt are often cited in this context, although they are mainly needed in car batteries and not for renewable energy production. The analysis of PowerShift with data of the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST)[1] shows, however, that renewable energy production does not require much more metals than fossil fuels.

On the contrary, some renewable energy technologies, such as small hydropower plants or roof-mounted PV systems, perform significantly better than fossil-fired coal-fired power plants, for example. For one megawatt hour of electricity, about 340g of metals are needed in a small water plant, in a coal-fired power plant it is up to 3,920g. A coal-fired power plant needs about ten to eleven times as many metals per megawatt hour as a small hydroelectric power plant. Although the expansion of renewable energy technologies requires large quantities of metals, the material intensity is significantly lower, as gas and coal power plants also have to add the burned fossil raw materials.

[1] from the UNECE study Carbon Neutrality in the UNECE Region: Integrated Life-cycle Assessment of Electricity Sources

Wind turbines require significantly less critical raw materials than fossil energy production

The European Union in particular justifies the expansion of global mining projects for critical raw materials with the requirements for renewable energies. However, as data from the LIST show, wind turbines require significantly less energy per megawatt hour of the 30 raw materials classified as critical by the EU than fossil energy production.

In 2030 alone, batteries in electric cars from Volkswagen will need almost 10 times more aluminum and nickel than the entire expansion of wind power in Germany by then.

In the study, PowerShift compared the calculations of the German Raw Materials Agency (DERA) on material consumption for the expansion of wind power and solar plants in Germany with the demand for raw materials for electromobility. There are two things that stand out: On the one hand, lithium and cobalt do not play a significant role in the expansion of wind and solar power. On the other hand, the electric Volkswagen traction batteries alone, which will be produced in 2030, could require about ten times as much aluminum and nickel as the entire planned addition to wind turbines in Germany from today until then. Particularly in the case of bulk raw materials such as aluminium, nickel or copper, the development of individual transport could therefore be in competition with the necessary metals for the expansion of renewable energy technologies.

Raw materials transition and energy transition must be considered together

In contrast to the expansion of fossil fuels, the expansion of renewable energy infrastructure is essential for an effective fight against climate change. This expansion and the associated metal demand in no way justify possible social and ecological effects as well as global injustices in the extraction of raw materials. Rather, our results illustrate the urgency of transforming our handling of raw materials in the sense of a raw materials turnaround. On the one hand, this means that metallic raw materials, including those needed for renewable energy technologies, must be mined under the highest possible environmental and social standards. In addition, it is essential to reduce the absolute consumption of metallic raw materials. Sector-specific objectives are an important lever. Here, the energy sector is challenged differently from, for example, the mobility sector: The expansion of renewable energies must be treated as an alternative and as a priority, while in the mobility sector a rapid departure from motorised private transport must be initiated. At the same time, the expansion of a circular economy with a focus on longevity, reparability and a product design designed for the recycling of raw materials plays a central role.