{"id":81003,"date":"2022-10-05T10:50:06","date_gmt":"2022-10-05T08:50:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/power-shift.de\/?p=81003"},"modified":"2025-09-25T10:29:11","modified_gmt":"2025-09-25T08:29:11","slug":"metalle-fuer-die-energiewende","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/power-shift.de\/en\/metalle-fuer-die-energiewende\/","title":{"rendered":"Metals for the energy transition"},"content":{"rendered":"

Metal consumption of renewable less than fossil energy production<\/strong><\/p>\n

Energy production, whether fossil or renewable, requires large amounts of metals. Industry and politics are currently often using the projected rising metal requirements for the expansion of renewables as a legitimation for the expansion of mining. \u2018Whether we are talking about [computer chips] or solar storage cells \u2013 The train\"\"ang on raw 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. Analysis of PowerShift with data from the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology<\/em> (LIST)[1]<\/a> shows, however, that renewable energy production does not have a much greater need for metals than fossil fuels.<\/p>\n

On the contrary, some renewable energy technologies, such as small hydroelectric power plants or roof-mounted PV systems, perform significantly better than fossil-based coal-fired power plants, for example. For one megawatt hour of electricity, about 340g of metals are needed in a small waterworks, 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-fired power plants also require the addition of burnt fossil raw materials.<\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> from the UNECE study Carbon Neutrality in the UNECE Region: Integrated Life-cycle Assessment of Electricity Sources<\/em><\/p>\n

Wind turbines require significantly less critical raw materials than fossil energy production<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Diagram<\/strong>The European Union in particular justifies the expansion of global mining projects for critical raw materials with the demand for renewable energies. However, as data from the LIST show, wind turbines require significantly less of the 30 raw materials classified as critical by the EU than fossil energy production per megawatt hour of energy.<\/p>\n

In 2030 alone, batteries in electric cars from Volkswagen will need almost 10 times more aluminium and nickel than the entire expansion of wind power in Germany by then.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the study, PowerShift compared the calculations of the German Raw Materials Agency (DERA) on the material consumption for the expansion of wind power and solar systems 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 drive batteries of electric Volkswagen alone, which will be produced in 2030, could require about ten times as much aluminum and nickel as the entire planned addition of wind turbines in Germany from today to then. Particularly in the case of bulk raw materials such as aluminium, nickel or copper, the development of private transport could therefore be in competition with the necessary metals for the expansion of renewable energy technologies.<\/p>\n

Commodity and energy transitions need to be considered together<\/strong><\/p>\n

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 need for metals do not in any way justify possible social and environmental impacts as well as global injustices in the mining of raw materials. Rather, our results illustrate the urgency of transforming our handling of raw materials in the sense of a raw material turnaround. This means, on the one hand, 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 without alternatives and as a priority, while in the mobility sector a rapid reversal of motorised private transport must be initiated. Similarly, the expansion of a circular economy with a focus on durability, repairability and a product design designed for recycling of raw materials plays a central role.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Metal consumption of renewable less than fossil energy production Energy production, whether fossil or renewable, requires large quantities of metals. Industry and politics are currently often using the projected rising metal requirements for the expansion of renewables as a legitimation for the expansion of mining. \u201cWhether we are talking about [computer chips] or solar storage cells \u2013 ...<\/p>","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":97064,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[68,276,3,134],"post_series":[],"thema":[16,18],"coauthors":[59],"class_list":["post-81003","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-studie","tag-bergbau","tag-energiewende","tag-rohstoffpolitik","tag-rohstoffwende","thema-klimapolitik","thema-rohstoffpolitik","entry","has-media"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/power-shift.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81003","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/power-shift.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/power-shift.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/power-shift.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/power-shift.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81003"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/power-shift.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81003\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":97193,"href":"https:\/\/power-shift.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81003\/revisions\/97193"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/power-shift.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/97064"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/power-shift.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81003"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/power-shift.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81003"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/power-shift.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81003"},{"taxonomy":"post_series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/power-shift.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_series?post=81003"},{"taxonomy":"thema","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/power-shift.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/thema?post=81003"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/power-shift.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=81003"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}