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To fulfill its announced plan to shift to carbon-neutral energy by 2050, Europe will need 35 times more lithium, up to 26 times more rare earth metals, twice as much nickel, and 35 percent more copper than it uses today, a new study warned.
Russia is a major exporter of minerals. After Russia attacked Ukraine, the European Union (EU) banned iron and steel products from Russia but European nations continue to buy nickel, palladium, and other minerals from it.
“There is a risk…with the geopolitical developments we are seeing around the world, that Europe…will not have the metal for its climate program,” Mikael Staffas, president of Eurometaux, said in a public statement.
Eurometaux is the European metals and mining trade group that commissioned the report.
As much as three-quarters of the new demand for metals could be met by recycling if key investments are made now, the report added, but a metals shortage will appear before 2037.
The shortages will arise because of the lag time between rising demand and new mining and processing projects being developed, according to the study.
Europe has three choices, the report said.
It can permit new mines, a difficult option because of environmental issues and red tape. It also could build new processing facilities, but those are energy-intensive and Europe’s energy prices have risen as much as fivefold over the last 12 months, resulting in several minerals processing plants being shut down because they became uneconomical to operate.
The third choice is to follow China’s example and help to finance mining and processing operations in other regions in exchange for an agreement to provide long-term supplies.
“China has been very proactive,” Liesbet Gregoir, the report’s lead author, said in a statement quoted by the Financial Times.
“They have projects across the globe for everything they can’t produce themselves,” she added. “Europe could learn from that.”
The EU is “pursuing an ambitious agenda” of reclaiming materials through recycling and “exploring” sustainable domestic production as well as strategic partnerships to secure new supplies, Thierry Breton, the EU’s internal markets commissioner, said.
TREND FORECAST: As Europe pursues its green energy ambitions, for which there will be a major push, it will wind up buying minerals from or through China, which is likely to remain Russia’s key trading partner.
As a result, as Europe’s green energy pursuits continue, even if indirectly, its money will flow into Russia to get the minerals and commodities that they need.