The energy transition will also require far greater annual supplies of aluminium (equivalent to 30 per cent of what Europe already uses today), copper (35 per cent), silicon (45 per cent), nickel (100 per cent), and cobalt (330 per cent), researchers from KU Leuven University in Belgium have said.
The resources are all essential to Europe’s plans for producing the electric vehicles and batteries, renewable wind, solar and hydrogen energy technologies, and the grid infrastructure needed to achieve climate neutrality.
The study also finds that by 2050, 40 to 75 per cent of Europe’s clean energy metal needs could be met through local recycling if Europe invests heavily now and fixes bottlenecks.
But the researches warn that the continent faces critical shortfalls in the next 15 years without more mined and refined metals supplying the start of its clean energy system.
In March, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called for European independence...