The Mineral Resources-Energy Technologies Nexus: An Optimistic Assessment

摘要

This short paper focuses on synthesizing recent research into mineral resources of various metals considered crucial to underpin renewable energy technologies this century, beginning with a background of specific metals and their common uses in wind turbines and solar PV panels, followed by a review of the life cycle assessment of the mining of metals, and finally a detailed presentation of global mineral resource assessments of rare earth elements (REEs), indium, platinum group elements (PGEs), copper (Cu) and lithium (Li). The implications for the nexus between mineral resources, mining and energy technologies is then discussed, culminating in an optimistic view of the ability to meet global demands for these metals and global needs for sustainable development.