The European Commission warned that high-tech industries, including Europe’s low-carbon economy, could soon suffer from severe shortages of 14 key minerals and metals essential for goods ranging from computer chips to solar panels.
In its new report, the commissions’ working group on raw materials said the looming supply crunch stems largely from the fact that production is concentrated in a handful of countries – notably China, Brazil, Russia and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
China, for example, holds 95 percent of the world’s supply of rare earth metals. The raw materials also have few substitutes and cannot be easily recycled, further compounding the problem.
At the same time, demand for these raw materials is expected to more than triple within 20 years.
Out of more than 40 economic raw materials analyzed, the commodities considered critical for the region’s industry are antimony, beryllium, cobalt, fluorspar, gallium, germanium, graphite, indium, magnesium, niobium, the platinum group metals, rare earth metals, tantalum and tungsten.
The group, made up of industry stakeholders, said a supply crunch of these 14 materials has greater impact on the European economy compared with other resources.
One reason behind their importance is the enormous demand expected from emerging technologies like renewable energy. A study commissioned by the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology projects that demand from this industry will grow rapidly by 2030.
Many of the minerals and metals at risk of becoming harder to find are commonly used by solar panel, fuel cell and battery manufacturers and developers of desalination plants and fiber optic cables.
For example, gallium is widely used in manufacturing thin-film solar photovoltaic cells, while lithium-ion batteries cannot store power without cobalt. Fuel cells depend on platinum as a catalyst to generate electricity. Neodymium, a rare earth, is used as permanent magnets installed on wind turbines while palladium is used in seawater desalination.
‘Fair play’
To avert possible adverse effects to Europe’s economy, the group recommended policies to improve access to these primary resources by promoting sustainable exploration. It also called for policies to make recycling more efficient and promote research on finding substitutes for critical raw materials.
It also advocates trade-related initiatives, including an E.U.-wide policy on foreign investment agreements to better protect the bloc’s interests in raw materials abroad.
The group also recommended holding more discussions with developing countries, which might be implementing policies that negatively affect the international raw materials markets.
In June, the E.U. filed a complaint against China at the World Trade Organization, accusing it of hoarding raw materials such as bauxite, magnesium and zinc.
“We need fair play on external markets, a good framework to foster sustainable raw materials supply from E.U. sources as well as improved resource efficiency and more use of recycling,” said Antonio Tajani, European Commission vice president.
“It is our aim to make sure that Europe’s industry will be able to continue to play a leading role in new technologies and innovation and we have to ensure that we have the necessary elements to do so.”
The results of the report will be used as the basis for a draft E.U. plan to be published later this year. The plan will define strategies that will ensure that the bloc’s access to critical raw materials is not compromised.
Source
EcoSeed
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