The strong demand for metals to face the energy transition presents a double paradox in Europe. The EU27 barely has 5% of its own resources to respond to this great challenge and, on the other hand, the levels of recycling of these materials are very insufficient. There are no policies to recover resources that are now wasted; if they are not adopted, the growth in demand for new resources and conflicts over extraction will increase. The image of those sub-Saharan workers walking the streets, dragging wheelbarrows and stockpiling scrap metals to turn them into scrap shows that urban mining is a great place to procure these resources; but it symbolizes the lack of recognition for this task (now outside of any regulated organization) and betrays that the administrations do not pay due attention to a selective collection and the correct reuse of all these metals, which will end up in a smelter.
The energy transition is on its way to replacing the current dependence on fossil fuels with critical or strategic minerals. For this reason, a recent report by Amics de la Terra highlights that the best way to deal with the increase in demand for minerals – and to overcome these contradictions – is to design a transition that emphasizes saving measures . According to this study, the future demand in Spain for metals associated with the energy transition will be driven mainly by the electric vehicle. These technologies will be responsible for 54% to 58% of the cumulative demand between 2020 and 2050 for aluminum and copper, and for 73%-92% of materials associated with batteries, such as manganese, cobalt , nickel and lithium. In addition, it is estimated that they will be responsible for 79% of the cumulative demand for rare earths (dysprosium and neodymium, used in engines).
Given that electric mobility will be the main source of demand for raw materials, “this is the most vulnerable area in the face of possible future supply problems that may occur”, according to researcher Alicia Valero, who has coordinated this study from ‘ Mixed Research Institute CIRCE (University of Zaragoza). For its part, wind power needs 16% of rare earths, power lines will absorb between 10% and 11% of copper and aluminum, and electrical and electronic devices would capture up to 35% of the total demand of gold
The impacts of mineral extraction can be “severe and often irreversible”, which is why Valero considers it necessary to adopt measures to reduce demand (including recycling measures and promotion of more durable products).
The work coordinated by Valero points out that applying ambitious metal collection and recycling rates would cover 57% of demand between 2020 and 2050 in a transition scenario. But this figure would increase to 67% by extending the life of technological products (making them more durable) and applying policies for prevention. In a scenario where demand decreases and recycling increases, it would be possible to halve (up to 49%) the extraction of minerals used in these technologies.
The solutions that lead to a greater reduction in mining are those that limit the size of the batteries of electric passenger cars, those that reduce this fleet of vehicles and a shift towards public transport. Extending the useful life of the product, speeding up recycling, having smaller batteries and more rational mobility would allow reductions in the first extraction of between 11% and 16% for the different metals analysed. With the plans in place by the Government for 2050, the metals supplied would occupy two cargo ships, while the rock extracted to obtain it would be equivalent to 636 cargo ships. “If recycling does not improve, this figure will rise to 1,264 ships,” says the report. With the alternatives of a more ecological economy, they would be reduced to 136 cargo ships.
