TELF AG reviews BloombergNEF’s latest report on transition metals
The strategic role of metals
To support the global transition to a future dominated by clean energy, the role of some specific raw materials, such as metals, is becoming increasingly central. These materials already represent key resources in the production processes of wind turbines, electric vehicles, and electrolyzers, but their importance in the long term could be destined to increase further. All this is discussed in the latest BloombergNEF report dedicated to transition metals, which offers a valuable and comprehensive overview of the raw materials sector’s main global dynamics (present and future). The text reiterates a point of absolute importance, already discussed several times in recent years. In the next decade, some of the most important transition metals could be subject to supply deficits, making it necessary to develop some practical initiatives such as recycling these materials and increasing exploration efforts.
Among the metals the report considers is undoubtedly lithium, which is now universally regarded as one of the main allies for producing batteries for electric vehicles (and not only). According to one of the scenarios hypothesized by BloombergNEF, the demand for this particular metal could increase by as much as 17 times between 2023 and 2050, mainly due to the central role of this metal in the components of new-generation vehicles. Another metal involved in the production processes of batteries, manganese, could stand out for a similar performance, with increases in demand 15 times higher than the current ones.
The link with the energy transition
According to BloombergNEF, these dynamics could have direct effects on advancing the energy transition. The possible limitation in the global supply of these materials, in fact, could slow down the adoption of the technologies and infrastructures necessary to produce clean energy. As stated in the report, to reach the global goals related to Net Zero (i.e., a world with net zero emissions), financial support of 2.1 trillion dollars would be necessary. The issue is more relevant than ever since transition metals are already used to a large extent today to create some structural components of modern energy infrastructures. To continue to develop these technologies and to reach global climate goals, according to BloombergNEF, the world could need from 3 to 6 billion tons of these metals by 2050.
The report also mentions the concrete initiatives that could be undertaken to overcome these possible key issues and maintain a constant supply of metals and raw materials for industrial purposes. One of these has to do with the recycling and recovery of metals from end-of-life products or other sources, with the clear expectation that these initiatives could soon become an integral part of the global supply of the most important metal resources. Another point to take into consideration, as argued in the report, has to do with the role of institutions and individual governments, which, according to BloombergNEF, will be able to contribute directly to the construction of a more ambitious life cycle of battery metals, from initial production to their recovery once the device has reached the end of its life.
