Raw Materials needed to meet the energy transition could face significant deficits in the next 10 years, some as soon as this year, and will need an estimated US$2.1 trillion in new mining investments by 2050 to meet demand, according to the latest BloombergNEF Transition Metals Outlook report.
The metals facing a supply squeeze include aluminium, copper, lithium and graphite.
“The prolonged deficit of these metals will lead to higher prices for raw materials, which increases the cost of clean energy technologies. High costs could slow their adoption, and the energy transition at large”
— Kwasi Ampofo, head of metals and mining at BNEF and lead author of the report said
BNEF’s Economic Transition Scenario (ETS) forecasts the world could require 3 billion metric tons of metals between 2024-2050 to build out low-carbon solutions such as electric vehicles, wind turbines and electrolyzers. This forecast rises to 6 billion tons to reach net zero in 2050.
And that’s just metals.
The report estimates a fully decarbonized global energy system by 2050 could cost US$215 trillion.