Importance of Various Minerals in the Transition to a Low-Carbon Energy System
Transitioning to a low-carbon energy system requires moving away from coal, oil, and gas to minerals essential for renewable technologies.
Minerals are vital for developing solar, wind, nuclear, and other low-carbon energy sources.
Identifying countries with abundant mineral reserves is crucial for ensuring a steady supply for energy technologies
Minerals and Their Significance in Renewable Energy Technologies
Bauxite: Primary source of aluminum.
Essential for wind turbines, solar panels, batteries, electrolyzers, and transmission cables.
Chromium: Key for geothermal and concentrated solar power.
Used in wind turbines, and for radiation shielding in nuclear power plants.
Cobalt: Used in consumer electronics, catalysts for the oil industry, resistant metal alloys, critical components in many lithium-ion battery technologies.
Copper: Critical element in solar photovoltaics, wind power, battery storage, and electricity grids.
Graphite: Key component of battery anodes and therefore important for the transition to electric vehicles, and stationary batteries for balancing electricity grids.
Lithium: Core component of lithium-ion batteries
Manganese: Widely used in solar and wind power, and in lithium-ion batteries for electric cars
Molybdenum: Has a very high electrical conductivity but expands little when exposed to heat
Nickel: Key component in the cathodes of lithium-ion batteries in electric cars.
Rare earths: Used in wind power for permanent magnets.
Silver: It’s most important role in clean energy is in solar photovoltaics and electric vehicles.
Uranium: Primary fuel for nuclear energy production.
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