Report highlights major challenges for UK materials supply chain
The UK may require as much as 40% of the global lithium supply and nearly 30% of graphite supply to meet demand by 2030.
The government-commissioned study quantifies UK demand for 36 materials that are important to energy-transition technologies.
Hosted by the British Geological Survey, the UK Critical Minerals Intelligence Centre hones in on nine technologies essential to decarbonisation and the energy transition: batteries, electrolysers, fuel cells, grid infrastructure, heat pumps, nuclear, photovoltaics, traction motors and wind turbines.
Battery demand is predicted to grow the fastest, having an effect on graphite, nickel, lithium, cobalt and manganese supply, with other technologies boosting demand for copper and rare-earth elements – the latter is expected to experience a peak in demand in the UK around 2030.
Ensuring a secure and stable supply for these materials presents a major challenge. To meet the global demand forecasted by the International Energy Agency, lithium supply alone would need to increase by 32 times by 2030, highlighting the pressure on supply chains and the urgency for secure, diversified, resilient and responsible supply.
Dr Colin Church CEnv FIMMM, Chief Executive of the Institute of Materials, Minerals & Mining (IOM3), comments, ‘Based on what we currently know about future demand, these claims look robust and in line with what others say.
‘The UK will need a range of metals and minerals for its future wellbeing. If there aren't enough of these being produced, all sorts of everyday things will become more expensive or hard to find, from mobile phones to electric vehicles.
‘The world needs to increase the responsible production of metals and minerals to meet future demand, though overall mining volumes will decline as we stop digging up coal, oil and gas. Some of these metals can be found here in the UK – lithium in Cornwall, for example – and we are already working to increase how much we produce here.
'Others must be sourced in other countries, so it is important that the UK can continue to trade freely for them on the global market.'
Church adds, ‘The increase in mining must be done responsibly, properly managing the risks to the environment and to the people around the sites. Done badly, the consequences for people and planet can be horrible. Done properly, mining can bring real benefits to local communities with a minimum of environmental disturbance. Governments need to ensure it is done by properly trained and qualified people to make sure we get the latter kind of mining, not the former.
‘In terms of the amount in the ground, there is enough to go round. The issue is the cost and difficulty of getting it out, processing it and transporting it to where it can be used. Different metals can be found in different places – Australia has lots of lithium, China dominates rare earth elements, copper can be found in South America, and so on.’
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