“Transition Metals,” The War, And The Climate Crisis Fight

Russia and Ukraine are important to the renewables transition. Here’s what that means for the climate

Vigya Sharma, Eleonore Libre, Julia Longinova, March 15, 2022 (The Conversation)

“…Both Russia and Ukraine are key suppliers of crucial metals used in the manufacture of green technologies such as solar panels, wind turbines and electric vehicle batteries… [The] world needs a secure, steady and affordable supply of “energy transition metals” such as copper, nickel, platinum, palladium, aluminium and lithium…Russia accounts for 7% of the world’s mined nickel – a scarce metal needed to make electric vehicle batteries. The current conflict reportedly pushed nickel prices up 250% in 48 hours last week…

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Russia also produces a third of the world’s palladium. The metal is used in the car industry to control vehicle emissions. Palladium prices reached an all-time high following the Ukraine crisis, but have since slumped…Ukraine is the world’s largest supplier of a group of chemical elements known as “noble gases”. These include neon and krypton, and are used to make [critical components] of all electronic systems including those found in automobiles, renewables machinery and other technology…Some chip manufacturers reportedly stocked up on neon ahead of the current Russia-Ukraine conflict, but the longer-term outlook is uncertain…[T]he development of solar and wind projects was recently found to be 30% below what’s needed to achieve the world’s climate targets this decade…

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A shortfall in materials used to produce such technologies will only put the world further behind….[But the United States] is investing in critical metal exploration and manufacturing…[and Australia’s] manufacturing strategy supports investments in critical resources processing…The spike in the prices of critical minerals is likely to drive new mining, manufacturing and renewable energy projects outside Russia…[In the Philippines] a dozen new nickel mines are expected this year…” click here for more

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