"A looming copper bottleneck could derail the energy transition"

" A looming copper bottleneck could derail the energy transition \r\n\r\nA new report from the International Energy Forum warns that global copper production may soon be critically outpaced by soaring global demand for the metal, which is a key component of many clean energy technologies. As such, the metal could soon act as an acute bottleneck in the world\u2019s feasible pathways to meeting key climate goals by mid-century.\r\n\r\nStaying on a net-zero pathway by 2030 will require 12.8 million tons of additional copper supplies over the next five and a half years according to recent calculations from BloombergNEF. For comparison, just about 27 million tons last year. Achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 will require a whopping 460% increase in copper production, which will require 194 new large-scale mines to be brought online over the next 32 years. According to the International Energy Forum\u00a0 report , in a business-as-usual scenario, just 35 will be added by that time. Meeting net-zero goals will therefore require a leap from the baseline never before seen in human history.\r\n\r\nMany renewable energy technologies require larger amounts of copper than their fossil fuel powered equivalents. T\u201cAn EV requires 2.5 times as much copper as an internal combustion engine vehicle,\u201d\u00a0 reports CNBC . \u201cMeanwhile, solar and offshore wind need two times and five times, respectively, more copper per megawatt of installed capacity than power generated using natural gas or coal.\u201d Copper will also be an essential ingredient for the truly gargantuan grid expansion that will be needed to support the broad electrification of our energy system.\r\n\r\nThe looming copper shortage is not a sudden occurrence \u2013 experts have been warning about the coming bottleneck for years. \u201cWhat the world needs \u2013 today\u2019s world as well as the future, increasingly climate-threatened one \u2013 is a bigger emphasis and greater expenditures on copper discovery and exploration\u201d Oilprice.com\u00a0 reported back in 2022 . Sound familiar?\r\n\r\nAnd if there isn\u2019t a major economic and political shift in the way that copper markets are managed and regulated, we\u2019ll probably be writing the same article for years, until the pathway to net-zero becomes completely unfeasible. \u201cDespite a surge in mining exploration budgets,\u201d Mercom recently wrote, \u201ca mere 16 out of the 224 copper deposits unearthed after 1990 were discovered within the last decade.\u201d\r\n\r\nTo be sure, it\u2019s not that there isn\u2019t interest and money behind developing new copper mines. After all, there\u2019s plenty of money to be made from developing additional resources. As a result of high demand and speculation around coming shortages, the prices of copper are skyrocketing. On Monday they hit their highest level on record, reaching $11,104.50 a metric ton on the London Metal exchange.\r\n\r\nA big part of the reason for the mismatch between copper demand and supply is the\u00a0 arduous and slow permitting process \u00a0for building new copper mines. According to Futurity, \u201cthe average time between discovering a new copper mineral deposit and getting a permit to build a mine is about 20 years.\u201d\r\n\r\nBut according to\u00a0 recent reporting \u00a0from Bloomberg, there\u2019s also another, more insidious reason for the copper shortage. The recent opinion piece contends that it\u2019s because the world\u2019s vital copper supply \u201c is being hoarded by a group of little-known mining barons.\u201d Many companies have tried \u2013 and failed \u2013 to make major deals to boost copper mining in recent years. The two biggest attempted deals in the global mining sector over the last ten years were driven by copper interests, and both fell through.\r\n\r\n\u201cIt\u2019s a pattern we\u2019re likely to see again, thanks to the way just four families have gained influence over some of the world\u2019s richest mineral deposits,\u201d Bloomberg wrote. \u201cThe families\u2019 combined net worth is some $82 billion [...]. Despite that wealth, their firms suffer from relatively high capital costs, making it harder for them to invest as aggressively as booming demand might dictate.\u201d\r\n\r\nIn addition to loosening these copper baron\u2019s grips from key global copper supplies and improving permitting delays, enhanced copper recycling will be key to keeping within a net-zero pathway. Copper recycling is already a strong and well developed economic sector, yet in 2022, 40% of the whopping 2 million metric tons of copper present in e-waste alone went straight to landfills around the world. Closing this loop is therefore a critical component of the sweeping shift so direly needed in global copper industries.\r\n \r\n \r\n "

"A looming copper bottleneck could derail the energy transition"

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