{"id":27504,"date":"2023-07-18T19:46:18","date_gmt":"2023-07-18T14:16:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/?post_type=editorial-analysis&#038;p=27504"},"modified":"2025-02-13T11:17:55","modified_gmt":"2025-02-13T05:47:55","slug":"critical-mineral-supplies-vital-to-clean-energy-shift","status":"publish","type":"editorial-analysis","link":"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/editorial-analysis\/critical-mineral-supplies-vital-to-clean-energy-shift","title":{"rendered":"Critical Mineral Supplies Vital To Clean Energy Shift"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b>Context:<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to the first annual review of the sector by<\/span><b> the International Energy Agency (IEA), <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">the supply of minerals critical to the green energy transition could move close to levels needed to support climate pledges by<\/span><b> 2030.<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>About Critical Minerals:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These are minerals that are essential for <\/span><b>clean energy,<\/b> <b>economic development and national security.\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These are essential for the advancement of many sectors, including <\/span><b>hightech electronics, telecommunications, transport, and defense.<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>The Statistics:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">From <\/span><b>2017 to 2022<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, the demand for lithium tripled,<\/span><b> cobalt increased by 70%, and nickel rose by 40%, <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">primarily driven by the energy sector.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to the<\/span><b> IEA<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, the market for energy transition minerals reached <\/span><b>$320 billion in 2022<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and is expected to continue growing rapidly.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Critical Minerals in India:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Expert Committee under the Ministry of Mines <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">has identified a set of <\/span><b>30 critical minerals<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for India.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These are Antimony, Beryllium, Bismuth, Cobalt, Copper, Gallium, Germanium, Graphite, Hafnium, Indium, Lithium, Molybdenum, Niobium, Nickel, PGE, Phosphorous, Potash, REE, Rhenium, Silicon, Strontium, Tantalum, Tellurium, Tin, Titanium, Tungsten, Vanadium, Zirconium, Selenium and Cadmium.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India has set up <\/span><b>KABIL or the Khanij Bidesh India Limited, <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">a joint venture of three public sector companies with an aim:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To ensure a<\/span><b> consistent supply <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">of critical and strategic minerals to the Indian domestic market.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It ensures the<\/span><b> mineral security<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of the nation.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It also helps in realizing the overall objective of <\/span><b>import substitution.<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-27505\" src=\"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/17.5.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"561\" height=\"480\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/17.5.png 561w, https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/17.5-300x257.png 300w, https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/17.5-360x308.png 360w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 561px) 100vw, 561px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><b><i>Image Source: The Indian Express<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>Three-Stage Assessment Process:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Analysis of Global Strategies: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The expert team studied the strategies of major economies and identified 69 elements\/minerals considered critical by these countries.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Used by countries such as <\/span><b>Australia, USA, Canada, UK, Japan and South Korea.<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Inter-Ministerial Consultation:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Different ministries were consulted to identify minerals critical to their respective sectors.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Comments and suggestions were received from the important associated national bodies like the Ministry of Power, Department of Atomic Energy, etc.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Empirical Formula for Criticality Evaluation:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> An empirical formula was derived considering economic importance and supply risk, similar to the methodology used by the<\/span><b> European Union.<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Significance:\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Clean Energy:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Countries around the world are moving towards a transition to clean energy and digital economy and affordability and speed of energy transitions will be heavily influenced by the availability of critical mineral supplies.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Economy: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Any supply shock can severely affect the economy and strategic autonomy of a country over dependent on others to procure critical minerals.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But these supply risks exist due to rare availability, growing demand and complex processing value chain.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><b>Legislation:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> The elements are playing a very important role in almost all sectors and countries are moving to enact laws and rules regarding it.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><b>US, Canada, the EU and Australia<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> have introduced regulatory legislation while resource-rich nations including<\/span><b> Indonesia, Namibia and Zimbabwe have imposed restrictions on export <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">of unprocessed mineral ores.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Challenges:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Scarcity:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> India does not have many of the mineral reserves, or its requirements may be higher than the availability, necessitating <\/span><b>reliance on foreign countries<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to meet domestic demands.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Supply Chain Vulnerabilities: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The lack of availability of these minerals or the concentration of extraction or processing in a few geographical locations could potentially lead to supply chain vulnerabilities and even disruption of supplies.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>China Factor: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">China is the world\u2019s largest producer of 16 critical minerals, including cobalt and rare earth elements. The country\u2019s dominance in critical minerals production and processing raises concerns of a supply disruption in case of a geopolitical conflict (Example: US-China trade war).<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Russia-Ukraine War: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Both Russia and Ukraine have reserves of these critical minerals and the war between the two countries has implications for these critical mineral supply chains.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(<\/span><b>Russia: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">nickel, palladium, titanium sponge metal, and the rare earth element scandium &#038; <\/span><b>Ukraine: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">titanium, lithium, cobalt, graphite, and rare earth elements, including tantalum, niobium, and beryllium).\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Shifting Balance of Power: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As the balance of power shifts across continents and countries, the critical mineral supply chains may get affected due to the strategic partnership between China and Russia.\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Developed countries have jointly drawn up partnership strategies, including the <\/span><b>Minerals Security Partnership (MSP) and G7\u2019s Sustainable Critical Minerals Alliance.<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Way Forward:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Diversifying Sources of Supply:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Diversifying the sources is a must to reduce vulnerability to disruptions in supply caused by geopolitical factors, trade restrictions, or other uncertainties.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Ensuring Clean and Responsible Sourcing:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> There is a need to promote sustainable and responsible practices throughout the critical minerals value chain to minimize the adverse impacts and ensure a sustainable energy transition.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Ensuring Resource Availability: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This includes evaluating the domestic reserves of critical minerals and exploring opportunities for their sustainable extraction or sourcing from diverse international markets.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Counter Supply-Side Challenges: According to IEA, <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">three layers of supply-side challenges need to be addressed<\/span><b> to ensure rapid and secure energy transitions.\u00a0<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Whether future supplies can keep up with the rapid<\/span><b> pace of demand growth<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in climate-driven scenarios.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Whether those supplies can come from <\/span><b>diversified sources.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Whether those volumes can be <\/span><b>supplied from clean and responsible sources.<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Adoption of IEA Strategy: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We must adapt the strategy, which the IEA has called for, that brings together <\/span><b>investment, innovation, recycling, rigorous sustainability standards and well-designed safety nets.<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><b>Additional Information:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b>International Energy Agency (IEA):<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">An autonomous Intergovernmental Organisation established in <\/span><b>1974 in Paris, France<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in the wake of the <\/span><b>oil crisis of 1973-1974,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to help its members respond to major disruptions in oil supply.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><b>Objectives:\u00a0<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It ensures <\/span><b>reliable, affordable and clean energy<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for its member countries and beyond.<\/span><\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It deals with <\/span><b>economic development, energy security and environmental protection.\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It also<\/span><b> tracks and analyzes <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">key global energy trends, promoting sound energy policy and encouraging multinational energy technology cooperation.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><b>Reports by IEA:<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">World Energy Outlook Report<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">World Energy Investment Report<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">World Energy Statistics<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">World Energy Balances<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Energy Technology Perspectives<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\"><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><b><i>News Source: <\/i><\/b><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindubusinessline.com\/opinion\/critical-mineral-supplies-vital-to-clean-energy-shift\/article67072881.ece\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><b><i>businessline<\/i><\/b><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Context: According to the first annual review of the sector by the International Energy Agency (IEA), the supply of minerals critical to the green energy transition could move close to levels needed to support climate pledges by 2030. About Critical Minerals: These are minerals that are essential for clean energy, economic development and national security.\u00a0&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/editorial-analysis\/critical-mineral-supplies-vital-to-clean-energy-shift\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Critical Mineral Supplies Vital To Clean Energy Shift<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"paper-wise":[2089],"subject":[4642],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/editorial-analysis\/27504"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/editorial-analysis"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/editorial-analysis"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27504"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/editorial-analysis\/27504\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":155220,"href":"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/editorial-analysis\/27504\/revisions\/155220"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27504"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27504"},{"taxonomy":"paper-wise","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/paper-wise?post=27504"},{"taxonomy":"subject","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/subject?post=27504"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}