Clean energy is driving up the demand for critical minerals such as copper, cobalt, lithium, nickel, graphite and rare earths. These are the five most important ones for clean energy, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). There are many more.
Take manganese, for example. It’s used in solar, wind and geothermal energy projects as well as electric vehicles. Demand for manganese is projected to increase substantially by 2050, according to the IEA. Incidentally, South Africa produced a third of the world’s manganese in 2023, the latest available non-estimates data from the United States Geological Survey shows. Lithium (Li), is used in battery storage, mobile devices and electric vehicles, so is cobalt and graphite.
Copper is in wiring, cables and circuits used in solar, hydro, thermal and wind energy.
Platinum group metals, of which South Africa is the world’s biggest producer, are in the tech used to produce green hydrogen.