As the renewable energy boom gains momentum, it will produce an echo-boom in demand for key battery metals.
The average EV uses almost half as much copper as the average American house, and EVs aren’t the only “green” products that are “metal hogs.”
- Wind energy uses five to 10 times more copper per unit of electrical energy than does the conventional burning of coal.
- Photovoltaic solar power uses six times more copper per unit of electrical energy.
- A Tesla Model 3 requires 240 pounds of copper, which is nearly four times what a midsized internal combustion vehicle requires.
Copper demand for EV battery production will jump 750% this decade – from 210,000 tons in 2020 to 1.8 million tons.
Alongside that surge, copper demand for EV charging stations will soar more than 1,000% by 2030.
The copper supply is under extreme geological pressure; ore grades at the world’s major copper mines are declining.
As this decline intensifies, copper supplies do not merely become less plentiful, they also become more expensive to extract.
Source: Investor Place