The goal is a notable one: cut U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030 as part of its commitment to tackling climate change. Unfortunately, Uncle Sam might be lacking the critical minerals needed to achieve that goal.
Cutting the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions by half is banked on transitioning to renewable sources of energy, chiefly wind and solar, but raw materials that go into producing solar panels and the guts of wind turbines and electric vehicles are lacking, at least domestically. That has raised red flags in Washington, D.C.
Data compiled by the U.S. Geological Survey and Visual Capitalist of the minerals the government deems critical to the nation’s economic and national security underscores the problem. In 2018, the U.S. Department of the Interior released a list of 35 critical minerals. The new list, released in February 2022, contains 15 more commodities.
The problem: Domestic production of these raw materials is limited. For example, there was only one operating nickel mine in the country in 2021, the Eagle mine in Michigan, and it’s scheduled to close in 2025. What’s more, North America has just one lithium mine, the Silver Peak Mine in Nevada, operated by Albemarle Corp.
Most critical minerals are supplied to the United States by countries that are economic competitors, and that includes China, which is the single-largest supplier of mineral commodities to the United States. Indeed, China refines nearly 90 percent of the world’s rare earth minerals, which are essential for the manufacture of a variety of products, ranging from EVs, advanced ceramics and computers, to smartphones, wind turbines, monitors and fiber optics.
The next largest source of imported critical minerals is Canada, which provided the United States with 16 different elements in 2021.
The demand for critical minerals is expected to grow quickly as the transition to clean energy technologies gains momentum. The International Energy Association says the rise of low-carbon power generation is projected to triple the demand for critical minerals by 2040.
Mike Consol (m.consol@irei.com) is editor of Real Assets Adviser. Follow him on Twitter (@mikeconsol) and LinkedIn (linkedIn.com/in/mikeconsol) to read his latest postings.