Young researcher from SDU will help ensure sufficient critical resources for the green transition

Electric vehicles, wind turbines, batteries, and solar panels.

The technologies of the green transition rely heavily on raw materials such as cobalt, copper, nickel, and lithium.

At present, these resources are geographically concentrated in a few countries and regions. This makes the supply chain vulnerable to, for example, geopolitical tensions, and it means that Denmark and Europe’s green transition could come to a complete halt if, for any reason, deliveries were suddenly disrupted.

That is why associate professor Wu Chen from the Department of Green Technology at the University of Southern Denmark will now lead a new research project to provide a more accurate picture of how critical raw materials move through global value chains.

- Our study aims to develop more robust and sustainable supply chains for critical materials. By gaining an in-depth understanding of material flows and the disruptions that affect them, policymakers and businesses will be able to make decisions on a far more informed foundation, which does not currently exist, says Wu Chen.

- For example, it might be possible to spread the supply across more suppliers, or to develop products in ways that make them less dependent on the most vulnerable raw materials.

Complex value chains

Although we already know that the supply of critical raw materials is geographically concentrated, such as cobalt from Congo and lithium from Australia, there is still much we don’t know, the researcher explains.

The supply chains are characterized by a lack of transparency and complex business and ownership structures. Many countries may not have the resources in the underground themselves, but still gain control over them by investing in mining operations abroad or by taking over the processing of the materials.

Another key challenge is that many critical raw materials are not mined for their own sake but are instead by-products of other metals. For example, most of the world’s cobalt is produced as a by-product of copper mining. This means that the supply of cobalt is not driven by the demand for cobalt but by copper production, which makes the supply difficult to regulate and more vulnerable to fluctuations.

The research project is based on a so-called material flow analysis, where researchers map out where materials are extracted, processed, used, and recycled.

Unlike existing models, the researchers will link several materials, economic factors and technological dependencies into a single comprehensive analysis. This will enable them to assess how conflicts, trade restrictions, and other disruptions can ripple through the entire value chain.

- Security of supply for critical raw materials is now both a scientific challenge and a political priority. With this project, we want to create a better basis for understanding where the risks arise and how we can make the supply chains more robust, says Wu Chen.