4 Key Minerals Powering the Future of Global Energy

Rapid Summary

• Global Shift Towards Green Energy: The transition to renewable energy has significantly increased demand for critical minerals, such as lithium, cobalt, nickel, and rare earth elements.
• Mineral Distribution: Key producers of these minerals include Australia (lithium), democratic Republic of the Congo (cobalt), Indonesia (nickel), and China (rare earths). South American countries like Bolivia also hold massive untapped reserves of lithium.
• China’s Dominance: China leads in refining capacity for rare earth elements (90%), lithium/cobalt (two-thirds), and nickel (~one-third) globally.
• Environmental & Ethical Concerns: Mining activities face criticism for ecological damage,forced evictions,child labor exploitation,and human rights violations in regions like the DRC. Indigenous protests have emerged in areas like Nevada’s Thacker Pass in the U.S. over mining-driven environmental issues.
• U.S.-China Tensions in Supply Chain: The U.S.,dependent on China’s refining processes but incentivized by policies like IRA subsidies for localized production,is advancing projects such as oklahoma’s Stardust Power refinery to reduce reliance on imports.

Indian Opinion Analysis

India stands at an important juncture with respect to the global race for critical minerals crucial to its green energy ambitions. As a developing country with growing EV adoption goals under initiatives like “Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of hybrid & Electric Vehicles,” the supply-demand gaps internationally must prompt a reevaluation of India’s mineral strategies.

Despite its vast natural resources, India’s reliance on external supply chains-heavily leaning towards Chinese refinement-is concerning amidst shifting geopolitical dynamics that now emphasize resource security over economics alone.To safeguard its clean energy transition plan while maintaining sustainability commitments-as outlined globally at COP agreements-India could invest prudently toward expanding domestic refining capabilities or securing pivotal international partnerships akin to Vietnam-U.S rare-Earth deals whilst reducing socio-environmental conflicts elsewhere faced mines .

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