Materials research to enable clean energy: Leverage points for risk reduction in critical byproduct material supply chains

Abstract

Each year, the TMS Annual Meeting brings together materials experts from across the field and across the globe, creating unique opportunities for multidisciplinary discussions of grand challenges. Enabling a clean energy transition without creating new chronic energy material shortages is one such challenge. The present work aims to inspire materials researchers from across the disciplinary spectrum to consider their skills in the context of need for risk mitigation research; particularly for the vulnerable subclass of critical materials mined as byproducts. Key leverage points are identified and assessed using existing case study data for tellurium. Results show that rapid demand growth, driven by solar PV, rendered supply-side mitigation strategies (byproduct yield improvement and recycling) much less effective than demand-side solutions, like dematerialization and substitution. Overall, the results serve as a reminder that there is no universal mitigation strategy; instead, optimal results can be obtained by targeted and temporally-relevant strategic development.