Summary and critical review of the International Energy Agency’s special report: The role of critical minerals in clean energy transitions

Abstract

This paper makes a critical review of the IEA’s report entitled The Role of Critical Minerals in Clean Energy Transitions. The main goal of this report is to identify key minerals and metals that could generate supply problems and bottlenecks in a clean energy transition. The IEA establishes a series of key recommendations towards mineral security, analysing the amount of different materials used in certain technologies (electric cars, solar PV, onshore and offshore wind, nuclear, coal, and natural gas). Such recommendations include, among others, ensuring adequate investment in diversified sources of new supply, the promotion of technology innovation or strategic stockpiling. This report is an essential step towards awareness rising about this issue, because until recently it had not received the attention it deserved. However, it falls short on the impact that mineral scarcity can have on the development of economies and the planet. For this reason, we analyse section by section the report and provide some additional comments on aspects that could be further addressed to avoid replacing fossil fuel addiction with raw materials dependence.