Critical minerals and the energy transition

The climate crisis requires a transition from a fossil-fuel energy system to renewable energy which is heavily reliant on the so-called critical minerals. Both sets of resources are finite/non-renewable and have been widely used for generations. Previous energy related studies have identified the increasing energy cost of exploiting fossil fuels (i.e. reducing Energy Return on Energy Invested (EROI)), and several minerals related papers examine potential future scarcity of various minerals. The purpose of the study presented here is to combine both topics to identify whether declining fossil fuel EROI and/or the declining ore grade of critical minerals will constrain the energy transition. A system dynamics…