The transition to a low-carbon energy system requires a huge range of materials for the technologies needed. Now a study highlights how large the demand for aluminium could be with rapid photovoltaic adoption, which could have a massive carbon footprint if action is not taken in the sector.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Access Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journals
Get Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription
$29.99 / 30 days
cancel any time
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 digital issues and online access to articles
$119.00 per year
only $9.92 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
References
Hund, K., La Porta, D., Fabregas, T. P., Laing, T. & Drexhage, J. Minerals for Climate Action: The Mineral Intensity of the Clean Energy Transition (World Bank, 2020).
The Role of Critical Minerals in Clean Energy Transitions (IEA, 2021); https://www.iea.org/reports/the-role-of-critical-minerals-in-clean-energy-transitions
Lennon, A., Lunardi, M., Hallam, B. & Dias, P. R. Nat. Sustain. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-021-00838-9 (2022).
Ziemann, S., Müller, D. B., Schebek, L. & Weil, M. Resour. Conserv. Recycl. 133, 76–85 (2018).
Alves Dias, P., Blagoeva, D., Pavel, C. & Arvanitidis, N. Cobalt: Demand-Supply Balances in the Transition to Electric Mobility EUR 29381 EN (Publications Office of the European Union, 2018).
Moss, R. L., Tzimas, E., Kara, H., Willis, P. & Kooroshy, J. Energy Policy 55, 556–564 (2013).
Tokimatsu, K. et al. Appl. Energy 225, 1158–1175 (2018).
Heffron, R. J. Extr. Ind. Soc. 7, 855–863 (2020).
Kalantzakos, S. Int. Spect. 55, 1–16 (2020).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The author declares no competing interests.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Laing, T. Solar power challenges. Nat Sustain 5, 285–286 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-021-00845-w
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-021-00845-w
This article is cited by
-
Efficient osmosis-powered production of green hydrogen
Nature Sustainability (2024)