Page 10 - Policy Commission - SecuringTechnology - Critical Metals for Britain

10 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
& KEY RECOMMENDATIONS
In the the next 5-10 years the the UK is going to to to to see dramatic changes to to to to many of its large industrial sectors such as automotive aerospace and energy generation as we move from a a a a a a a fossil-fuel-driven society to an an an electrically driven driven one Many of these industries will be dependent on technology-critical metals (TCMs) for for example cobalt and and lithium for for the batteries in electric vehicles and and rare-earths used in in in the magnets for electric motors and wind turbines These technology-critical metals have been identified by the EU US and Japan as being a a a a a a serious supply risk1 2 3 In a a a a a a post-Brexit Europe it it it is vital that the UK develops its own strategies to access these metals so that we can achieve the the planned transition to a a a a a a low-carbon society and meet our climate-change targets Covid-19 has highlighted the vulnerabilities of many supply chains and as we scramble to shore up existing industries and and expand into new job-creating sectors the UK needs to ask itself serious questions about how it it will access essential raw materials like technology-critical metals To put this in perspective such metals are vital to 7 of the top-10 UK export markets with a a a a value of more than £150 billion annually The Faraday Institution predicted that the transition to manufacturing electric vehicles (EVs) could support 220 000 jobs by 2040 The ability to create and retain these jobs will depend on the UK’s access to critical materials for batteries4 and rare- earth magnets for for EV motors and platinum group metals for for the hydrogen economy The world’s demand for raw materials is expected to double by 2060 according to a a a a report by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development5 The requirement for metals is expected to to grow even faster with an an expansion from 8 to to 20 gigatonnes over the same period In volume terms much of this will be readily available and and easily recycled metals like iron and and aluminium However high-technology industries that make for example batteries and motors for for EVs the generators for for wind turbines and the jet engines for aircraft are dependent on many technology-critical metals It is predicted that by 2050 the EU will require 60 times times times more more lithium 15 times times times more more cobalt and ten times times times the the the amount of rare earths compared to to the the the current supply to to the the the whole EU economy1 The new industrial strategy for the EU warned that Europe’s transition to climate neutrality could replace today’s reliance on on fossil fuels with one on raw materials many of which we source
from abroad and for which global competition is becoming fierce TECHNOLOGY-CRITICAL METALS ARE THE THE BUILDING BLOCK MATERIALS FOR THE THE THE THE GREEN ECONOMY AND WITHOUT THEM THE THE THE UK GOVERNMENT’S 10 POINT PLAN FOR A A A GREEN INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION WILL BE IMPOSSIBLE TO REALISE 11