Renewable energy sources are expected to replace fossil fuels in the coming decades, and this massive transition will have a major impact on the demand for raw materials. More green energy means more wind turbines, solar panels and batteries, and more clean energy metals needed to build these technologies.

Data from the International Energy Agency shows key metal extraction and processing points needed for the green revolution. Data shows that China is the world's largest producer of most Green Revolution key minerals and dominates many of them.

mining industry

In terms of clean energy metal mining, represented by major key elements, in terms of copper, Chile is the world's largest copper producer, accounting for 28% of the global total, followed by Peru with 12% and China with 8%.

In terms of nickel metal, Indonesia is the largest producer, accounting for 33% of global production, followed by the Philippines with 12% and Russia with 11%.

In the metal cobalt, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) dominates with 69% of total global production, followed by Australia and Russia with 4% each.

In terms of rare earth elements, China produces 60 percent of the world's rare earth elements, which are used as components in high-tech devices, including smartphones and computers.

China also has a 13% lithium production market share, although the market is still dominated by Australia (52%) and Chile (22%). This element is key to producing rechargeable batteries for mobile phones, laptops and electric vehicles.

Processing Industry

But in the processing business, China is the dominant economy. For example, the country accounts for 35% of the world's nickel processing, 58% of lithium processing, 65% of cobalt, and 87% of rare earths. Although the United States is the world's largest economy, the United States does not appear among the top producers of the listed metals. To close the gap, the Biden administration recently issued an executive order reviewing the U.S. strategy for critical and strategic materials.

It's also worth noting that while Russia is one of the world's leading producers of minerals such as copper, iron and palladium, it also doesn't appear among the top producers when it comes to clean energy metals. The necessary shift from fossil fuels to renewables raises interesting questions about how geopolitics and how these supply chains will be affected.Editor/XingWentao