October 11, 2024

Can we reduce our demand for critical minerals?

A new report from the National Engineering Policy Centre, led by the Royal Academy of Engineering, examines how we can reduce our demand for critical materials and therefore our dependency on imports of scarce materials.

Critical minerals are used in a number of technologies that we will increasingly rely on in a low carbon future, such as:

• larger wind turbines, which rely on neodymium magnets
• solar panels
• batteries e.g. in electric vehicles, often requiring lithium cobalt, manganese, nickel
• nuclear power, which requires chromium as well as other critical materials
• hydrogen electrolysers, which can use a variety of rare metals

The report presents a range of policy and engineering innovations that can reduce the UK’s dependency on critical materials and therefore its risk exposure.

Journalists came to this online briefing to hear from three of the authors of the report.

Speakers included:

Dr Colin Church, Chief Executive of the Institute of Materials, Minerals & Mining

Dr Charlotte Stamper, Strategic Partnerships Manager at EMR Renewables

Tim Chapman FREng, Partner and Director of Boston Consulting Group

Prof Joan Cordiner FREng, Chair of the National Engineering Policy Centre Working Group on materials and net zero