Central Asia is a missing link in analyses of critical materials for the global clean energy transition
One Earth, 4, pp. 1678–1692
21 Pages Posted: 20 Dec 2021
Date Written: December 17, 2021
Abstract
The energy transition is causing a surge in demand for minerals for clean energy technologies, giving rise to concerns about the sources and security of supplies of critical materials. Although Central Asia was one of the Soviet Union’s main sources of metals and industrial minerals, it has been forgotten in contemporary global critical materials analyses. Here we review the Central Asian mineral resource base and assess its current and potential contributions to global supply chains. We find that the importance of Central Asia lies mainly in the diversity of its mineral base, which includes mineable reserves of most critical materials for clean energy applications. This renders the region important in mineral economics, security of supply, and geopolitical perspectives alike. In sum, Central Asia is likely to become a new hotspot for mineral extraction and a major global supplier of selected critical materials for clean energy technologies.
Keywords: Decarbonization, clean energy technology, critical materials, mineral resource base, mining, Central Asia, geopolitics, China, Belt and Road Initiative
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