Copper's Role in the Transition to Clean Energy

Technologies such as wind, solar, and batteries offer renewable and clean alternatives and are leading the way for the transition to clean energy. This energy transition will be mineral intensive and it will require metals such as nickel, lithium, and cobalt. However, one metal stands out as being particularly important, and that is copper.

The red metal, copper, has four key properties — Conductivity, Ductility, Efficiency, Recyclability —  that make it ideal for the clean energy transition. It is these properties that make copper the critical material for wind and solar technology, energy storage, and electric vehicles. It’s also why the generation of electricity from solar and wind uses four to six times more copper than fossil fuel sources.

The more electric the car consume, the more copper it needs. Copper is at the heart of the electric vehicle (EV). This is because EVs rely on copper for the motor coil that drives the engine.Additionally, the cabling for charging stations of electric vehicles will be another source of copper demand.

Copper is in the heat exchangers of solar thermal units as well as in the wiring and cabling that transmits the electricity in photovoltaic solar cells. Copper are used in cable and wiring, power generation components and transformers for wind turbine. The use of copper significantly increases when going offshore. Store energy needs copper which ultilized in lithium ion batteries, copper wiring and cabling and switches of transformers.