100% EV Adoption by 2035 Cannot be Achieved Without Acceleration in Copper Mining – IEF

The Secretary General of the International Energy Forum (IEF), Joseph McMonigle, has said that the targets for 100 percent electric vehicle adoption by 2035 cannot be achieved without an unprecedented acceleration in copper mining.

According to a new report  by  IEF, copper is the most essential mineral for societal development, but growing electrification needs globally cannot be met if limited supplies of copper are taken up by the huge requirements of electric vehicle batteries.

“Under today’s policy settings for copper mining, it is highly unlikely that there will be enough additional new mines to achieve 100 percent electric vehicles by 2035, only the first small step toward decarbonization. So we need to manage this transition,”  McMonigle said.

“To make the best use of available copper supply, governments should prioritize economy-wide electrification, which is the foundation of climate policy. Moreover, governments need to incentivize and support new copper mine projects because without it, 100 percent adoption of EVs is not an achievable target,” he added.

The report titled “Copper Mining and Vehicle Electrification”, analyzes historical trends in copper demand and mine production. It shows that while copper resources are available, achieving 100 percent manufacture of EVs by 2035 would require unprecedented rates of mine production.

Just to meet business-as-usual trends, without full EV adoption,  the world must mine more copper in the next 30 years than it has in all of history until now, the report states. Electrifying the global vehicle fleet would necessitate the opening of another 55 percent more new mines than are already expected to be needed.

“We believe the EV industry will continue to be a significant segment of the market and should continue to thrive based on consumer preference and the growing array of vehicles available, but 100 percent adoption by 2035 is unlikely,”  McMonigle noted.

IEF in a statement said that copper plays a vital role in electricity generation, distribution, and storage and electrification is one of the most effective ways of reducing reliance on fossil fuels. But the huge copper requirements of electric car batteries, it noted,  would compete with the electricity needs of countries in the early stages of development.

“Over this 32-year period the world will need to mine 115 percent more copper than has been mined in all of human history up to 2018,” the report says. “The future output of existing and new copper mines is mostly needed for the developing world to catch up with the developed world.”