A review and prospect of research on carbon emissions from the critical metal industry chain under clean energy transition

Abstract

[Objective] Under the background of achieving global carbon neutrality, clean energy technologies are booming and the demand for critical metals and the industrial carbon emissions will rise sharply. [Methods] To further clarify the driving mechanism, methodological framework, and carbon emission reduction pathways of the critical metal industry chain under the clean energy transition, this study systematically reviewed and integrated the relevant research from the perspectives of systematic nexus and the whole industry chain. [Results] We found that clean energy transition induces the terminal demand for critical metals from the demand side and reduces the carbon emission intensity from the supply side, which jointly drive the industrial carbon emissions; it is required to integrate a variety of methods and models to calculate and predict the carbon emissions of the critical metal industry chain, and we should select suitable research methods according to the research objects; existing research mainly focuses on carbon emission reduction pathways in the smelting and recycling stages, and has not systematically identified the pathways from the viewpoint of the whole industry chain yet. [Conclusion] In the future, based on the metal-energy-carbon nexus theory and integrated methods, it is necessary to further verify the internal mechanism and study the trends of carbon emissions in the critical metal industry chain. Furthermore, it is essential to systematically design and identify the carbon reduction pathways from the whole industry chain with the “China factor” incorporated, providing a realistic basis and decision-making reference for achieving the goal of carbon neutrality.

Keywords

• |clean energy transition|critical metals|carbon emissions|systematic nexus perspective|whole industry chain