The constant increase in the consumption of mineral resources, as well as the growing awareness of their exploitation, is causing deep concern within the scientific community. This concern is justified by the fact that the energy transition will increase the pressure on these resources, as renewable energies require an increased and more diversified quantity of mineral materials.
This book presents an overview of the exploitation of these mineral resources, where the natural, regulatory and environmental constraints interfere with economic, financial and geopolitical interests. By mobilizing the fields of the humanities, geosciences and engineering, it also analyzes the challenges that the energy transition will encounter, challenges related to the contradictory effects that the acceleration of the extraction of these resources will have on their physical availability, the economies that exploit them and the populations that live off of them
Autorentext
Florian Fizaine is assistant professor in economics at the University Savoie Mont Blanc and visiting professor at the IFP School and Mines ParisTech in France.
Xavier Galiegue is associate professor in economics at the University of Orléans and a member of the Orléans Laboratory of Economics (LEO) in France.
Inhalt
Introduction xi
Florian FIZAINE and Xavier GALIÈGUE
PART 1 Background 1
Chapter 1 Assessment of European Demand for Mineral Resources by Material Flow Analyses: The Case of Cobalt 3
Raphaël DANINO-PERRAUD, Maïté LEGLEUHER and Dominique GUYONNET
1.1 Introduction 3
1.2 Cobalt market: structure and operation 6
1.2.1 Diverse and highly concentrated resources 6
1.2.2 Production and actors 7
1.2.3 A market undergoing profound change 10
1.3 A method combining value chain analysis and material flow analysis 11
1.3.1 Value chain methodology 12
1.3.2 Material flow analysis, for a better understanding of cobalt demand 15
1.4 Results of and discussions on cobalt flow analysis in the European Union 17
1.4.1 Changes in flows and stocks: lessons from MFA 17
1.4.2 Value chain partnerships and flow analysis assistance 22
1.5 Conclusion 25
1.6 Appendix: quantities of cobalt contained in primary and refined streams, recycling rates, and cobalt waste management 26
1.7 References 28
Chapter 2 Financialization of the Minerals and Metals Market: Origin, Challenges and Prospects 35
Yves JÉGOUREL
2.1 Introduction 35
2.2 Dynamics of financialization: understanding the heterogeneity of the minerals and metals sector 37
2.2.1 Functions of a raw material chain and outsourcing price risk 37
2.2.2 Business practices and the role of futures 40
2.3 Effects of financialization: from price dynamics to value chain change 44
2.3.1 Financialization and dynamics of raw material prices 44
2.3.2 Effects of financialization on the structuring of commodity chains 48
2.4 Conclusion 49
2.5 References 50
Chapter 3 Geopolitics of Metals: Between Strategies of Power and Influence 53
Didier JULIENNE
3.1 Introduction 53
3.2 Natural resources doctrine 53
3.3 Abundant, sensitive, critical, and strategic metals 57
3.4 Competitive consumption 59
3.5 Proliferation of unobtanium metals 60
3.6 Strategy of influence, strategic stock, and exploration 68
3.7 Conclusion 69
3.8 References 69
Chapter 4 Mineral Wealth Endowment, a Construct 73
Michel JÉBRAK
4.1 Introduction 73
4.2 Mineral endowment, an attempt at clarification 74
4.2.1 Production and reserves 74
4.2.2 Resources and perception 78
4.3 Unequal distribution of resources 79
4.3.1 Copper 80
4.3.2 Tin 83
4.4 Discussion: building mining endowment 86
4.5 Conclusion 89
4.6 Acknowledgements 90
4.7 References 90
PART 2 Issues 93
Chapter 5 Modeling the Long-Term Evolution of Primary Production Energy and Metal Prices 95
Olivier VIDAL
5.1 Introduction 95
5.2 Relationship between concentration and production energy 97
5.3 Equivalence between energy and price 103
5.4 Technological improvement and evolution of production energy and metal prices over time 107
5.5 Application to copper primary production 109
5.6 Application to nickel, aluminum, silver, and gold 113
5.7 Conclusion 113
5.8 References 116
Chapter 6 Environmental Footprint of Mineral Resources 119
Jacques VILLENEUVE, Stéphanie MULLER, Antoine BEYLOT, Faustine LAURENT and Frédéric LAI
6.1 Introduction 119
6.2 Notion of environmental footprint 119
6.2.1 Beginnings of the footprint 119
6.2.2 Lifecycle assessment and impacts 121
6.2.3 How are impacts translated into a footprint? 122
6.2.4 Towards a more integrative impact footprint 123