Sufficient copper available
The target of the German federal government, to bring one million e-vehicles onto the market by 2020, has increased the demand for certain raw materials, including copper, neodymium and nickel. In the project „Fraunhofer Systemic Research Electric Mobility (FSEM)“, the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research ISI analyzes whether the geological availability of these raw materials is sufficient to make possible the desired expansion of electric mobility. The study analyzed the utilization of the geological resources/ reserves of copper up to 2050. The geological reserves of copper are sufficient to meet the demand in all application areas for the next decades. However, the copper reserves which are economically workable with the technology available today will be exhausted by the mid 30s of the 21st century. In order to ensure a continuous supply of copper for the world economy, the development of new mines should be planned as well as to increase recycling operations worldwide and thus the use of secondary copper (as a raw material). There is still great potential for this in developing countries.
Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research ISI, Karlsruhe (D), Tel.: +49 721 6809-0, www.isi.fraunhofer.de
