A low-carbon sunrise for the mining industry

The document examines the relationship between the low-carbon energy transition and the extractive industries, specifically focusing on South Africa. It details the specific metal requirements for various renewable energy technologies—such as solar PV, wind, and geothermal—and argues that the resulting increase in global demand for these materials can provide a strategic economic advantage for South Africa. The paper suggests that the country can leverage its vast mineral reserves to move beyond primary ore exports toward high-value manufacturing of clean technologies and the modernisation of its mining infrastructure.

• Low-carbon electricity generation technologies are more material-intensive than traditional fossil fuel-based energy systems. For example, a single 3 MW industrial wind turbine requires 335 tonnes of steel, 4.7 tonnes of copper, 3 tonnes of aluminium, and 500kg of rare earth elements (REEs).
• The demand for metals varies by technology: crystalline-silicon solar PV requires 6.6 t/MW of silicon and 0.08 t/MW of silver, while cadmium telluride technologies require 0.16 t/MW of tellurium. Geothermal energy requires high usage of alloys including chromium, molybdenum, nickel, and copper for well piping.
• Global demand for metals is projected to rise steeply under different temperature scenarios. In a 2 °C increase scenario, the World Bank estimates demand for metals for wind technologies will increase by 250% and for solar PV by 300%.
• South Africa possesses a significant strategic advantage in the low-carbon transition due to its mineral reserves, including 80% of identified manganese resources and over 40% of global production of platinum group metals (PGMs), vanadium, and ferrochromium.
• The transition offers South Africa several economic opportunities: creating new markets (particularly as China manufactures more clean tech), increasing commodity prices, incentivising the modernisation of aging mines, and developing domestic refining infrastructure for by-products like gallium.
• The document suggests that South Africa can use its mineral wealth to shift its 'Mineral Energy Complex' (MEC) toward a high-value manufacturing base for clean technologies, which would reduce greenhouse gas emissions and provide cheaper renewable energy for the mining sector itself.
• While recycling is a core part of the green economy and can recover metals like iron, steel, lead, copper, and aluminium without quality loss, it is unlikely to meet the total scale of demand in the near-term.

APA

Gulati, M., & Naudé, L. (2018). A low-carbon sunrise for the mining industry. WWF South Africa. https://wwfafrica.awsassets.panda.org/downloads/wwf_2018_low_carbon_sunrise_for_mining_industry.pdf

Chicago

Gulati, Manisha, and Louise Naudé. A low-carbon sunrise for the mining industry. WWF South Africa, 2018. https://wwfafrica.awsassets.panda.org/downloads/wwf_2018_low_carbon_sunrise_for_mining_industry.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Gulati |first1=Manisha |last2=Naudé |first2=Louise |title=A low-carbon sunrise for the mining industry |publisher=WWF South Africa |date=2018 |url=https://wwfafrica.awsassets.panda.org/downloads/wwf_2018_low_carbon_sunrise_for_mining_industry.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{gulati2018lowcarbon, author = {Gulati, Manisha and Naudé, Louise}, title = {{A low-carbon sunrise for the mining industry}}, institution = {WWF South Africa}, year = {2018}, url = {https://wwfafrica.awsassets.panda.org/downloads/wwf_2018_low_carbon_sunrise_for_mining_industry.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }