LAUNCESTON, Australia, May 21 (Reuters) – Which commodities and countries are best placed to emerge as winners in the post-coronavirus world, especially if the anticipated boost to investment in renewables energies actually happens?
One of the themes emerging for a post-coronavirus world is that investment should flow into renewable energies, both as economic stimulus and as a way of limiting the impact of climate change.
To this end, the World Bank released a report on May 11 stating that global production of minerals such as lithium, cobalt and graphite would have to increase by as much as 500% by 2050.
The report also said an impressive sounding 3 billion tonnes of minerals and metals will be needed to build the wind, solar and geothermal power, as well as energy storage, required to keep the increase in global temperatures to under 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degress Fahrenheit).
The report said it was more than just the so-called battery minerals like cobalt and lithium that will benefit, with copper, aluminium, chromium and molybdenum among others that will see increased demand.
For the rest of this column: https://www.reuters.com/article/column-russell-commodities-energy/rpt-column-in-the-coming-renewable-energy-boom-australia-is-once-again-the-lucky-country-russell-idUSL4N2D317D