Perspectives

The 'critical' resource that Canada doesn’t have enough of

Feb 7, 2024

Rebekah Young, Head of Inclusion and Resilience Economics at Scotiabank, discusses the shortage of critical minerals used in modern technology. She highlights the importance of these minerals for clean technologies, the challenges of obtaining them, Canada's current deposits, and the future demand. Nearshoring and collaboration among countries are potential solutions, emphasizing the need for policy harmonization.

16:19

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Episode guests

Rebekah Young

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Quick takeaways

The world is currently facing a shortage of critical minerals used in modern technology, which poses challenges for achieving a global energy transition towards net zero emissions.

Collaborative partnerships and increased investments are necessary to ensure a stable supply of critical minerals and meet the growing demand for clean technologies.

Deep dives

The Importance of Critical Minerals in Green Energy Transition

Critical minerals play a vital role in modern technology and are essential for achieving a global energy transition towards net zero emissions. These minerals, such as lithium, nickel, and rare earth metals, are used in the manufacturing of clean technologies like solar panels, electric vehicle batteries, and wind turbines. The demand for critical minerals is expected to increase significantly as countries aim to reach their net zero targets. However, the world currently faces a shortage of critical minerals, and their production is concentrated in just a few countries. Collaborative partnerships and increased investments are crucial to ensure a stable supply of these minerals.

Introduction

2min

The Significance of Critical Minerals in High-Tech and Clean-Tech Products

2min

Refining Critical Minerals and China's Dominance

6min

Collaboration and Harmonization for Access to Critical Minerals

3min

The Economic Opportunity and Challenges of Transitioning to Net Zero

2min

Critical minerals are used in the manufacturing of just about all modern technology — including things like solar panels and EV batteries that are key to the global energy transition. But according to our guest, Rebekah Young, the world doesn't currently have enough of these minerals and what we do have is concentrated in just a handful of countries. Rebekah is the Head of Inclusion and Resilience Economics at Scotiabank and recently wrote a report all about this shortage. She’ll give us a critical minerals 101 lesson and outline the challenges Canada and the world will face to meet this new demand.

Key moments this episode:

1:27 — Let’s start with the basics: what are critical minerals?

2:24 — What are critical minerals used for?

3:33 — An eye-opening fact about how many more critical minerals are used to produce an EV compared to a traditional combustion engine vehicle

3:48 — Just how critical critical minerals are when it comes to hitting net zero targets

4:48 — What exactly does it take to get critical minerals out of the ground and into products we use?

6:06 — What kind of critical mineral deposits does Canada have?

7:54 — What is the current demand for critical minerals and what will that look like in the coming years?

11:11 — Why nearshoring may be a solution to Canada’s critical mineral needs in the future

14:26 — The key takeaway for the average Canadian on this issue

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Perspectives

The 'critical' resource that Canada doesn’t have enough of

Episode guests

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

Deep dives

The Importance of Critical Minerals in Green Energy Transition

Applications and Importance of Critical Minerals

Addressing the Challenges and Collaborative Solutions

Remember Everything You Learn from Podcasts