Energy and materials have always been inseparable. Hydrocarbons are a source of energy and a feedstock. Without steel there are no machines. Without coal there is no steel. Without copper there is no transmission. Without haul trucks fueled by diesel there is no copper. Energy and materials are symbiotic and part of the same system. All materials come from somewhere. They are either mined, drilled or grown. Then they have to be refined, processed, manufactured, deployed, maintained and eventually disposed of or recycled. Our energy system is highly complex and it is above all a system.

Simon Michaux is an associate professor at the Geological Survey of Finland. He decided to take on the task of trying to quantify the materials needed to support the energy transition. His analysis has been refined over time and peer reviewed and his conclusions make uncomfortable reading.

We can’t understand an energy transition and how it might unfold without understanding materials. Simon is someone who definitely does.