IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jrpoli/v46y2015ip2p45-58.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Assessing the supply potential of high-tech metals – A general method

Author

Listed:
  • Frenzel, Max
  • Tolosana-Delgado, Raimon
  • Gutzmer, Jens

Abstract

The demand for some of the rarer elements in the Earth's crust, mostly from high-tech applications, is increasing rapidly. Many of these elements are produced exclusively as by-products resulting in potentially significant supply limitations. In this article, a general method for the assessment of the supply potential of such elements is developed from a conceptual model of the supply-chain. Namely, statistical and deterministic models are introduced to quantify both the variability in by-product concentrations in the relevant raw materials, as well as the effects of this variability on achievable recoveries. The assessment of uncertainties is implemented via Monte-Carlo-type simulations. Presentation of the results in availability curves ensures adaptability to future changes in market conditions, while extensive documentation of the assessment method, available as electronic supplementary material with this article, ensures reproducibility.

Suggested Citation

  • Frenzel, Max & Tolosana-Delgado, Raimon & Gutzmer, Jens, 2015. "Assessing the supply potential of high-tech metals – A general method," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(P2), pages 45-58.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jrpoli:v:46:y:2015:i:p2:p:45-58
    DOI: 10.1016/j.resourpol.2015.08.002
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301420715000781
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.resourpol.2015.08.002?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Fthenakis, Vasilis, 2009. "Sustainability of photovoltaics: The case for thin-film solar cells," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 13(9), pages 2746-2750, December.
    2. Wolfgang Lutz & Warren Sanderson & Sergei Scherbov, 2001. "The end of world population growth," Nature, Nature, vol. 412(6846), pages 543-545, August.
    3. Campbell, Gary A., 1985. "The role of co-products in stabilizing the metal mining industry," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 11(4), pages 267-274, December.
    4. Fizaine, Florian, 2013. "Byproduct production of minor metals: Threat or opportunity for the development of clean technologies? The PV sector as an illustration," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(3), pages 373-383.
    5. Phillips, W. G. B. & Edwards, D. P., 1976. "Metal prices as a function of ore grade," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 2(3), pages 167-178, September.
    6. Volker Steinbach & Friedrich-W. Wellmer, 2010. "Consumption and Use of Non-Renewable Mineral and Energy Raw Materials from an Economic Geology Point of View," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 2(5), pages 1-23, May.
    7. Afflerbach, Patrick & Fridgen, Gilbert & Keller, Robert & Rathgeber, Andreas W. & Strobel, Florian, 2014. "The by-product effect on metal markets – New insights to the price behavior of minor metals," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 35-44.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Frenzel, Max & Ketris, Marina P. & Seifert, Thomas & Gutzmer, Jens, 2016. "On the current and future availability of gallium," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 38-50.
    2. Frenzel, Max & Mikolajczak, Claire & Reuter, Markus A. & Gutzmer, Jens, 2017. "Quantifying the relative availability of high-tech by-product metals – The cases of gallium, germanium and indium," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 327-335.
    3. Alexandre Tisserant & Stefan Pauliuk, 2016. "Matching global cobalt demand under different scenarios for co-production and mining attractiveness," Journal of Economic Structures, Springer;Pan-Pacific Association of Input-Output Studies (PAPAIOS), vol. 5(1), pages 1-19, December.
    4. Vincent Moreau & Piero Carlo Dos Reis & François Vuille, 2019. "Enough Metals? Resource Constraints to Supply a Fully Renewable Energy System," Resources, MDPI, vol. 8(1), pages 1-18, January.
    5. Maria A. Franco & Stefan N. Groesser, 2021. "A Systematic Literature Review of the Solar Photovoltaic Value Chain for a Circular Economy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-35, August.
    6. António Mateus & Luís Martins, 2021. "Building a mineral-based value chain in Europe: the balance between social acceptance and secure supply," Mineral Economics, Springer;Raw Materials Group (RMG);Luleå University of Technology, vol. 34(2), pages 239-261, July.
    7. Jordan, Brett, 2018. "Economics literature on joint production of minerals: A survey," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 20-28.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Frenzel, Max & Ketris, Marina P. & Seifert, Thomas & Gutzmer, Jens, 2016. "On the current and future availability of gallium," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 38-50.
    2. Choi, Chul Hun & Kim, Sang-Phil & Lee, Seokcheon & Zhao, Fu, 2020. "Game theoretic production decisions of by-product materials critical for clean energy technologies - Indium as a case study," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 203(C).
    3. Kim, Kihyung, 2020. "Jointly produced metal markets are endogenously unstable," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    4. Elshkaki, Ayman & Graedel, T.E., 2015. "Solar cell metals and their hosts: A tale of oversupply and undersupply," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 158(C), pages 167-177.
    5. Jordan, Brett, 2018. "Economics literature on joint production of minerals: A survey," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 20-28.
    6. Redlinger, Michael & Eggert, Roderick, 2016. "Volatility of by-product metal and mineral prices," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 69-77.
    7. Shammugam, Shivenes & Rathgeber, Andreas & Schlegl, Thomas, 2019. "Causality between metal prices: Is joint consumption a more important determinant than joint production of main and by-product metals?," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 49-66.
    8. Afflerbach, Patrick & Fridgen, Gilbert & Keller, Robert & Rathgeber, Andreas W. & Strobel, Florian, 2014. "The by-product effect on metal markets – New insights to the price behavior of minor metals," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 35-44.
    9. Jinjian Cao & Chul Hun Choi & Fu Zhao, 2021. "Agent-Based Modeling for By-Product Metal Supply—A Case Study on Indium," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(14), pages 1-28, July.
    10. Jordan, Brett W, 2017. "Companions and competitors: Joint metal-supply relationships in gold, silver, copper, lead and zinc mines," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 233-250.
    11. Hu, Xueyue & Wang, Chunying & Elshkaki, Ayman, 2024. "Material-energy Nexus: A systematic literature review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 192(C).
    12. Song, Huiling & Wang, Chang & Lei, Xiaojie & Zhang, Hongwei, 2022. "Dynamic dependence between main-byproduct metals and the role of clean energy market," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    13. Liang, Yanan & Kleijn, René & Tukker, Arnold & van der Voet, Ester, 2022. "Material requirements for low-carbon energy technologies: A quantitative review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    14. André Månberger, 2021. "Reduced Use of Fossil Fuels can Reduce Supply of Critical Resources," Biophysical Economics and Resource Quality, Springer, vol. 6(2), pages 1-15, June.
    15. Fizaine, Florian, 2013. "Byproduct production of minor metals: Threat or opportunity for the development of clean technologies? The PV sector as an illustration," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(3), pages 373-383.
    16. Shao, Liuguo & Hu, Wenqin & Yang, Danhui, 2020. "The price relationship between main-byproduct metals from a multiscale nonlinear Granger causality perspective," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    17. Frenzel, Max & Mikolajczak, Claire & Reuter, Markus A. & Gutzmer, Jens, 2017. "Quantifying the relative availability of high-tech by-product metals – The cases of gallium, germanium and indium," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 327-335.
    18. Zhang, Hongwei & Li, Zongzhen & Song, Huiling & Gao, Wang, 2024. "Insight into clean energy market’s role in the connectedness between joint-consumption metals," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 302(C).
    19. Brett W. Jordan, 2016. "Behavior of multi-product mining firms," Working Papers 2016-08, Colorado School of Mines, Division of Economics and Business.
    20. Booth, Heather, 2006. "Demographic forecasting: 1980 to 2005 in review," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 22(3), pages 547-581.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jrpoli:v:46:y:2015:i:p2:p:45-58. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/30467 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.