Takeaways

• This publication is intended to introduce a series of editorials that we will be offering to you in the days and weeks to come. They will draw inspiration from it to address, in more depth, the various subjects already mentioned in this Part I.
• The mining, chemical, environmental, societal, macro and micro governance, geopolitical, technological and industrial issues are numerous and complex.
• It is not necessary to recall that the energy transition and the decarbonisation of our economies cannot dispense with the resources provided by our planet; our Anthropocene era still has long days ahead of it.
• The fossil industry relies on a very limited number of raw materials, and economies of scale play a major role.
• On the other hand, the industries that we have to create are based on a large number of materials, minerals, sometimes produced on a large scale, but sometimes not and technologies not yet stabilised.
  
• This publication and those that will follow are the result of reading, intense learning, digestion and sharing with our readers.
  
  
• We systematically try to stay in our place as neophyte readers, but passionate about these great subjects that dominate us.
  
• Our main rule is to systematically cite all our sources.
  
• Above all, we hope that they will help you better understand all the issues in a world where going to the essentials often diverts us from the complex reality of the subjects.

Living in The Material World

Introduction

It is not necessary to recall that the energy transition and the decarbonisation of our economies cannot dispense with the resources provided by our planet. One way or another, the Anthropocene period that we recently evoked in the editorial of last June 8 (Demography, Growth, and Sustainability: Mill vs. Malthus) still has long days ahead of it.

The world has been used to dealing with the implications of producing and distributing fossil resources like oil and gas. However, a new strong and probably lasting trend is emerging and has taken advantage of the current health crisis to profile itself more intensely.

A transition to clean energy really involves an explosion in demand for certain key metals and minerals. Copper does not appear on the graph below, but it applies in all cases of stationary or mobile electrification.