Critical minerals for electric vehicles: a telecoupling review

Abstract

The rapid growth of electric vehicles (EVs) adoption, which plays a crucial role to reduce transportation carbon emissions, is leading to a surge in demand for critical minerals such as cobalt, nickel, lithium, and rare earths. Efforts to systematically address the emerging sustainability issues associated with critical minerals have been challenged by complex mineral supply chains, and the distal and geographically dispersed nature of social-ecological impacts from mineral extraction and processing and eventual use. In this review, we apply a bibliometric analysis of the literature in the 2010-2020 period to analyze the state of research on the issues of critical mineral extraction impacts and the global governance responses. We use the concept of telecoupling to structure our literature search and analysis across four themes: (1) critical minerals global trade and supply chain, (2) sustainability and resource policy and governance, (3) mining corporate social responsibility, and (4) information feedback and public discourse. We find a growing attention to the social-ecological implications of critical mineral extraction, but also fragmentation among thematic domains that could impede progress towards more coordinated system governance. Based on the analyses, the paper concludes with a definition of some research and engagement opportunities around the telecoupling themes.

The Application of PPGIS to Telecoupling Research: A Case Study of the Agricultural Landscape Transformation in an Indigenous Village in Taiwan

“…The telecoupling framework is applied in fields related to sustainable science to explore the coupling relationship between nature and human beings involved in various topics, including agriculture and agro-food systems [19][20][21][22], fish and animal husbandry [23,24], water resources [25,26], tourism [27,28], energy and minerals [29,30], environmental governance and ecosystem services [1,[31][32][33], and environmental justice [34]. There has also been progress in the development of methodologies for telecoupling research.…”

Electric Vehicle Supply Chain Management: A Bibliometric and Systematic Review

“…The bibliometric review had as its main focus the evaluation of the availability of electric vehicle battery components [5,6]. With the concern to mitigate emissions, the deployment of electric vehicles and the demand for chemical components grow proportionally.…”

Evaluating sustainability impacts of critical mineral extractions: Integration of life cycle sustainability assessment and SDGs frameworks

“…These “green” minerals are, for example, used as components in electric vehicles (EVs), energy storage, wind turbines, and solar PVs (Dominish et al., 2019). As demand for these minerals increases, so do the debates about the social and environmental impacts of their extraction (Agusdinata et al., 2018, 2022; Liu & Agusdinata, 2020; Sovacool et al., 2020). Existing methodologies are currently insufficient in capturing the full suite of social, environmental, and governance concerns, as well as the full interdependencies among actors across the minerals supply chain, consumers, and policies (Ali et al., 2017; Bazilian, 2018).…”