Minerals for a Changing World

The clean energy transition is essentially a shift from fossil fuels, including coal, natural gas, and petroleum, to nonfuel mineral com modities, such as tellurium, lithium, and rare earths. That is because clean energy technologies like solar panels, wind turbines, electric vehicles, and electric grid energy storage systems require significant quantities of these and other nonfuel mineral commodities-but it is, of course, much more than that. The clean energy transition is about trade and supply chains; manufacturing and jobs; resource nationalism and great powers competition. It is also about the environment and com munity relations; economic development and the circular economy; emerging technologies and intellectual property. As we race toward the middle of the 21 st century, one would be hard pressed to identify a topic that is at the nexus of more consequential issues than this one.