The Circular Industries Hub organises the Circular Industries Talk every second Wednesday of the month. On Wednesday June 17th, Maarten Koese joined us as a guest speaker. Maarten Koese is a soon-to-be PhD student at Leiden University. In his talk, Maarten discussed how the Russian invasion in Ukraine affects global trade and supply chains, of commodities like food but also of raw materials required for the energy transition. Here, we look back on the content of his talk.
The Russian invasion in Ukraine and raw materials for the energy transition
The Russian invasion in Ukraine affects global trade and supply chains, of commodities like food but also of raw materials required for the energy transition. The war exposes a paradox: for the EU to become more independent and self-sufficient regarding its energy, it will be dependent on third countries regarding raw materials instead.
The war exposes a paradox: for the EU to become more independent and self-sufficient regarding its energy, it will be dependent on third countries regarding raw materials instead.
The case of EV implementation
The case of Electric Vehicle (EV) implementation is used to illustrate the growing demand of these materials, and the supply chains of the materials are discussed. It becomes clear that these materials may lack availability on the short term, since opening new mines and thus increasing supply takes 10-15 years. Moreover, the EU will be dependent on third countries, like China, for these materials, resulting in a very powerful position in the geopolitical playing field for these countries. Altogether, the supply of these materials is associated with constraints and disruption risks. Diversifying supply, reducing demand and increasing control over supply chains might help the EU to reduce its dependency in this matter.
Curious about Maarten Koese's talk?
The Circular Industries talks
The goal of the Circular Industries talks is to share knowledge across Leiden, Delft and Erasmus and to complement and deepen the knowledge already available within the Circular Industries Hub. The talks are organized on Wednesday morning from 10:00 to 11:00. The talks are online (Microsoft Teams). Next up in the CI Talks: Joey Nijnens