Critical Minerals of the Global Energy Transition with Xixi Chen, Yale Clean Energy Conference Speaker

As a Senior Research Manager for Energy at the World Resource Institute (WRI) Polsky Center for the Global Energy Transition, Xixi’s research assists in the development of clean energy in emerging markets and resilient mineral supply chains. She is a featured speaker at The Global Clean Energy Transition in Emerging Markets Workshop during this year’s Yale Clean Energy Conference.

 

How did you initially find yourself working at the intersection of energy and critical materials? 

 

I’ve been in my current role for a little more than four years, before which I focused on corporate engagement at the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF). I started studying environmental science in college and environmental policy in graduate school. I wasn’t sure exactly what I wanted to do after graduating but knew after talking to people in my network that I wanted to focus on water or energy when looking for opportunities. Ultimately, I was able to find a position with the Association for Energy Affordability.

Since coming to WRI, I’ve been able to focus more on clean energy. Specifically, financing issues for clean energy in developing countries, because that's where you have the greatest need for support. This still blows my mind—there are currently more than 650 million people in this world who have no access to modern electricity, primarily relying on traditional biomass  for their daily lives. I realized how much work needs to be done to support energy access, which is why I’ve chosen increasingly to work on financing mechanisms for emerging markets in regions like Africa or Southeast Asia.

As our team at WRI has continued to work on energy access, we’ve also realized that urgent action is needed to develop resilient critical mineral supply chains. We recognize that without critical minerals, clean energy technologies cannot be deployed to achieve net-zero goals on time.

 

What does it mean to be a senior research manager supporting energy transition technologies?

 

My day-to-day life is primarily composed of various teams’ meetings and trying to develop written content. It’s all about conducting research, generating new ideas, executing research plans, or drafting project materials. Additionally, I spend a lot of time reading new reports; for example, comparing modeling scenarios across prominent producers of analytical content such as the International Energy Agency (IEA). My work also requires me to wear a lot of different hats. The energy field is changing rapidly, there are always new technologies, new trends, and new urgent hotspot areas. In summary, it’s helpful to stay up to date with new technology within the energy sector. The core of my job is really communication, translating new complex trends and difficult data.

 

You mentioned your increasing focus on critical materials. How do you define critical materials? What does it mean for a mineral supply chain to be resilient?

 

Firstly, it can be hard to define critical. In general, these are minerals or metals that are of high importance or cannot be easily replaced for a particular use. We need many of such critical minerals for almost all new clean energy technologies. For example, all clean energy needs copper. It’s not easily replaceable and the supply chain is highly vulnerable, which is why we call it critical. The same could be said for other minerals for counties or industries that are heavily dependent on these materials. They may feel that minerals are essential because with one supply chain disruption there is a big potentially negative impact. Therefore, critical as a term will depend on the country, region, or industry.

 

Where do you see the focus of resilient mineral supply chains developing?

 

While I am new to the field, based on existing research and academic resources, we found that recycling cannot replace mining, at least for copper. We need mining to meet growing demands. But of course, we also need expanded recycling. Recycling cannot replace mining, but it doesn't mean that it is not important. We need an all of the above approach. Only relying on mining is too risky because ore grades at existing mines continue to decline and bringing new mines into production takes many years — often more than a decade — due to permitting, investment, and technical challenges. To help de-risk clean technologies deployment, we need to ramp up both recycling and mining with recycling playing an increasingly important role over time.

Additionally, new technologies will also play a role, but we also need policy that focuses on building strong partnerships. For example, technology can increase efficiency — sorting efficiency or processing efficiency — and new technologies in clean energy can also help us to use fewer minerals in technologies such as solar panels. However, this isn’t the full story. We need to also create the right market conditions to make the technology scale.

Here at WRI, we are also really invested in getting different stakeholders along the value chain to work together. The ability to facilitate strong partnerships is a particular advantage for NGOs—for example, we lead engagement events like expert roundtables and consultation meetings.

 

What are you reading right now that gets you excited and helps you stay informed?

 

I enjoy reading Bloomberg Green, which has great coverage of climate and energy trends. Because of my work focus, I find articles from Recycling Today to be a great resource. MIT's Technology Review provides news slides for various technologies.

I also read a book recently called The War Below. It examines tensions among industry players within the mining sector. These tensions may exist between different regions, but there’s a lot of emotional connection with profound human layers revealed in the book that make you really feel what this industry really means for different stakeholders.

 

What stories or topics do you think are under discussed in the critical mineral supply chain space?

There’s a lot of negative news out there, so we need more positive stories. These positive stories matter and deserve our attention—they help inspire and shape our vision. For example, research shows that heat pumps in chicken coops can not only save money but also increase egg production. This isn’t a big story, but it is inspiring and reflects the increasing uptake of clean energy in daily life. Ultimately, mining is an important industry that doesn’t get enough attention or is rarely in the spotlight enough for positive reasons. For our day-to-day lives, these minerals are so critical and important. By working on recycling metal and minerals, I’ve realized that we can never eliminate mining--It's a very old industry and will continue to be around for a very long time, and that’s why we need to scale up responsible mining and the recycling practices to help the mining industry build a low-carbon pathway.