Assessing Critical Raw Materials and Their Supply Risk in Energy Technologies—A Literature Review

Climate change is leading modern society to seek innovative solutions for sustainable development and a zero-carbon economy. Nevertheless, new technologies strongly rely on precious raw materials and might suffer from supply chain risks. The European Union has identified a set of raw materials deemed to be critical or strategic because they appear essential for energy transition technologies. Consequently, long-term energy system planning must factor in the availability of these critical raw materials when selecting specific technologies, as their supply could be affected by global policies or conflicts. This paper provides a literature review on the assessment of critical raw materials in energy technologies comparing the main approaches on critical raw materials content assessment in technologies, long-term planning studies considering critical raw materials, and the development of indicators for critical raw materials content in energy technologies. The main findings of this review suggest that existing reliable databases with the bill of materials, such as life cycle inventories, should be exploited and that proper indicators to rank the criticality of materials and the importance of a specific technology should be developed. These findings are discussed and organized proposing a method for the optimal planning of an energy technologies mix in regional or national energy systems considering the availability and future supply of critical raw materials.