Assessing the role of vanadium technologies in decarbonizing hard-to-abate sectors and enabling the energy transition

David A Santos,Manish K Dixit,Pranav Pradeep Kumar,Sarbajit Banerjee

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2021.103277

Abstract

SummaryThe decarbonization of heavy industry and the emergence of renewable energy technologies are inextricably linked to access to mineral resources. As such, there is an urgent need to develop benchmarked assessments of the role of critical elements in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Here, we explore the role of vanadium in decarbonizing construction by serving as a microalloying element and enabling the energy transition as the primary component of flow batteries used for grid-level storage. We estimate that vanadium has enabled an avoided environmental burden totaling 185 million metric tons of CO2 on an annual basis. A granular analysis estimates savings for China and the European Union at 1.15% and 0.18% of their respective emissions, respectively. Our results highlight the role of critical metals in developing low-carbon infrastructure while underscoring the need for holistic assessments to inform policy interventions that mitigate supply chain risks.

Highlights

With current economic growth and consumption trends projected to bring about a 4C rise of the global temperature by 2100, increasingly frequent extreme weather events, a fractious public policy response, and a limited range of negative emission technologies deployable at scale, the world stands at a crossroads with regards to climate change (Millar et al, 2017; Wigley et al, 1981)
Vanadium has emerged as the primary microalloying element of choice for many high-strength low-alloy (HSLA) steel producers owing to its superior solubility in the austenite phase, which enables the production of higher strength steels at lower working temperatures (Pradeep Kumar et al, 2021)
While the steel assessment outlined in this work focuses on the cradle-to-site gate carbon savings from vanadium microalloying, it is important to note that additional benefits are likely realized during the use phase

Summary

Introduction

With current economic growth and consumption trends projected to bring about a 4C rise of the global temperature by 2100, increasingly frequent extreme weather events, a fractious public policy response, and a limited range of negative emission technologies deployable at scale, the world stands at a crossroads with regards to climate change (Millar et al, 2017; Wigley et al, 1981). Benchmarked assessments of critical minerals in reducing the carbon footprint and detailed mapping of materials and energy flows are required to inform public policy design for balancing and expanding access to strategic minerals (Santos et al, 2021). We seek to develop a longitudinal view of the impact of the transition metal vanadium on the decarbonization of hard-to-abate heavy industries as well as in emerging energy storage applications. The reduction of carbon emissions to achieve global sustainability goals, succinctly denoted as Energiewende in Germany, involves: (1) transitioning from fossil fuels to renewable sources of energy; (2) achieving increased energy efficiencies across the board to reduce overall global energy consumption; and (3) energy storage to decouple electricity generation from use, enabling better regulation of supply and demand. Using granular industry-wide materials flow data, we map the use of vanadium in different sectors and develop a rigorous evaluation of its outsized environmental impact across disparate sectors

Methods

Results

Conclusion