Using open-source tools to project bulk and critical material demand and assess implications for low-carbon energy and transport systems: Introducing Mat-dp model tools

Abstract

Material demand is growing rapidly, increasing pressure on natural resources and greenhouse gas emissions. Accurate material demand projections require reliable estimates of material intensities- material amount required to produce a unit of output. However, there is a lack of comprehensive, up-to-date, and open-source material intensities. Studies that have estimated material demand usually focus on technology or location subsets, without reusable calculations and visualisations. To address these gaps, two open-source tools are introduced as part of the Material Demand Projections (Mat-dp) model: Mat-dp database, a comprehensive and open-source database of material intensities of energy and transport technologies; and Mat-dp pipeline, a tool to standardise, calculate and visualise results for given scenarios. The paper showcases the application of the tools and demonstrates material demand and supply considerations in planned and ongoing low-carbon transitions. The tools are, as far as the authors are aware, novel in their technology coverage and usable scenario sources.