International Industrial Ecology Day 2021

The rapid development of the renewable energy industry in the richest countries uses a large amount of metals, a large amount of which exploited in developing countries that are resource-rich but technically inefficient. In the context of globalization, it is critical to clarify which countries benefit from clean energy transition while at the expense of metal depletion in other countries. In this study, we occupy the global Multi-regional Environmentally Extended Input-Output Table (2005-2015) to trace the metals embodied in the renewable energy value chain. We find that consumption of metals by renewable energy mainly depends on autarky (80%), metals embodied in trade accounting for 20%. Notably, metals embodied in the renewable energy global value chains (GVCs) increased by 167% during 2005-2015. There is a significant disparity between the intensities of the metal embodied in renewable energy GVCs. For example, European and African metal intensity is 13.5 t/M.EUR and 240.5 t/M.EUR, respectively. From the perspective of the GVCs route, the metal embodied in intermediate products up to 70%-80%. For example, Europe is at the top of the GVCs and relies on intermediate wind power products (71.8%) from other regions, producing high technological intermediate goods for other countries. China also relies heavily on intermediate wind power products (85%), which are imported mainly for domestic use. We track value-added and metal transfer in the production and trade of the renewable energy industry from the perspective of metal transfer and show the position division of the renewable energy value chain and the environmental impact path. This paper provides data support for optimizing the value chain division of renewable energy and reducing the environmental impact of metal resource mining.