Project

Which technologies will shape the future? What raw materials will they depend on? These are some of the core questions driving the “Raw materials for emerging technologies 2026“ study commissioned by the German Mineral Resources Agency (DERA).

To obtain a sound and up-to-date knowledge base on potential demand trends for raw materials from resource-intensive and resource-sensitive key and future technologies, the study aims to estimate the raw material demand for selected future technologies for the year 2045.

Future technologies with relevant raw material demands are identified through an ongoing screening process at Fraunhofer ISI, involving literature review and workshops with scientific and industrial experts. The final selection of technologies will be grouped into clusters for a detailed assessment of their raw material demands. To estimate future raw material needs in bottom-up scenarios, each selected technology is analyzed regarding its technological specifics and future global market diffusion, as well as specific raw material demand at present and future changes due to technological development. The estimations are embedded into different framework scenarios describing possible global socio-economic developments based on the Shared Socio-economic Pathways (SSPs) as well as sectoral framework scenarios describing possible future developments in energy, digitization, and mobility.

• Marscheider-Weidemann, F.; Langkau, S.; Baur, S.-J.; Billaud, M.; Deubzer, O.; Eberling, E.; Erdmann, L.; Haendel, M.; Krail, M.; Loibl, A.; Maisel, F.; Marwede, M.; Neef, C.; Neuwirth, M.; Rostek, L.; Rückschloss, J.; Shirinzadeh, S.; Stijepic, D.; Tercero Espinoza, L.; Tippner, M. (2021): Raw materials for emerging technologies 2021. - DERA Rohstoffinformationen 50: 366 p., Berlin.
  
• Marscheider-Weidemann, F.; Langkau, S.; Hummen, T.; Erdmann, L.; Tercero Espinoza, L.; Angerer, G.; Marwede, M. ; Benecke, S. (2016): Rohstoffe für Zukunftstechnologien 2016. - DERA Rohstoffinformationen 28: 353 p., Berlin.
• Angerer, G.; Erdmann, L.; Handke, V.; Lüllmann, A.; Marscheider-Weidemann, F.; Marwede, M.; Scharp, M. (2009): Rohstoffe für Zukunftstechnologien. Studie im Auftrag des Bundesministeriums für Wirtschaft und Technologie: 383 pp., Fraunhofer-Institut für System- und Innovationsforschung ISI sowie Institut für Zukunftstechnologiebewertung IZT gGmbH., Karlsruhe-Berlin.

01.02.2025 - 31.07.2026

• German Mineral Resources Agency (DERA) at the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR)

• Fraunhofer IZM, Berlin

Rohstoffe für Zukunftstechnologien