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Common Copper Minerals and their Properties
Copper is key to rolling out climate tech




Copper is widely considered as a critical component of the energy transition. With the increasing demand for renewable energy sources and electric vehicles, copper has become an essential material for many technologies involved in the transition to cleaner energy and a lower-carbon economy. The demand for copper has been accelerating steadily, with renewable energy and electric vehicles being the major contributors. According to the World Bank, wind and solar power alone are expected to account for roughly a tenth of global copper demand by 2025. Additionally, electric vehicles have been projected to raise copper demand by 1.7 million tonnes annually by 2027, according to the International Copper Association. Copper's importance in the energy transition can be attributed to its conductive properties that make it essential for efficient power transmission and storage. Copper is used in most electrical wires and cables, transformers, and almost all renewable energy systems since it is an excellent conductor of electricity. In combination with other metals such as lithium, copper is also used in batteries that store energy generated by wind and solar power installations. Apart from storing and transmitting electricity, copper also plays a critical role in reducing carbon emissions. The metal is used in electric vehicles, where it helps reduce weight, improve battery efficiency, and extend the vehicle's range. In modern wind turbines, copper is used both in the generator and in the cabling that sends electricity produced to the grid. The demand for copper's applications in the energy transition is expected to continue rising, which puts additional pressure on the copper industry to meet the increasing demand while adhering to new sustainability standards. The copper industry has responded by developing new and more efficient ways of extracting and recycling copper, reducing waste and emissions. It has also sought partnerships with other industries to streamline the production process and find new ways to reuse copper. The role of copper in the energy transition is critical and cannot be overstated. As the world seeks to transition to cleaner and more sustainable energy solutions, copper's properties make it necessary for enabling the infrastructure of this transition. Ensuring a secure and assessable supply of copper will be vital to virtually all components of this energy transition copper scrap copper scrap metal


Copper Mine




Copper: Competitive Landscape and Future Prospects of the Global Market
Why does copper conduct electricity?


Nitrogen oxides (NOx) are one of the most detrimental air pollutants due to their adverse effects on human health and the environment. Among NOx species, nitrogen dioxide (NO2) is particularly harmful as it can cause respiratory diseases and contribute to acid rain formation. Therefore, there is a need to develop efficient methods for NOx removal from industrial and automotive exhaust gases. In recent years, metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) have emerged as promising materials for catalytic applications, including NOx reduction. MOFs are composed of metal ions interconnected by organic ligands, forming porous structures with high surface area and tunable properties. In particular, copper-based MOFs have shown excellent catalytic activity towards NOx reduction, thanks to the redox properties of copper species. In a recent study, researchers introduced atomically dispersed copper sites in a zeolitic imidazolate framework (ZIF-8) for NO2 reduction. The authors synthesized the catalyst by using a solvent-assisted ligand exchange technique, which allowed the incorporation of copper ions in a controlled manner. In the resulting Cu-ZIF-8 catalyst, copper species were homogeneously distributed in the MOF structure, with a high density of atomically dispersed copper sites. The researchers tested the Cu-ZIF-8 catalyst for NO2 reduction under different reaction conditions, including temperature, NO2 concentration, and gas flow rate. The results showed that the atomically dispersed copper sites in the MOF structure exhibited remarkable catalytic performance for NO2 reduction, with high selectivity towards nitrogen and water formation. Moreover, the catalyst showed stable performance over multiple cycles, without significant copper leaching or MOF structure degradation. The study provides a novel approach to design efficient and stable catalysts for NOx reduction, by utilizing atomically dispersed copper sites in MOF structures. The findings also highlight the potential of MOFs for addressing environmental challenges related to air pollution