Cleaner Energy, Higher Risk? Firm-level Exposure to Critical Minerals
This is an online event. If you're interested in joining this seminar, please contact netzero@kcl.ac.uk for the Teams meeting link.
This month we are joined by Dr Viet Nguyen-Tien from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).
To what extent has the rise of clean energy technologies created new vulnerabilities in global supply chains? In this paper, I study the role of new type of ‘input uncertainty’ related to the deployment of clean energy technologies. I combine performance data on publicly listed firms worldwide with textual information from quarterly earnings conference calls. This allows me to construct text-based, firm-level measures of involvement in clean energy technologies and exposure to critical minerals. As a first result, my methodology is validated by the strong co-occurrence of clean energy technologies and critical mineral usage across transcripts. In a second result, I model the impact of critical mineral-related input uncertainty on firm performance which shows clear impacts for lithium and copper-related risks across different regions. Finally, I produce text-based evidence on how firms are mitigating supply chain risk, distinguishing between long-term process innovation and short-run operational steps. Overall, I find that new supply chain risks related to critical minerals are limited, most likely to the early stage of development of the sector.
Speaker Bio:
Dr Viet Nguyen-Tien is a Research Officer at the Centre for Economic Performance (CEP) at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). He contributes to the Growth Programme, the Programme on Innovation and Diffusion (POID), and the Productive and Inclusive Net Zero (PRINZ) Research Project. Prior to joining CEP, he was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Birmingham, funded by the Faraday Institution.
As an applied economist, Dr Nguyen-Tien focuses on economic and political issues related to technology, the environment, and energy. His research has been published in leading journals such as Nature Energy, Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, Energy Economics, The World Economy, and Applied Energy, among others. His policy-relevant work has been cited by major organisations including the World Bank, the US Congressional Research Service, the European Parliamentary Research Service, the UK Labour Party, the Net Zero Review Chair, and the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations.
His research and policy insights have also been featured in prominent media outlets such as the Financial Times, The Telegraph, The Times, and The Independent.
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Net Zero Interdisciplinary Seminar Series
The Net Zero Interdisciplinary Seminar Series is the flagship seminar series for King’s College London’s Net Zero Centre, providing a platform for cross-pollination between academia, industry and government to develop novel research projects to achieve Net Zero.
Every month, we host a speaker to discuss a new research idea and seek contributions from audience members on a proposed challenge. A half-hour talk is followed by a discussion, and we encourage speakers to engage with colleagues on research related to our four priority areas, decarbonisation, sustainable manufacturing, equitable resource allocation and resilient infrastructure.
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The Net Zero Centre at King's is dedicated to addressing the challenges of decarbonising our society and reducing the environmental impact of our manufacturing, infrastructure, and cities. It serves as hub for scientific, technological and engineering research geared towards this challenge.
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