Lithium, nickel, cobalt, manganese and graphite are crucial to battery performance, longevity and energy density. Rare earth elements are essential for permanent magnets that are vital for wind turbines and EV motors. Electricity networks need a huge amount of copper and aluminum, with copper being a cornerstone for all electricity-related technologies.

The shift to a clean energy economy is set to drive a huge increase in the requirements for these minerals, meaning that the energy sector is emerging as a major force in metal and mineral markets. Until the mid-2010s, the energy sector represented a small part of total mineral demand. However, as the energy transition gains momentum, clean energy technologies and materials have become the fastest-growing segment of demand.

The demand for clean energy minerals and metals over the next two decades will rise to over 40% for copper, 60-70% for nickel and cobalt, and nearly 90% for lithium. EVs and battery storage have already displaced consumer electronics to become the largest consumer of lithium and are set to overtake stainless steel as the largest end user of nickel by 2040.

Rather than having one capital-intensive centralized mega-factory to produce prefabricated building parts or components, Cuby is using finely engineered, decentralized, localized factories that will solve the huge logistics challenge posed by the traditional modular and prefab methodologies that to date have been prohibitive to scaling and adoption amongst incumbent players.

Taking advantage of these efficiencies, builders could dramatically reduce the estimated 4.8 million single-family home shortage that currently exists in the U.S. housing market (since 2001), a $1.95 trillion current-day value. One of the factors contributing to our housing shortage is the shrinking pool of qualified, trained construction workers.

“Cuby’s lean manufacturing approach solves two of the biggest problems currently in construction: a dramatic shortage of labor and shortage of quality,” said Cuby’s co-founder, Aleh Kandrashou. Constructed using steel and concrete, with smart-home technology built in, Cuby homes will be of higher quality than a typical wood-framed home and will cost, on average, less per square foot, almost doubling builders’ margins, passing through the savings to end-occupiers.

The pandemic has reframed everything into a new normal, where resilience, redundancy, agility, collaboration and efficiency are top priorities for all companies involved in manufacturing and distribution.

Prior to the pandemic, factories and shipping operated with predictability and certainty. Now, after facing unprecedented challenges, producers and shippers need to react almost instantly to adapt to the new normal of volatility and chronic disruption. 

Fortunately, strategies are currently available to help solve these problems, and because this is the new normal, companies are shifting their approaches to include localization, digitalization, and sustainability.

Companies of all sizes are increasingly adopting software that can help with simulations. Companies that rely on many suppliers for parts that are assembled to create products are using digital twins of their factories that connect to digital twins of their suppliers’ factories to predict bottlenecks before they happen and implement alternatives. Digital twins can even extend to the supply chain to predict shipping disruptions and reroute transportation flows to minimize or avoid delays in transit.

The current dynamic is painful for companies and consumers, but these near-term challenges will ultimately result in a stronger manufacturing and supply chain ecosystem that uses technology to be more flexible, localized and sustainable.

The private sector collaborating with national laboratories and academia will develop technology necessary to economically remove billions of tons of greenhouse gases that are already in the atmosphere. It will be the private sector that has and will continue to create clean energy applications and products.

Private industry will gladly move into this space, because the $100+ trillion economic market opportunity involving carbon capitalism will become the largest economic opportunity in the history of the world.

So, where do things stand now and when can we expect carbon capitalism to really take off? To use a baseball analogy, we’re in the 1^st inning. But, this transition will move quickly and it’s likely that major technological breakthroughs in direct air capture of carbon and methane will begin to be commercialized on a large scale within the next five years.

While the situation is becoming dire, there could be some light at the end of the tunnel. Cobots, which are robots that work collaboratively with humans could be the solution to this problem. Cobot-related jobs are higher paying than typical factory jobs and they involve working with technology, which is attractive to young workers entering the job force. Additionally, training for many cobot-related jobs can be accomplished through technical certifications that do not require college degrees. 

Two successful and growing companies in this space are Universal Robots and OnRobot, both coincidentally originating from Denmark and expanding globally.

Cobots from Universal Robots are designed to share a workspace with humans, making automation easier than ever before for businesses of all sizes. Universal Robots has sold more than 50,000 cobots which are used in several thousand production environments every day around the world. 

OnRobot makes end-of-arm tooling, grippers and sensing mechanisms that are compatible with most robot and cobot brands. OnRobot’s collaborative automation technology has leveled the playing field for small and medium size manufacturers. OnRobot’s technology improves cycle time and can improve productivity by 50% or more.

There are hundreds of other companies in this space that are leading the way to a brighter future and better, safer jobs. Increased use of cobots could be one strategy that will help us transition out of the pandemic and stimulate sustainable economic growth.

Decarbonization is now the greatest opportunity for global economic growth, sustainability and prosperity. The current view of business leaders, financial institutions, insurers, investors and policy makers is that there is a lucrative approach to rapidly deploy clean and relatively inexpensive technologies that significantly reduce carbon and other greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. 

Recent reports such as The Renewable Spring show that a rapid industrial clean-energy transition will stimulate exponential growth and create massive benefits similar to past industrial revolutions. Decarbonization is already attracting significant private capital and building momentum. Policy makers are doing their part to enable legislative frameworks and funding.

The truth is that trillions of dollars will be saved and additional trillions will be made as a result of decarbonization. All of this will occur while creating a healthier planet for us, our children and future generations. This process might turn out to be the greatest win-win in history. 

Nordic life celebrates the individual and these countries value a capitalistic system that is centered around innovation. People from Nordic countries have a high level of education that focuses from a young age on problem-solving and critical thinking. Most people are multilingual and in recent years, the region has topped the global happiness rankings done by the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network.

Examples of well-known companies that started in the Nordic countries include: Lego, Spotify, IKEA, Oatly, Ericsson, Volvo, Vestas, ABB, Maersk, Electrolux, Kone, Carlsberg, Takeda Pharma, Novo Nordisk, H&M, and Icelandair.

Many companies from outside this region test new products and concepts in these countries before the most promising ones are rolled out into larger markets, like the UK, Germany and the US.

A few examples of companies from this region that have expanded to the US are Einride, Klarna, and Local Greens USA. Einride is a Swedish electric autonomous freight company that is working with Coca-Cola, Oatly, Lidl, Electrolux and others. Klarna is a Swedish fintech company that provides online financial services,including online storefronts, direct payments and post-purchase payments. Local Greens USA is a Finnish indoor farming company. 

In 2025, the U.S. EPA Tier 5 standard and the European Euro7 standard are scheduled come into effect. Both standards limit the emission of harmful substances by trains and locomotives to very low values. These new standards require zero particulate matter emissions and almost zero nitrogen oxide emissions.

Also during this decade, it’s expected that implementation of new rail transportation technologies could completely eliminate emissions, such as adoption of battery-electric and hydrogen fuel cell locomotives.

Wabtec is working with Carnegie Mellon University and BNSF to test a battery-electric locomotive. Alstom, Cummins, Siemens and other companies have demonstrated the viability of hydrogen fuel cell passenger locomotives in Europe.

Regardless of politics and ideologies, clean forms of energy and transportation make sense and actually save money while benefitting the environment and enhancing supply chain efficiencies.

Yet, we all experience autonomous transportation (airport trains and autopilot flying) every time we go to the airport a fly on a plane.

What is the future when it comes to full automation of cars and trucks? Almost every new car has some autonomous technology, but fully autonomous cars are highly complex, will require further development of technology and probably will not broadly exist until the 2030’s.

Autonomous trucking and freight movement will arrive before the end of this decade because freight movement can be restricted to specific roads, origins, destinations and time of travel. Driver shortages, supply chain challenges, decarbonization and increasing operating costs also favor a shift to electric, autonomous freight. Companies such as Einride, TuSimple, Embark, Daimler, Tesla, Volvo, Waymo, Kodiak, Nuro, Gatik, and Plus are all pilot testing autonomous trucking/freight technology.

Einride stands out from all these companies and may ultimately be the big winner because of its electric driverless PODs that have no cabs and remote human driver assistance. Einride is already moving freight on public roads in Sweden for some of the biggest global brands: Electrolux, Oatley, Coca Cola and Lidl supermarkets. Einride is in the process of entering the US market, so don’t be surprised when you soon see Einride PODs on US roads.

The answer is found in what’s called the manufacturing gap, where the US publicly and privately financially supports basic research to create new technology but fails to financially support commercialization. Development stage companies in the US often struggle to borrow or raise the money needed to finance a new factory, particularly when those loans or investments can take many years to pay off.

The good news is that there is bipartisan support to solve this problem. Republican Senator Marco Rubio and moderate Democratic senators, led by Senator Chris Coons of Delaware, have proposed creating an Industrial Finance Corporation (IFC) that would fill the manufacturing gap and finance high-tech production nationwide.

The IFC would make long-term loans, own equity, and guarantee purchases for emerging companies, so they could commercialize their technology and products. Creating the IFC will support growth of a trillion dollar US ecosystem for industries of the future.

It must be done!