Smart city technologies in buildings, transport, infrastructure and energy will boost demand for copper, a new snapshot by the Martec Group shows.
The new study— commissioned by the International Copper Association—found the total volume of copper in smart city technology is predicted to nearly double from 2.7M tonnes in 2019 to 4.8 M tonnes in 2025.
Asia and Europe currently lead the world in copper demand for use in smart cities, with 40% and 35% respectively. North America is predicted to increase in share from 20% in 2020 to 35% in 2030.
With nearly two thirds of the world’s population expected to be living in cities by 2050 the move to make cities sustainable, efficient and digitally manageable is picking up pace.
Already $1B will be spent on smart city initiatives this year, including smart waste management, traffic control, air management, street lighting and e-government, to name a few.
“The building and mobility sectors have the highest growth potential as we expect to see significant technological advancement over the next five years,” says Emily Bielak, Project Manager at The Martec Group.
“The energy sector, which is more mature, is expected to remain stable at around 25 percent of copper demand over the same time period,” she added.
Martec presentation (watch on-demand in English or Mandarin)