Aluminum Falls Short As Copper Substitute, Says Pacific Northwest Lab
Aluminum Falls Short As Copper Substitute, Says Pacific Northwest Lab
Per As the green transition accelerates, demand for copper has surged, driven by its critical role in renewable energy infrastructure, electric vehicles (EVs), and power grids. Despite companies scrambling to launch new mines, the shortage of copper could reach millions of metric tons by 2035, prompting scientists and engineers to explore alternatives like aluminum.
隨着綠色轉型的加速，銅的需求激增，這得益於其在可再生能源基礎設施、新能源車和電網中的關鍵角色。儘管公司們爭相開設新礦，但到2035年，銅的短缺可能達到數百萬公噸，這促使科學家和工程師探索鋁等替代品。
Aluminum shares many of copper's desirable properties, including high conductivity and corrosion resistance. The Earth's crust contains as much as 8.1% aluminum, which forms in bauxite ore, making it the most abundant metal on the planet. Meanwhile, copper deposits form through the mineralization of primary ore deposits deeper below the surface, making them harder to find and extract and less abundant.
鋁與銅的許多理想特性相似，包括高導電性和耐腐蝕性。地殼中鋁的含量高達8.1%，鋁以鋁土礦的形式存在，使其成爲地球上最豐富的金屬。同時，銅礦藏則是通過深層原始礦藏的礦化形成，因此更難以尋找和提取，數量也相對較少。
Aluminum's applications extend beyond EVs to power grids and renewable energy systems, like overhead power lines, solar panel frames, and wind turbine components. While subsea cables and critical transformer windings still favor copper for its superior conductivity and resistance to fatigue, aluminum's role in renewable energy is growing.
鋁的應用不僅限於新能源汽車，還包括電網和可再生能源系統，如架空電力線路、太陽能電池板框架和風力渦輪機元件。儘管海底電纜和關鍵變壓器繞組仍然傾向於使用導電性更好的銅，但鋁在可再生能源中的作用正日益增長。
Per Auke Hoekstra, a researcher from the University of Eindhoven, "almost all copper in electric vehicles can be replaced by aluminum, from the motor windings to the wire harness." However, despite its lighter weight, which makes it advantageous in fuel efficiency, aluminum has just 60% of copper's conductivity.
艾克·霍克斯特拉（Auke Hoekstra）是埃因霍溫大學的一名研究人員，他表示：「幾乎所有新能源汽車中的銅都可以被鋁替代，從電機繞組到線束。」然而，儘管鋁的輕量化使其在燃料效率方面具有優勢，但鋁的導電率僅爲銅的60%。
Furthermore, aluminum production is energy-intensive, requiring between 13 to 15 megawatt hours to produce one metric ton of molten aluminum. Additionally, aluminum has higher creep rates and oxidation tendencies, imposing design restrictions and material treatment challenges.
此外，鋁的生產能耗較高，生產一公噸熔融鋁需要13到15兆瓦時的電能。此外，鋁具有較高的蠕變率和氧化傾向，給設計和材料處理帶來挑戰。
Therefore, copper remains the material of choice for high-demand scenarios requiring durability and compactness, such as underground power lines, high-voltage transformers, and dense circuit boards.
因此，銅仍然是高需求場景中首選的材料，這些場景要求耐用性和緊湊性，例如地下電力線路、高壓變壓器和密集電路板。
In 2022, a team of researchers led by Keerti Kappagantula of the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory worked on increasing aluminum's conductivity through simulations that altered the metal's structure, removing or rearranging individual atoms. Still, Kappagantula's recent work indicates that the focus has switched to graphene, a carbon allotrope and the strongest material ever measured on the microscopic scale.
在2022年，由太平洋西北國家實驗室的基爾提·卡帕甘圖拉領導的研究團隊致力於通過改變鋁的結構的模擬，來提高鋁的導電性，去除或重新排列單個原子。然而，卡帕甘圖拉近期的工作表明，研究的重點已經轉向石墨烯——一種碳同素異形體，也是有史以來在微觀尺度上測量到的最強材料。
The material's popularity is notably present in the U.S. Department of Energy's ongoing multi-million-dollar competition to develop conductivity-enhanced materials. Three out of seven competitors focus on copper-composite materials, two of which include graphene.
該材料的受歡迎程度在美國能源部正在進行的數百萬美元競爭中尤爲顯著，該競爭旨在開發導電性能提升的材料。七名參賽者中有三名專注於銅複合材料，其中兩名包括石墨烯。
By introducing graphene, researchers aim to reduce resistance at the atomic level, unlocking new efficiencies while preserving copper's inherent advantages. In a Net Zero world, there are two options: increase copper supply or maximize efficiency.
通過引入石墨烯，研究人員旨在減少原子級別的支撐位，從而在保留銅固有優勢的同時釋放新的效率。在一個淨零世界中，有兩個期權：增加銅供應或最大化效率。
The Global X Copper Miners ETF (NYSE:COPX) has underperformed the market year-to-date, returning 13.40%. Its P/E ratio is 10.90x, well below the S&P 500 30.4x ratio.
銅礦etf-global x（紐交所：COPX）在年初至今表現不佳，回報率爲13.40%。其市盈率爲10.90倍，遠低於標準普爾500的30.4倍。
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譯文內容由第三人軟體翻譯。
