European Union may not achieve its goal of extracting enough rare resources from its own soil, experts warn at a ChemistryNL conference. Despite the European Commission’s aim to extract 10% of critical resources like nickel, platinum, copper, and lithium domestically by 2030, the majority still comes from abroad. Chemicist Reinier Grimbergen states that while the goal is technically feasible, the time required for permitting, equipment setup, and operations makes it unlikely. The EU aims to reduce dependency on other nations and support the energy transition.
