Energy security is an increasing concern for governments across the world, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But decarbonising power, transport and home heating will reduce reliance on imports of oil and gas and help to secure energy supply.

The new government insists the solution is “clean, homegrown power”. As the UK makes this transition, though, it must be mindful of where the materials necessary for our energy infrastructure, including renewables and electric vehicles (EVs), will come from. There is an opportunity to further improve energy security by reducing demand for these materials and keeping them in circulation, through reuse, remanufacturing and recycling.

Critical raw materials are central components of the renewable technology supply chain. These are economically and strategically important resources with supply chain risks, such as lithium, cobalt and rare earth elements. The UK imports most of the materials it needs for renewables and EVs, often in the form of components and finished products.

A new approach is needed, as part of an energy security strategy, that focuses first on reducing demand for critical raw materials, and then on building the capacity for reuse, remanufacturing and recycling to keep them in circulation at their highest value for as long as possible. This would allow the UK to break free of the current situation where it exports many critical materials as waste, only to pay to import them again as raw materials for building new infrastructure.

A strong champion in the new government is needed to co-ordinate this strategy across departments.

In this report, we propose five steps to greater energy security through demand reduction and circularity.