[ materials ]
13 %
Other industrial
35 %
Automotive
2021 Platinum Demand 210 t
Platinum demand by application in 2021
4 %
Dental and biomedical
13 %
Petroleum and chemicals
13 %
Glassmaking
22 %
Jewellery
are circulating constantly in closed loop , generally unseen by the market ( Johnson Matthey does not report closed-loop recycling in its supply and demand figures ). Johnson Matthey and others have established efficient processes for recycling iridium . Although investment continues to optimise these processes , iridium in PEM components can be recycled today .
This points to two important advantages in using PGM : the first is that PGM recycling is value driven . The second is that PGM used in hydrogen technologies remains an asset that will be recovered and reused as much as possible . As with other industrial applications to date , we expect to see an inventory of recycled PGM building up within the hydrogen industry over the longer term .
Platinum is ready for a new market
When looking at any commodity , it is important to understand the balance between supply and demand . Platinum is currently in industrial oversupply : more of the metal is put on to the market every year than industrial users require . The ‘ grouped ’ nature of PGM mining explains this : in today ’ s market , palladium and rhodium , which are by-products of platinum mining , are undersupplied and in high demand by the automotive industry for catalytic converters .
Therefore , it would not make sense to mine less platinum , because this would then also produce less palladium and rhodium .
The single biggest use of platinum today is in automotive emissions control catalysts , although platinum is much less dominated by automotive consumption than palladium and rhodium . But in the long term , this market will decline as the internal combustion engine is eventually phased out .
Platinum ’ s second largest market – jewellery – has been in decline for some years . The largest regional market for platinum jewellery is China and consumer spending patterns have shifted in that market . Globally , we expect almost 30 tonnes less platinum will be used in jewellery this year than in 2017 .
Hydrogen technologies will therefore be replacing some of platinum ’ s older markets . Contrast this to the situation in the battery sector where users of metals such as lithium and nickel face stiff competition for supply , which has to expand dramatically amid sharply rising demand .
Minimising mineral intensity
That said , platinum is still a valuable and limited resource , and must be used efficiently . Considerable reductions to the intensity of platinum use in fuel cells have already been achieved through innovation , to around 30 g per vehicle ( without compromising performance ), and this ‘ thrifting ’ continues . It ’ s a familiar progression in the PGM industry : for example , the reliance of automotive emissions control on PGM has only been sustainable because of increasingly efficient metal use .
Only a few grams of PGM are needed to treat the pollutants in a gasoline vehicle ’ s exhaust to meet the stringent standards required today , and only a few grams will be needed to catalyse the fuel cell vehicles of the future .
16 Hydrogen Tech World | Issue 7 | December 2022