Dassault Systèmes: Reshaping Supply Chains for Clean Energy

The transition to clean energy depends on two key strategies, according to Philippine de T’Serclaes, Chief Sustainability Officer at Dassault Systèmes: virtual twins and enhanced product circularity.

Both play a central role in overcoming the hurdles of resource scarcity and supply chain inefficiencies. Philippine, who is also the cover star of our sister title Sustainability Magazine's December 2024 edition, emphasises the critical need to rethink how materials like copper, lithium, nickel, cobalt and rare earth elements (REEs) are managed to sustain the energy transition.

“Circularity must form the backbone of efforts to preserve and maximise these critical materials,” she argues, highlighting how virtual twins can underpin this approach by improving transparency and collaboration across supply chains.

Understanding the importance of critical materials

Critical materials are integral to clean energy technologies, from wind turbines and solar panels to electric vehicle batteries. Philippine notes that global demand for these materials is skyrocketing as countries work toward net-zero emissions.

Citing the International Energy Agency (IEA), she explains: “Achieving global net-zero emissions by 2050 will require six times more mineral inputs in 2040 compared to 2020. This surge in demand presents a challenge.”

Meeting this demand, however, is far from straightforward. De T’Serclaes points out that mine supply alone cannot keep pace due to several factors:

• Finite availability of raw materials
• The geographic concentration of resources – with many critical materials sourced from a small number of countries, supply chains face heightened risks of disruption
• A lack of cost-effective substitutes for these materials in many applications

She warns: “This scarcity accentuates the urgency for the critical materials value network to prioritise circular best practices that align with global sustainability efforts.”

Circularity: the backbone of clean energy supply chains

For Philippine, circularity – the practice of designing products and systems to reuse materials and minimise waste – is not optional but essential.

She explains: “It extends the lifecycle of materials, transforms waste into resources and minimises dependency on finite raw resources.”

However, she argues that recycling alone will not be enough. While recycling can reduce pressure on primary supply, studies suggest that even by 2040, recycling spent batteries could only lower the need for new supplies of materials like copper, lithium and cobalt by 10%.

“Recycling practices are not yet fully developed for many materials, and recycling alone doesn’t completely eliminate the need for investment in new supply,” she says.

This is why emerging waste streams from clean energy technologies, such as decommissioned wind turbine blades or solar panels, must also be addressed through circular design.

Philippine stresses that circularity requires a holistic view of the entire lifecycle of critical materials – from extraction and processing to end-of-life recovery: “A generative, low-waste economy demands that we consider these stages as interconnected parts of a broader ecosystem."

Virtual twins: enabling a circular and collaborative future

Philippine believes virtual twins can transform how industries approach circularity.

A virtual twin is a digital replica of a physical system or product that can simulate real-world processes.

At Dassault Systèmes, virtual twin technology is already being used to support sustainable practices across sectors such as infrastructure, healthcare and mobility.

“Virtual twins have the potential to be both a catalyst and enabler of the generative economy,” she says.

By using this technology in product design and manufacturing, businesses can achieve greater transparency, traceability and data management. This transparency allows critical materials to be tracked throughout their lifecycle – from extraction to reuse – ensuring that no resource is wasted.

Philippine also explains that virtual twins enable collaboration within supply chains.

“They create a collaborative ecosystem where critical materials can be traced from sourcing through to end-of-life and back into the value chain, extending their life,” she adds.

Turning challenges into opportunities

Despite the obstacles, Philippine views the supply constraints of critical materials as an opportunity to rethink supply chains and embed sustainability at every stage. Two strategies, in particular, stand out:

• Developing alternative materials that reduce dependency on finite resources while minimising environmental impact
• Designing for disassembly to make it easier to recover and reuse materials, easing pressure on primary supply

By combining these strategies with virtual twin technology, industries can adopt a regenerative value network.

“I believe a new approach to critical materials, powered by virtual twin technology, will facilitate a much-needed shift toward a regenerative value network, supporting a sustainable digital economy and the clean energy technologies shaping our future,” she concludes.

Her message is clear: sustainable practices and innovation can ensure that critical materials, while scarce, become an asset in the clean energy transition.

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