An aerial view shows power-generating windmill turbines in a wind farm in Graincourt-les-Havrincourt, France. Reuters

The 27-nation EU aims to be "carbon neutral" by 2050 — reducing greenhouse gases to a level where the amount produced is balanced out by the amount removed from the atmosphere.

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The bloc also wants to wean itself off dependence on Russian oil, coal and gas.

To this end, it is seeking not only to use less energy but also to increase the amount of energy generated domestically from renewable resources.

That includes producing electric vehicles and batteries, bringing in more wind, solar and hydrogen technologies, and creating infrastructure to distribute this clean power.

But expanding clean technologies will require substantial inputs of raw metals and -- in initial stages at least -- much of this will probably have to be imported, according to the study by Belgium's KU Leuven university.

To bring carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions down to "net zero" by 2050, the EU will need "35 times more lithium" than it uses today and "seven to 26 times the amount of increasingly scarce rare earth metals", the "Metals for Clean Energy" report said.

The energy transition will also require far greater annual supplies of aluminium, copper, silicon, nickel and cobalt.