Dassault Systèmes: Virtual Twins Drive Clean Energy Shift

The global shift to clean energy depends heavily on two interconnected strategies, says Philippine de T’Serclaes, Chief Sustainability Officer at Dassault Systèmes: virtual twins and improved product circularity.

Both are essential in tackling resource scarcity and addressing inefficiencies within supply chains.

Philippine, who recently appeared as the cover feature of our sister title Sustainability Magazine's December 2024 edition, exposing the urgent need to manage critical materials such as copper, lithium, cobalt, nickel and rare earth elements (REEs) in a sustainable manner to support the energy transition.

“Circularity must form the backbone of efforts to preserve and maximise these critical materials,” she says.

Virtual twins, she explains, can play a pivotal role in enabling circular practices by boosting transparency and collaboration across supply chains.

Managing the demand for critical materials

The clean energy revolution relies heavily on critical materials essential to technologies such as electric vehicle batteries, wind turbines and solar panels. Demand for these materials is rising rapidly as nations work to achieve net-zero emissions.

Philippine highlights data from the International Energy Agency (IEA) to illustrate the scale of this growth: “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 unprecedented demand is far from straightforward. Several challenges inhibit the ability of mining and supply systems to keep pace, including:

• The finite availability of raw materials
• Geographic concentration of resources, often sourced from only a handful of countries, increasing supply chain vulnerability
• Limited substitutes for critical materials in most applications

Philippine warns that these factors heighten the urgency of prioritising circular practices within the critical materials value network.

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

Circularity as the foundation of resilient supply chains

Circularity, which refers to designing products and systems to reuse materials and minimise waste, is essential for building sustainable supply chains.

For Philippine, the idea of circularity is non-negotiable: “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 meet the growing demand for critical materials. Even with significant advancements in recycling, estimates show that by 2040, the recycling of used batteries could reduce the need for fresh supplies of materials like lithium, cobalt and copper by only 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,” Philippine notes.

Instead, a more comprehensive approach is required. Emerging waste streams from clean energy technologies – such as decommissioned wind turbine blades and solar panels – must be tackled with circular design principles.

Philippine stresses that circularity involves looking at the entire lifecycle of critical materials, from extraction and processing to recovery at the end of life.

“A generative, low-waste economy demands that we consider these stages as interconnected parts of a broader ecosystem," she explains.

Virtual twins: Driving collaboration and circularity

A major enabler of circularity, according to Philippine, is virtual twin technology. A virtual twin is a digital replica of a physical product or system that can simulate real-world behaviours and processes.

At Dassault Systèmes, virtual twins are already helping industries such as healthcare, mobility and infrastructure adopt sustainable practices. Philippine believes this technology can be transformative in fostering circularity within supply chains.

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

With virtual twin technology, businesses can improve transparency and traceability throughout the lifecycle of critical materials. By digitally tracking materials from extraction to reuse, companies can ensure resources are maximised and waste is minimised.

This technology also facilitates collaboration across 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,” Philippine explains.

Turning challenges into opportunities

Although supply chain constraints present significant challenges, Philippine sees them as an opportunity to rethink procurement strategies and embed sustainability into every stage of operations.

Key strategies include:

• Developing alternative materials that lessen dependence on scarce resources while minimising environmental impact
• Designing products for disassembly, making it easier to recover and reuse materials

By combining these approaches with virtual twin technology, industries can move towards a regenerative value network, where resources are continuously repurposed.

“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,” Philippine concludes.

Her vision is clear: with innovative practices and a focus on circularity, supply chains can transform critical materials into assets for a sustainable energy future.

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