Question 41 Solar and wind installations use more copper than their fossil­fuel counterparts, and electric vehicles contain four times more copper than do cars with combustion engines. 2 More will be required in coming decades, to meet the need for widespread electrification brought about by the transition to less carbon­intensive economies. 3 They hammered it into jewellery and ornaments as much as 11,000 years ago. 4 Copper is an essential part of batteries, motors and charging equipment. 5 Today, Homo sapiens uses more than 20m tonnes of the stuff a year, much of it in buildings and electrical infrastructure. 6 Copper was the first metal worked by human beings.