Battery Technology Innovation/Electric Vehicles – Page 101

Sudbury’s Frontier Lithium aims to develop critical electric car battery resource – by Jonathan Migneault (CBC News Sudbury – November 9, 2021)

November 9, 2021

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/

A Sudbury-based company has big plans to mine and process a mineral that is a critical part of batteries in electric vehicles and portable electronics. Frontier Lithium is exploring two lithium deposits in northwestern Ontario that have enough resources to build almost 500,000 batteries per year for electric vehicles.

“Many reference lithium ion as the gasoline of the future,” said Trevor Walker, the company’s president and CEO. “So the sky’s the limit. This is really an interesting time because as we’ve got decarbonization efforts taking place around the world, coupled with sensitive supply chains that’s been highlighted as a result of the pandemic, it’s a really interesting opportunity in front of us.”

Doug Ford’s hopes for Ontario’s electric vehicle industry hinge on mining its Ring of Fire – by Mike Crawley (CBC News Toronto – November 9, 2021)

November 9, 2021

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/

Mining project will be ‘massive win’ for First Nations, says premier, despite Indigenous opposition

Premier Doug Ford’s government is touting Ontario as a future electric vehicle manufacturing hub, and linking that to a fresh push for a huge mining development in the northern part of the province.

Ford’s Progressive Conservatives want to lure the big automakers to produce electric vehicles in southern Ontario. A key part of that strategy involves opening up the so-called Ring of Fire mineral deposit, located more than 500 kilometres north of Thunder Bay in an area home to Indigenous people.

Building Supply Chain Resiliency of Critical Minerals – by Brendan Marshall (Canadian Global Affairs Institute – November 2021)

November 8, 2021

https://www.cgai.ca/

Increasing geopolitical uncertainty has magnified the precariousness of existing sources of critical minerals. These minerals are vital in aerospace, defence, health care, telecommunications, computing and in clean technologies such as solar panels, nuclear energy and electric vehicle (EV) batteries and motors.

Governments globally have started assessing the vulnerability of their economies to supply shocks for critical minerals that they cannot sufficiently source (or at all) inside their own borders, but on which the proper functioning of their economies (and sovereign responsibilities) depends.

Batteries and the new “lithium gold-rush” (CBC News – November 7, 2021)

November 8, 2021

https://www.cbsnews.com/

In the mountains of northern Nevada, the fuel of the future lies in the shadow of the past. Sixteen million years ago, the area now called Thacker Pass was the site of a giant volcanic eruption … and volcanologist Tom Benson has been searching the world for places just like it. He says an eruption here millions of years ago left behind the key to unlock the electric vehicle revolution.

It’s called lithium, the lightest solid element on that chart most of us only periodically remember from high school chemistry. Rechargeable lithium ion batteries are what power our cell phones, computers, even toothbrushes, and are now the fuel for all those electric vehicles starting to roll off the assembly line.

Can Mining the Seabed Help Save the Planet? – by Christopher Pala (Foreign Policy – November 7, 2021)

November 8, 2021

https://foreignpolicy.com/

The solutions to climate change—solar panels, windmills, electric cars—seem so blissfully clean and also within reach. Yet they also require vast amounts of minerals: cobalt, manganese, copper, nickel, and rare earths. Electric cars, for instance, are made with about six times more minerals than conventional vehicles, and such staggering amounts simply aren’t available now. Not on land, anyway.

Parts of the ocean seabed, lying some 15,000 feet deep, are littered with the stuff. Black, potato-sized lumps called polymetallic nodules can be found in great volumes on the oceans’ muddy bottoms. The nodules contain large amounts of copper, manganese, nickel, and cobalt, as well as other minerals in smaller amounts.

Company behind lithium bid applauds Alberta’s move towards developing rare earth metals – by Dylan Short (Calgary Herald – November 6, 2021)

November 8, 2021

https://calgaryherald.com/

A company in line to become Alberta’s first major lithium developer says the province’s latest move to regulate mineral and rare earth mining is good news for investors as they eye major productions in the field in the coming years.

Energy Minister Sonya Savage tabled a bill in the legislature on Thursday that, if passed, would move the regulation of all mineral and rare earth mining and development under the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) from start to finish.

Ontario can be a leader in climate change action solutions, says report – by Staff (Sudbury.com – November 4, 2021)

November 5, 2021

https://www.sudbury.com/

Ontario Chamber of Commerce calls on governments to keep investing in net-zero technologies

Ontario has certain competitive advantages to confront the climate change crisis that can bring about clear economic and environmental benefits for the world.

The Ontario Chamber of Commerce has released a report – The Climate Catalyst: Ontario’s Leadership in the Green Global Economy – that takes a snapshot of what provincial organizations are doing to transition to a net-zero economy and what government policymakers can do to encourage more sustainable investment and innovation.

These green economy commodities are beating the best runs of the China supercycle – by David Rosenberg and Marius Jongstra (Financial Post – November 5, 2021)

November 5, 2021

https://financialpost.com/

The surge in commodity prices has been impressive since mid-2020, predictably resulting in calls that a new “supercycle” is underway. We have questioned that narrative, given the apparent supply-demand imbalances plaguing the globe and boosting prices in the process.

But one theme we do agree with is the long-term secular tailwinds behind a number of commodities required in the transition to a green economy in order to address climate change.

UN at COP26: “Enough of mining…we are digging our own graves” – by Frik Els (Mining.com – November 2, 2021)

November 3, 2021

https://www.mining.com/

It did not take long for COP26 to turn into a farce this week with UN Secretary General António Guterres pleading with the gathered highnesses and excellencies to declare enough is enough.

Socialist party ex-PM of Portugal, Guterres delivered a rousing 10-minute speech at the opening ceremony saying (around the 0:45 mark) “we face a stark choice – either we stop it or it stops us”:

Ford government pushes back against Biden’s protectionist stance on auto manufacturing – by Brian Lilley (Toronto Sun – October 28, 2021)

October 29, 2021

https://torontosun.com/

The Ford government is reaching out to top American politicians in the hopes of thwarting the latest protectionist measure coming from Washington. A proposed tax rebate on electric cars currently before the U.S. Congress could have a devastating impact on the future of Ontario’s auto industry.

The rebate, part of the Build Back Better budget bill, would offer American consumers a rebate of up to $12,500 for purchasing an electric vehicle but only if the car is assembled in the United States with 50% American parts and an American made battery.

COP26 will be a colossal mining cop-out – by Frik Els (Mining.com – October 28, 2021)

October 29, 2021

https://www.mining.com/

“The International Energy Agency’s annual World Energy Outlook [..] is probably the closest thing to a bible in the energy world,” says a Bloomberg article following the publication of the 2021 edition.

Released earlier than usual in time for the Conference of Parties (COP26) starting in Glasgow next week, this edition – the 44th – “has been designed, exceptionally, as a guidebook to COP26”.

Mining industry warns against Europe’s drive for raw material ‘autonomy’ – by Sean Goulding Carroll (EURACTIV.com – October 28, 2021)

October 29, 2021

https://www.euractiv.com/

Relying solely on raw materials sourced within Europe could incentivise the use of cheaper, non-recyclable batteries, increasing the need to mine virgin materials to power electric vehicles, industry has said.

Rare earth metals such as cobalt and nickel, key components in lithium-ion batteries, are well-suited for reuse, which has given rise to hopes that much of Europe’s demand for these raw materials can be met through recycling rather than mining.

EU aims to dethrone Asia as world’s battery powerhouse – by Sean Goulding Carroll (EURACTIV.com – October 20, 2021)

October 29, 2021

https://www.euractiv.com/

Brussels plans to wrest the title of global electric vehicle battery leader from Asia by supercharging Europe’s battery production and imposing strict green criteria that will make European products the de facto global standard.

New EU legislation seeks to make European batteries the greenest in the world by setting carbon emissions limits on production, obliging manufacturers to use recycled content, and imposing checks to prevent labour abuses in the battery supply chain.

Major media predictions for Lithium ion battery cell production fail to add up. – by Jack Lifton (Investor Intel – October 27, 2021)

October 28, 2021

https://investorintel.com/

Notwithstanding the actions and beliefs of current Western politicians and their economist “advisors,” I firmly believe that there is no such thing as the free lunch that masquerades as modern monetary theory.

Believing that they can create by fiat whatever capital they need, politicians, worldwide, are encouraging a monstrous use (waste) of real world capital, without creating wealth to balance it, to meet clearly impossible goals related to what is commonly called stopping “climate change.”

EVs have lithium booming — and this time, there is no bust in sight – by Yvonne Yue Li and James Attwood (Bloomberg News – October 27, 2021)

October 28, 2021

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

Lithium is hot—again—though this time the rally looks to have more staying power. The market has exploded, with a benchmark index more than doubling in 2021 and key prices in China hitting records.

Driving the frenzy is the silvery metal’s allure as a commodity of the future: It’s one of the key components for the rechargeable batteries used to power electric vehicles.