Battery Technology Innovation/Electric Vehicles – Page 113

As electric vehicles take off, we’ll need to recycle their batteries – by Madeleine Stone (National Geographic – May 28, 2021)

May 31, 2021

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/

Electric car batteries contain critical minerals like cobalt and lithium. We’ll need to recycle them unless we want to keep mining the earth for new ones.

When Ford unveiled the F-150 Lightning last week — an all-electric version of the best- selling vehicle in the United States—it was a big moment in the short history of electric cars. The 530-horsepower, 6,500-pound truck’s sticker price of just under $40,000 ($32,474 with a federal tax credit) drew comparisons to Ford’s Model T, the vehicle credited with making cars accessible to the middle class.

In the first 48 hours after the battery-powered behemoth debuted, Ford received close to 45,000 pre-orders for it, equivalent to nearly 20 percent of all EVs registered in the U.S. last year.

The F-150 Lightning, along with the hundreds of other EV models top automakers are rolling out in the next few years, signals that the EV revolution is finally going mainstream. But as this industry, which is key to combating climate change, matures, a new challenge is emerging: how to acquire all of the minerals needed to make EV batteries.

More electric cars on the road will mean increased mining for what goes in their batteries – by Bob McDonald (CBC Radio Quirks – May 28, 2021)

May 31, 2021

https://www.cbc.ca/radio/quirks/

The rise in demand for electric vehicles will require increased mining for metals and possibly increasing environmental consequences.

With all major auto manufacturers bringing electric vehicles into production in an effort to catch up to the popularity of Tesla, there will be a rising demand for metals and other resources necessary for the manufacture of millions of new batteries. This raises concerns about the environmental and social impact of more intense mining operations.

In a report in the journal Nature Reviews Materials, British earth scientist Richard Herrington points out that by the year 2035, there could be 245 million battery electric vehicles on the road.

POLLUTION: Indonesia has a long way to go to produce nickel sustainably – by Ian Morse (China Dialogue – May 28, 2021)

May 31, 2021

China Dialogue

When Indonesian officials said they were meeting with Tesla representatives at the end of last year, they had already spent years wooing the company toward the metals locked in their rainforest soils.

The abundance of metals like nickel and cobalt on Indonesia’s islands could calm worries that the electric vehicle (EV) industry would confront resource bottlenecks in building millions of batteries.

But earlier this year, Tesla seemed to have other interests. The US company advanced deals in nickel from the Pacific islands of New Caledonia as well as in manufacturing its cars in India, suggesting to market observers that Indonesia’s nickel industry had become too risky. A company branded on clean products may be particularly sensitive to increased scrutiny on the environmental impacts of its supply chain.

Column: The human bottleneck in critical minerals supply chains – by Andy Home (Reuters – May 27, 2021)

May 31, 2021

https://www.reuters.com/

The road to decarbonisation will be paved with copper. As well as lithium, nickel, cobalt and a host of other minerals, all critical for electric vehicles (EVs), solar panels and wind farms.

Securing enough of these metals has become an overriding concern for many Western countries now looking to invest in green technology industries as a driver of broader pandemic recovery.

The European Union currently imports all of the refined lithium, platinum and silicon it needs to produce EVs, clean hydrogen and solar panels respectively. It also gets 98% of its rare earths from one supplier – China.

To become a major player on the global battery stage, Canada must act fast – by Merran Smith and Pierre Gratton (IPolitics.ca – May 26, 2021)

May 28, 2021

https://ipolitics.ca/

Merran Smith is the executive director of Clean Energy Canada. Pierre Gratton is the president and CEO of the Mining Association of Canada.

As our largest trading partners rapidly reimagine their economies, one thing is clear: Batteries will be the literal engines of the modern world — powering our cars, our trucks, our ferries, our commutes to work, and the delivery of our next FedEx package.

Canada has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to establish itself as a major player on the global battery scene if it acts now. This was the conclusion of an industry roundtable convened in the spring by Clean Energy Canada and attended by stakeholders across the supply chain: General Motors Canada, Lion Electric, the Mining Association of Canada, the Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association, Unifor, and others.

Experts recognized that building Canada’s battery-supply chain is both a sprint and a marathon, requiring short-term plays and long-term planning — but the biggest risk is not leaving the starting line.

Soaring commodity prices are bringing a Chinese lithium giant back from the brink – by Mary Hui (Quartz.com – May 28, 2021)

May 28, 2021

https://qz.com/

The global climate economy’s transition to clean energy will drive a huge increase in demand for a number of critical minerals. Among those, lithium is expected to see the fastest growth.

Lithium is crucial to the clean energy transition because it’s widely used in lithium-ion batteries, including those powering electric vehicles.

China currently dominates worldwide production of lithium chemicals used in batteries, accounting for nearly 60% of worldwide processing of lithium in 2019, according to the International Energy Agency.

From hot stock to bust, will Nemaska Lithium rise again? – by Martin Patriquin (Financial Post – May 26, 2021)

May 26, 2021

https://financialpost.com/

MONTREAL • About 1,000 kilometres from Montreal, in the Precambrian expanse of Quebec’s north, is the world’s second-largest deposit of one of its most sought-after minerals.

In 2009, Nemaska Lithium announced its intention to harvest its namesake mineral with all the gut-busting blarney usually reserved for gold rushes and oil strikes.

To investors, the company touted itself as “your next Canadian lithium supplier,” promising to deliver 300 jobs and $4.1 billion in revenues over its minimum 18-year lifespan.

Biden looks abroad for electric vehicle metals, in blow to U.S. miners – by Ernest Scheyder and Trevor Hunnicutt (Financial Post/Reuters – May 25, 2021)

May 26, 2021

https://financialpost.com/

U.S. President Joe Biden will rely on ally countries to supply the bulk of the metals needed to build electric vehicles and focus on processing them domestically into battery parts, part of a strategy designed to placate environmentalists, two administration officials with direct knowledge told Reuters.

The plans will be a blow to U.S. miners who had hoped Biden would rely primarily on domestically sourced metals, as his campaign had signaled last autumn, to help fulfill his ambitions for a less carbon-intensive economy.

Rather than focus on permitting more U.S. mines, Biden’s team is more focused on creating jobs that process minerals domestically into electric vehicle (EV) battery parts, according to the people.

Global Mining Symposium: Demand for nickel in EV batteries could lead to supply shortage in the next couple of years, says McKinsey’s Ken Hoffman – by Carl A. Williams (Northern Miner – May 22, 2021)

May 25, 2021

https://www.northernminer.com/

The growing market for electric vehicles is likely to see increased pressure for nickel, a critical component for the nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) batteries used in EVs, Ken Hoffman, senior expert at McKinsey’s Basic Materials Institute, said during The Northern Miner’s Global Mining Symposium in May.

In an interview with Frik Els, executive editor of MINING.com, Hoffman said that sales of EVs reached over 3 million units last year, up from around 22,000 a decade ago.

“If it weren’t for a shortage of [micro]chips in 2021, you’d probably be looking at six to seven million EVs sold by the end of this year,” he said.

Canada has “right ingredients” to be EV battery leader – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – May 19, 2021)

May 19, 2021

https://www.mining.com/

Canada has a “once-in-generation” opportunity to establish itself as a major player in the global battery sector, but it needs to act fast to seize the opportunity, a new report reflecting the views of stakeholders across the electric vehicle (EV) supply chain shows.

Clean Energy Canada’s study, compiling opinions of major actors in the sector, such as General Motors Canada, Lion Electric, the Mining Association of Canada (MAC), the Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association and Unifor, concludes the country has the right ingredients for a successful battery sector.

Canada is rich in lithium, graphite, nickel, cobalt, aluminum and manganese, key ingredients for advanced battery manufacturing and storage technology.

NEWS RELEASE: Canada has a once-in-generation opportunity to be a global battery leader if we act now: industry stakeholders (Clean Energy Canada – May 19, 2021)

May 19, 2021

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OTTAWA, May 19, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — As Canada’s largest trading partners transform their economies to be cleaner and more competitive, one aspect of that shift is clear: batteries will be the engines of the modern world.

Canada has a once-in-generation opportunity to establish itself as a major player in the global battery sector, according to a new Clean Energy Canada report reflecting the opinions of stakeholders across the electric vehicle supply chain, including General Motors Canada, Lion Electric, the Mining Association of Canada, the Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association, Unifor, and many others.

Canada has the right ingredients for a successful battery sector, the experts told Clean Energy Canada in a roundtable convened in March. With its known deposits of critical metals and minerals, automotive heritage, plenty of clean electricity (to power operations), and access to a well-integrated North American market, Canada could be a top supplier of sustainable batteries.

OPINION: Less talk, more action: Canada gets a reality check on its dreams of being an EV powerhouse – by Adam Radwanski (Globe and Mail – May 19, 2021)

May 19, 2021

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

The global race to develop industries around electric-vehicle production just keeps heating up.

On Tuesday, touring a Ford plant in Detroit that’s making electric pickup trucks, President Joe Biden touted his US$174-billion EV plan, including grants for new battery-production facilities.

It was an indication of his administration’s aim to aggressively play catch-up with China, which got a huge head start building EV supply chains, and Europe, which has made inroads.

‘It’s not going to happen by accident’: The push for an EV revolution in Canada – by Kamyar Razavi & Mike Drolet (Global News – May 15, 2021)

May 18, 2021

https://globalnews.ca/

Like most runners, Marc Bédard is used to co-existing with cars, trucks and buses on his morning jogs.

But it’s the exhaust that wears him out. “I’m running in the morning and sometimes I have one of those old diesel school buses in front of me, and I can hardly breathe,” he tells Global News.

Luckily, Bédard in a position to do something about those polluting fumes. The company he founded, Lion Electric, has grown into a major North American manufacturer of electric school buses and trucks.

What we need to know about the pace of decarbonization – by Vaclav Smil (Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy – April 2020)

May 16, 2021

https://www.schoolofpublicpolicy.sk.ca/

University of Manitoba professor Vaclav Smil is regarded as an international authority on the history of energy transitions. Science Magazine calls him “the man who has quietly shaped how the world thinks about energy.” In the words of Bill Gates “there is no author whose books I look forward to more than Vaclav Smil.”

Energy transitions have been among the key defining processes of human evolution. The first millennia-long transition was from the reliance on traditional biofuels such as wood, charcoal, crop residues and animate sources of energy derived from human and animal muscles, to increasingly common reliance on inanimate energy converters. They included water wheels, wind mills and better harnessed draft animals for fieldwork and transportation.

Transition to fossil fuels to produce heat, thermal electricity and kinetic energy began in England during the 16th century. It took hold in Europe and North America only after 1800, and in most of Asia only after 1950.

This transition has been accompanied by increasing reliance on primary electricity, dominated by hydroelectricity since the 1880s, with nuclear generation contributing since the late 1950s. The transition from traditional biofuels to fossil fuels has resulted in gradual relative decarbonization, but also in enormous growth in absolute emissions of CO2.

China EV makers’ targeting Western markets has ‘tremendous implications” for metal mix – by Staff (Mining.com – May 13, 2021)

May 14, 2021

https://www.mining.com/

China, the country leading global sales of new energy vehicles (NEVs), not only will maintain its market position accounting for half of all expected global NEV during the next decade, but it may also do a grand entrance into western markets.

This is according to London-based market analyst CRU, whose recent EV report states that local sales will be driven in part by government policy – such as mandating a minimum quota of NEV sales for automakers – but also by increased consumer demand as NEV prices continue to decline and the availability of high-quality models increases.

“The Chinese government has announced clear plans to raise NEV sales to 20% of the automotive market by 2025, and 50% by 2035, and as time goes on, these look more and more achievable,” the document reads.