Battery Technology Innovation/Electric Vehicles – Page 121

Thunder Bay could be a globally known hub for clean tech metals processing – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – December 14, 2020)

December 15, 2020

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Lithium processing could put northwestern Ontario city on forefront of a new age in mining

When John Mason worked as a provincial government geologist on the north shore of Lake Superior, there’s wasn’t much grassroots exploration or talk about lithium.

“On and off,” said the mining services project manager with the Thunder Bay Community Economic Development Commission (CEDC). “Very minimal.”

The Ontario Geological Survey documented plenty of occurrences in the Kenora District and the Georgia Lake area close to Beardmore, where Rock Tech Lithium has a very advanced exploration property, but the market to actually mine the commodity just wasn’t there.

Inobat to create ‘green battery ecosystem’ in Europe – by Editor (Mining.com – December 14, 2020)

December 15, 2020

https://www.mining.com/

European battery producer InoBat Auto has announced its ‘green battery ecosystem’ for Europe, as the race to develop and produce the best and ‘greenest’ electric vehicle (EV) batteries heats up.

InoBat’s AI-driven R&D battery production centre, which was recently approved by the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), is the first stage of the company’s green battery ecosystem, which begins with discovering and developing better performing, and more environmentally friendly cell chemistries more efficiently.

Inobat said this can be achieved through a patented combination of artificial intelligence (AI) and high throughput (HTP) technology, which allows for large numbers of different battery cell chemistries to be tested and improved simultaneously under one roof in InoBat’s battery centre in Slovakia.

Hydro-Québec’s battery push is built on making the province a lithium player. Will it work? – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – December 10, 2020)

December 10, 2020

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Quebec has high hopes of becoming a player in the global lithium market with Hydro-Québec moving into the battery-storage industry, but experts say the challenges are immense and the province’s track record doesn’t bode well.

On Wednesday, Hydro-Québec announced plans to design and sell lithium iron phosphate batteries. The public utility aims to sell large numbers of the industrial energy storage units to transmission providers, distributors and other power producers.

Hydro-Québec says the global lithium iron phosphate battery market could generate $3-billion in sales a year by 2030, and the utility hopes to gain about 10-per-cent market share.

OPINION: Tesla’s lavishly priced shares might soon lure it into the M&A game – by Eric Reguly (Globe and Mail – December 10, 2020)

December 10, 2020

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Tesla boss Elon Musk may be studying the blockbuster AOL-Time Warner merger of 20 years ago, the biggest, most sensational deal of the era. That’s because he may be considering a similar stunt himself – using Tesla Inc.’s crazily overvalued shares as a takeover currency.

But first, a reminder of those heady days, when the dot-com boom was still intact and America Online – better known as AOL, led by Steve Case – went shopping.

By then AOL was a tech juggernaut, a pioneer of e-mail, web portals, instant messaging and browsing. Mr. Case added CompuServe and Netscape to the mix, and investors fell in love with the whole techy mess.

Green trend stirs copper and nickel markets as supply tightens – by Rurika Imahashi (Nikkei Asia – November 30, 2020)

November 30, 2020

https://asia.nikkei.com/

TOKYO — Rising environmental awareness and the global shift to eco-friendly cars and energy sources are raising a question in the market for key metals used in such “green” sectors: Will there be enough supply?

In just the past month, the global mood surrounding the tackling of climate change has changed significantly. In late-October, China said it was planning to phase out traditional combustion engine cars and make all new ones sold in 2035 eco-friendly in the form of electric and plug-in hybrid versions.

Joe Biden’s victory in the U.S. presidential election could bring a huge change to environmental policy in the world’s biggest economy after President Donald Trump withdrew from the Paris climate agreement. Before the Nov. 3 contest, Biden had pledged a $2 trillion clean energy plan.

WA establishes battery taskforce – by Esmarie Iannucci (MiningWeekly.com – November 30, 2020)

November 30, 2020

https://www.miningweekly.com/

PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The Western Australian government on Monday named the members for its Future Battery Industry taskforce who will actively explore global opportunities to grow the state’s critical minerals industry.

The taskforce includes 19 mining companies, industry bodies and union groups, including BHP Nickel West, Lynas, Independence Group, Northern Minerals, Pilbara Minerals, Albemarle Lithium, Australian Vanadium, the Association of Mining and Exploration Companies (Amec), the Australian Manufacturing Worker’s Union, the Chamber of Minerals and Energy for Western Australia (CME) and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, besides others.

Rare earth riches in the mine waste pile – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – November 25, 2020)

November 26, 2020

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Avalon Advanced Materials looks to clean up, extract value from tailings dumps

Shuttered mine sites with legacy environmental issues pose a unique opportunity for Avalon Advanced Materials to recover rare earth minerals.

Don Bubar, CEO of the Toronto-based lithium and rare earth producer, talked strategy last week in a web call to shareholders, a day after announcing a partnership with Rock Tech Lithium on a possible processing plant for Thunder Bay.

Avalon is carving out a space in the clean and green tech economy with a diverse mix of Northern Ontario exploration properties in lithium, rare earth metals, cesium, tantalum and other non-traditional minerals that the company hopes to advance over the next couple of years.

The electric car won’t get us very far – by Bjorn Lomborg (Financial Post – November 26, 2020)

November 26, 2020

https://financialpost.com/

Electric cars will achieve only tiny emissions savings at a very high price

In a move to jump-start the market for electric cars in Quebec, the government of Premier François Legault this month announced a ban on the sale of new gas-powered cars from 2035.

Similarly, leaders across the rich world, including U.S. president-elect Joe Biden and U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who just announced an even more ambitious deadline of 2030, promise lavish carrots along with sticks to outlaw gasoline cars.

Unfortunately, electric cars will achieve only tiny emissions savings at a very high price. Electric cars are certainly fun, but almost everywhere cost more across their lifetime than their gasoline counterparts.

Canadian mining can supply the metals for a clean energy future – by Cody Battershill (Northern Miner – November 24, 2020)

November 25, 2020

https://www.northernminer.com/

If leadership on climate action and environmental best practices are worthwhile pursuits, then the Canadian mining sector is an industry that’s deserving of Canada’s – and the global market’s – full support.

And if a strong regulatory framework for environmental performance, growing Indigenous support and a superior record on human rights are equally important benchmarks, then our country’s mining sector is on the right track.

Beyond the metals that contribute to so much of our modern world, let’s focus for the moment on electric vehicles (EVs). They’re viewed by a growing number of consumers here and abroad as an important way to help reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and improve air quality in many developing cities.

Nickel, Nickel, Nickel — Diving Into Green Nickel With Talon Metals – by Zachary Shahan (Clean Technica – November 21, 2020)

November 23, 2020

https://cleantechnica.com/

As you may recall, several months ago, Tesla CEO Elon Musk expressed some rather strong interest in nickel, a need for nickel. I talked about the matter a bit with mineral mining and market experts at RK Equity — see here, here, and here. We’ve covered nickel in various other ways as well.

However, more recently, I connected with a top North American company in this arena and was lucky to get the opportunity to dig in much deeper. Below is an interview with Sean Werger, President of Talon Metals Corp., and Vince Conte, CFO of Talon Metals Corp. If nickel interests you, have a look!

1) Tesla CEO Elon Musk recently made a plea for nickel, but especially more “efficiently mined” nickel and environmentally friendly nickel. (“Wherever you are in the world, please mine more nickel and … go for efficiency, obviously environmentally-friendly nickel mining at high volume. Tesla will give you a giant contract for a long period of time, if you mine nickel efficiently and in an environmentally sensitive way.”) Regarding efficiency, what do you take that to mean? What is he implying?

How do cobalt and nickel stack up in race to dominate electric vehicle battery market? – by By David McKay (MiningMX – November 23, 2020)

November 23, 2020

Home 2024

THERE is agreement that battery metals of all stripes will benefit from the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs). According to a report by Morgan Stanley, the EV market will take a 26% slice of the total automotive market by 2030 from 3% today.

The question, however, is that given the pace of scientific development, which metals with battery application today will come to dominate in the future?

There are divided views, however, on the extent to which price changes will influence the usage of two key contenders: nickel and cobalt.

OPINION: Forget electric vehicles. Post-pandemic cities don’t need them – they are still cars – by Eric Reguly (Globe and Mail – November 21, 2020)

November 23, 2020

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

The Globe and Mail Future of Cities series showed how the pandemic might reshape Canada’s urban areas, probably for the better: fewer cars, more green space, a focus on community life, short travel times, the end with the obsession with single-family homes, among other goodies.

How does the electric vehicle (EV) fit into these scenarios? It shouldn’t, but it does.

The hype around EVs and their offspring, self-driving e-cars, is dazzling and relentless, and anyone who thinks they should not be part of the new urban mix is treated as a Luddite dotard with a romantic attachment to a convenient, but clapped-out and highly polluting, technology – the internal combustion engine.

Deep secrets: How Canada’s mining sector grabbed the global lead in mining electrification – by Emma Jarratt (Electric Autonomy Canada – November 19, 2020)

November 20, 2020

https://electricautonomy.ca/

Canada’s mining sector, one of the country’s oldest industries, is emerging as one of the brightest growth spots in the nation’s zero-emissions future, having developed a cluster of mines and mining expertise that is now leading the world in underground electrification.

While the mines themselves are mostly owned by global majors — principally Glencore, Vale and Newmont — every piece of the Canadian mining value chain, from manufacturers and engineers to miners and energy producers, is playing a key role. In an industry valued at $105 billion annually, responsible for 620,000 jobs, according to the Mining Association of Canada, that’s welcome news.

It means Canada is well positioned at a time when digging deep around the world is only getting trickier and many experts say the way forward is with battery electric machinery.

The transition to renewable energy relies on mining. Can it be done responsibly? – by Matt Simmons (The Narwhal – November 18, 2020)

November 19, 2020

The Narwhal

Demand for certain mined minerals is projected to increase exponentially in the coming decades. Experts warn responsible practices must be in place to reduce environmental and social impacts

It wasn’t long ago that the idea of a zero-emissions electric vehicle silently cruising the streets sounded like something out of The Jetsons. According to the International Energy Agency, there are now more than seven million electric cars on the roads and there could be as many as 245 million by 2030.

But each of those cars relies on a battery to get from point A to point B. And those batteries are made with minerals like lithium, graphite, cobalt and nickel — all of which are mined.

Mined materials are also necessary to make wind turbines and solar panels. This demand is creating something of an environmental conundrum.

Tesla Has a New Public Competitor in Power Storage – by Al Root and Nicholas Jasinski (Barron’s – November 17, 2020)

November 18, 2020

https://www.barrons.com/

Tesla has a new publicly traded competitor for its battery-based electricity-storage business. Eos Energy Enterprises completed its merger with a special-purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, on Monday, and began trading on Tuesday under the ticker EOSE.

Both companies offer the ability to store power produced by renewable but unpredictable assets such as solar power so that it can be used when demand is the highest.

Tesla (ticker: TSLA), of course, is best known as an electric-vehicle giant and the most valuable car company on the planet. But CEO Elon Musk believes battery storage will be a big business, too.