Battery Technology Innovation/Electric Vehicles – Page 97

Deep-Sea Mining Could Help Meet Demand for Critical Minerals, But Also Comes with Serious Obstacles (U.S. Government Accountability Office – December 16, 2021)

December 17, 2021

https://www.gao.gov/blog/

Deep below the sea lay critical minerals that are both high in value and demand. These critical minerals—such as cobalt, nickel, and manganese—are used in everyday devices like cellphones and cars. But they are hard to come by, and demand is expected to double or triple by 2030.

Because of this demand, interest has turned toward the deep ocean seabed, which contains vast quantities of critical and other minerals. Today’s WatchBlog post looks at our new Science & Tech Spotlight on deep-sea mining—how it works and its challenges.

Trudeau presses for Canada to become a critical mineral powerhouse – by Robert Fife and Bill Curry (Globe and Mail – December 17, 2021)

December 17, 2021

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wants to make Canada a global leader in the production of batteries for electric cars, and has asked for a review of investment legislation to protect industry from hostile foreign investors.

Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne will be working to unlock the country’s large rare-earth mineral deposits to put Canada at the forefront of supplying the world with these elements, vital to electric vehicles, smartphones, high-tech equipment and military hardware.

Serbia suspends lithium mine plans after protests – by Dusan Stojanovic (Associated Press – December 16, 2021)

December 16, 2021

https://apnews.com/

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Local authorities in western Serbia on Thursday suspended a plan that would allow mining giant Rio Tinto to operate a lithium mine, following protests by environmentalists that shook the country’s populist leadership.

The mining had been expected to start in the near future, but a town council in Loznica voted to suspend a regional development plan that permitted the excavation of lithium. The vote followed the suspension last week of two key laws in Serbia’s parliament that ecologists said would help the multinational mining company start the project.

Green-Energy Race Draws an American Underdog to Bolivia’s Lithium – by Clifford Krauss (New York Times – December 16, 2021)

December 16, 2021

https://www.nytimes.com/

SALAR DE UYUNI, Bolivia — The mission was quixotic for a small Texas energy start-up: Beat out Chinese and Russian industrial giants in unlocking mineral riches that could one day power tens of millions of electric vehicles.

A team traveled from Austin to Bolivia in late August to meet with local and national leaders at a government lithium complex and convince them that the company, EnergyX, had a technology that would fulfill Bolivia’s potential to be a global green-energy power. On arriving, they found that the conference they had planned to attend was canceled and that security guards blocked the location.

Sleepy Copper ETF Surges to $1.7 Billion Assets as EV Bets Boom – by Peyton Forte (Bloomberg News – December 15, 2021)

December 16, 2021

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — A once-sleepy copper fund is defying the stock market’s miserable month as investors bet the base metal will be a big winner amid the shift to renewables and a potential boom in electric vehicles.

The Global X Copper Miners ETF (ticker COPX) saw a record $196.1 million inflow during Tuesday’s broader selloff on inflation concerns, increasing the fund’s assets 13% to an all-time high of $1.68 billion.

Column: Europe’s green deal needs to get round anti-mining roadblock – by Andy Home (Reuters – December 16, 2021)

December 16, 2021

https://www.reuters.com/

LONDON, Dec 16 (Reuters) – Protesters took to the streets in Serbia again on Saturday. It was the third consecutive weekend of marches and road blockades against the government’s push to develop its mining sector.

Opposition groups have coalesced around one project in particular – Rio Tinto’s (RIO.L) proposed lithium mine in the Jadar Valley. In Portugal’s Serra d’Arga mountains lithium is also the target of environmental resistance, with five local mayors leading a demonstration in October to protest a mine project.

A crash course in Doug Ford’s love-hate relationship with electric vehicles – by Fatima Syed (The Narwhal – December 15, 2021)

December 16, 2021

https://thenarwhal.ca/

After the Progressive Conservatives pulled the plug on most of Ontario’s green vehicles, a couple power players stepped in with a plan. Now the government seems to be keying in

Ontario Power Generation, the province’s largest power generator, seriously started thinking about electric vehicles only five years ago.

Back then, Heather Ferguson recalls, charging stations across the province were few and poorly maintained. As the automotive and power industry started considering electrification more and more, OPG had an opportunity to “refresh” the charging infrastructure and think about the problem “in a whole new way.”

Managing the EV nickel pickle – by Andrew Digges and Steven Brown (Petroleum Economist – December 15, 2021)

December 15, 2021

https://pemedianetwork.com/

Global plans for decarbonisation are driving massive growth in electric vehicle uptake, but production of key battery metal comes with a problematic carbon footprint of its own

While there is no doubt that electric vehicles (EVs) will play a significant role in our global transition to net zero, the sector is facing a tricky conundrum that must be resolved: global decarbonisation will depend on an extensive transition across the world to the use of EVs, and the batteries that EVs use will require large volumes of refined nickel.

However, the mining and refining of nickel is itself affected by a number of important ESG issues, including a large carbon footprint.

Toyota to spend $35bn on electric push in effort to take on Tesla – by Eri Sugiura and Leo Lewis (Financial Times – December 14, 2021)

December 14, 2021

https://www.ft.com/

Toyota said it will pour $35bn into a shift towards electric vehicles as the world’s biggest carmaker sets itself up for direct rivalry with Tesla and joins other groups in a push for carbon neutrality.

It marks a major increase in its electric targets as it aims to sell 3.5m battery-powered vehicles annually by 2030, with the launch of 30 EV models by then in a line-up including sports cars and commercial vehicles.

Premier Doug Ford pitching Ontario as electric vehicle leader, but not reintroducing rebates – by Allison Jones (Canadian Press/Global News – December 13, 2021)

December 14, 2021

https://globalnews.ca/

TORONTO — Doug Ford is pitching Ontario as the next electric vehicle manufacturing powerhouse, seemingly a far cry from the premier who three years ago cancelled incentives for people to buy them.

Where some see contradiction, others see calculated election strategy. Shortly after coming to power in 2018, Ford’s government scrapped Ontario’s cap-and-trade system, and with it the electric vehicle rebates funded by that program.

Time 2021 PERSON OF THE YEAR: ELON MUSK – by Molly Ball, Jeffrey Kluger and Alejandro De La Garza (Time Magazine – December 2021)

December 13, 2021

https://time.com/

The richest man in the world does not own a house and has recently been selling off his fortune. He tosses satellites into orbit and harnesses the sun; he drives a car he created that uses no gas and barely needs a driver.

With a flick of his finger, the stock market soars or swoons. An army of devotees hangs on his every utterance. He dreams of Mars as he bestrides Earth, square-jawed and indomitable. Lately, Elon Musk also likes to live-tweet his poops.

“Just dropping some friends off at the pool,” the 50-year-old zillionaire informed his 66 million Twitter followers on the evening of Nov. 29, having previously advised that at least half his tweets were “made on a porcelain throne.” After an interval—21 minutes, if you must know—an update: “Splish splash.”

Geothermal brines in California’s Salton Sea could be future source of lithium in the US – by Valentina Ruiz Leotaud (Mining.com – December 12, 2021)

December 13, 2021

https://www.mining.com/

A literature review prepared by Berkeley Lab scientists found that geothermal brines in the Salton Sea region of California are expected to be a major source of domestic lithium for the United States in the future but that significant technical challenges have to be overcome.

One of the main obstacles is that brine is extremely hot when it comes out of the subsurface, and it contains a rich stew of many dissolved minerals in addition to lithium.

Thousands of Serbians block roads to protest lithium mine project (Al Jazeera.com – December 11, 2021)

December 13, 2021

https://www.aljazeera.com/

Protesters fear mining by multinational companies will cause huge damage to local environment.

Environmental protesters have blocked roads in Serbia for a third consecutive weekend to oppose plans for lithium mining, despite a bid by the country’s populist government to defuse the demonstrations by agreeing to the key demands of organisers.

Several thousand people braved rain and cold weather on Saturday to halt traffic in the capital, Belgrade, and in other cities and towns in the Balkan nation.

Mandatory EV sales quotas needed by end of next year: Guilbeault – by Mia Rabson (Canadian Press/Toronto Sun – December 10, 2021)

December 13, 2021

https://torontosun.com/

OTTAWA — Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault says he wants a national mandate that would force auto dealers to sell a certain number of electric vehicles to be in place by the end of next year.

Road transportation accounts for one-fifth of Canada’s total greenhouse-gas emissions. As Canada charts a path to net zero by 2050, eliminating carbon dioxide from passenger cars is a big part of the process.

Canada threatens U.S. with tariffs, partial suspension of CUSMA over electric vehicle tax credit – by Peter Zimonjic (CBC News Politics – December 10, 2021)

December 13, 2021

https://www.cbc.ca/

Deputy PM Chrystia Freeland and International Trade Minister Mary Ng made threat in letter to U.S. senators

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland has written to top U.S. senators threatening to suspend parts of the CUSMA trade agreement and impose tariffs on American goods unless U.S. officials back away from a proposed tax credit for American-built electric vehicles.

“We are deeply concerned that certain provisions of the electric vehicle tax credits as proposed in the Build Back Better Act violate the United States’ obligations under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement,” Freeland and International Trade Minister Mary Ng say in the letter.