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Critical minerals: price spikes are affecting Wind, Solar, Batteries, EVs

June 9, 2022 by Tae-Yoon Kim

A wide range of critical minerals are needed for the energy transition. Tae-Yoon Kim at the IEA summarises the reasons why we should expect this to be a year of price spikes due in the main to the Russia-Ukraine war and post-lockdown supply chain bottlenecks. So severe is the problem that the long record of declining costs in clean energy technologies like solar, wind, batteries and electric vehicles is being reversed. Although these crises will … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Energy, Resources Tagged With: aluminium, batteries, China, cobalt, copper, efficiency, EVs, innovation, lithium, minerals, nickel, palladium, prices, Russia, solar, Ukraine, uranium

Using atomic-scale imaging and AI to reduce Battery degradation

March 9, 2022 by Andrew Myers

Finding ways to extend a battery’s life starts with understanding why they degrade. Andrew Myers writing for Stanford University describes research there that is using new methods of high-resolution X-ray, electron and neutron microscopy to allow direct visualisation of battery materials at the nanoscale. Degradation is mostly caused by the expansion and contraction of the materials. The high resolution images are processed using AI to uncover … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Energy, Innovations, Storage Tagged With: AI, batteries, cobalt, degradation, electrodes, EVs, LFP, microscopy, nanoscale, nickel, storage

Critical minerals and materials: supply bottlenecks and risks need international cooperation

February 25, 2022 by Dolf Gielen, Martina Lyons, Francisco Boshell and Peter Chawah

The growth in demand for minerals and materials needed for the energy transition is putting a strain on supply. Mining and processing are the two key bottlenecks. Dolf Gielen, Martina Lyons, Francisco Boshell and Peter Chawah at IRENA summarise the multiple challenges. New capacity is not the only problem: the geographical concentration of where the mining and, in particular, the processing is being done is the primary risk. China’s dominance in … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Energy, Resources Tagged With: batteries, China, cobalt, critical, demand, EVs, grids, innovation, lithium, magnets, manganese, minerals, mining, nickel, prices, processing, solar, stockpiling, supply, wind

Critical Raw Materials for the energy transition: Europe must start mining again

January 10, 2022 by Frank Umbach

A ramp up of the supply of critical raw materials (CRMs) is essential for the world’s energy transition. Wind and solar, batteries, digitalisation, transport and hydrogen cannot meet their targets without it. The EU defines 30 minerals as critical. To give one example, the global deficits in lithium supplies could surge more than 60-fold to 950,000 tons by 2030. Frank Umbach at EUCERS takes a thorough look at the issue. Europe represented just 5% … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Energy, Policies, Resources Tagged With: batteries, China, cobalt, CRMs, Digitalisation, EU, Europe, hydrogen, lithium, magnesium, mining, recycling, solar, transport, Vanadium, wind

Is China really eyeing Afghanistan’s mineral resources?

September 2, 2021 by Lukas TrakimaviÄŤius

Press reports of China hoping to strike deals with the Taliban to secure mineral rights in Afghanistan are very likely to be an exaggeration, explains Lukas TrakimaviÄŤius. It’s true that China wants minerals essential to the clean energy transition and other technologies. It’s also true that Afghanistan has an abundance (copper, cobalt, lithium, rare earths, etc.), and they’re worth something of the order of $1tn. But it can take a decade to get … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Energy, Resources Tagged With: Afghanistan, China, cobalt, copper, lithium, logistics, minerals, mining, rareearths, Taliban, transport

Biden’s major report on critical minerals supply: domestic mining + processing, innovation, EVs, global allies + more

July 2, 2021 by Reed Blakemore

In June, The White House issued its 250-page report on the global critical minerals supply chain, and how the U.S. can ensure continued supply as well as build up its own mining and manufacturing base. It is the fullest picture so far of how the U.S. is evaluating mineral access and supply chain resilience, says Reed Blakemore at the Atlantic Council Global Energy Center. Here he reviews the report, in particular the section on energy which … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Energy, Storage, Transport and energy Tagged With: australia, batteries, Canada, China, cobalt, EU, Japan, lithium, manufacturing, minerals, mining, nickel, processing, storage, US

For energy security and waste reduction, EV battery manufacture in Europe is on the horizon

March 11, 2021 by Sam Hargreaves

Europe should have sufficient battery manufacture capacity for all its EV needs, explains Sam Hargreaves at T&E. Their report shows that Europe will not only achieve that capacity target this year itself, but has the ability to keep it up as EV sales continue to grow (460 GWh in 2025 and 700 GWh in 2030 of battery production in Europe). The report also stresses the major benefit of reduced waste. If manufacturers hit EU recycling targets, EV … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Energy, Transport and energy Tagged With: batteries, cobalt, EnergySecurity, EVs, innovation, lithium, metals, nickel, oil, recycling, storage, transport

Essential energy transition metals: “Eco-friendly” trawling of ocean floor could replace land mining

March 3, 2021 by James Conca

The availability of metals for raw materials has a make-or-break impact on the future of EVs, wind turbines and many other energy sector applications. The world needs 3bn EVs and 10tn kWh/yr more clean energy by 2040 to have any chance of achieving our climate goals. We need so much more that recycling what we already have won’t make a noticeable difference. Mining on land already has very serious negative environmental and social consequences. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Energy, Innovations Tagged With: cobalt, copper, EVs, manganese, metals, mining, nickel, recycling, turbines, wind

Create new laws to help bring Battery manufacturing to Europe

November 26, 2020 by Alex Keynes and Cecilia Mattea

Europe should start leading battery manufacturing instead of leaving it to China, argue Alex Keynes and Cecilia Mattea at Transport & Environment. With laws spreading across the continent to make electric vehicles compulsory for new car purchases, this is a growing and strategic market. But a firm grip on battery manufacture emissions, as well as ethical sourcing and recycling, has to be part of the plan. The authors give a template of what … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Energy, Storage Tagged With: batteries, China, cobalt, copper, emissions, emobility, EthicalSourcing, EVs, lithium, manufacturing, nickel, recycling, transport

Clean Energy threatened by lockdown of critical minerals supply

May 14, 2020 by Tae-Yoon Kim and Milosz Karpinski

Clean energy technologies depend on the reliable and growing supply of critical minerals and metals, far more so than the old fossil fuel world. An EV uses five times the quantity needed by a conventional car, and an onshore wind plant requires eight times that of a gas-fired plant of the same capacity. Hence, electric transport and grid storage are now the largest consumers of lithium and cobalt. Examples of rising consumption abound for other … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Energy, Investment, Renewables Tagged With: batteries, cobalt, copper, EVs, grids, lithium, neodymium, nickel, renewables, solar, wind

“All new vehicles sold must be electric by 2030” but can your nation, state, city do it?

March 3, 2020 by James Conca

More and more nations, states and cities are announcing plans for the ramping up of EV adoption. Jim Conca takes a look at his home, Washington State in the U.S., where all new vehicles sold must be electric by 2030. He says the new rules imply his state will have 4 million EVs on the road by 2045, up from 52,000 today. He carefully crunches the numbers to see if this target is realistic. The good news is that grid capacity will only need to rise … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Energy, Transport and energy Tagged With: batteries, cobalt, EnelX, EVs, grids, lithium, prices, SmartCharging, transport, US

Will Toyota’s new battery design solve the looming shortage of vital metals for renewables?

February 14, 2019 by Parakram Pyakurel

We all know the important part played by lithium in battery manufacture. But there is a longer list of metals - including copper, cobalt and neodymium – that must ramp up supply for the continued rapid growth of EVs, solar, wind and other renewables technologies. EVs alone will increase the consumption of copper nine-fold by 2027. Cobalt prices already doubled in 2017. Neodymium use will rise by 700% in the next few decades to satisfy our need … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Energy, Innovations, Renewables Tagged With: bio, cobalt, copper, EVs, neodymium, Prius, rare earth metals, renewables, solar, Toyota, transition, wind

Most read this week

  • Make Hydrogen in developing nations: share prosperity while meeting our climate goals by Dolf Gielen | posted on January 26, 2023
  • 10 Carbon Capture methods compared: costs, scalability, permanence, cleanness by Ella Adlen | posted on November 11, 2019
  • Can new cheap, frequent “laser” monitoring of critical components extend Nuclear plant lifetimes by decades? by David Chandler | posted on February 1, 2023
  • Wind and Solar generated record 20% of EU electricity in 2022. More than gas, nuclear, hydro, coal by Daisy Dunne | posted on February 3, 2023
  • Micro-nuclear reactors: up to 20MW, portable, safer by Christina Nunez | posted on April 22, 2021
  • The U.S. should support the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) by Joseph Majkut | posted on January 30, 2023
  • Utah: 140MW Geothermal bid can beat the cost and performance of the proposed Nuclear SMR by Dennis Wamsted | posted on January 27, 2023
  • EU Energy Outlook to 2060: how will power prices and revenues develop for wind, solar, gas, hydrogen + more by Alex Schmitt | posted on December 6, 2022
  • Biofuel is approaching a feedstock crunch. How bad? And what must be done? by IEA | posted on January 23, 2023
  • EU ETS and CBAM: what the big update to emissions trading rules means for Europe’s key sectors by Simon Göss | posted on January 16, 2023
  • Can Aluminium-air batteries outperform Li-ion for EVs? by Helena Uhde | posted on September 8, 2021
  • Steel decarbonisation: Australia must stop making excuses and follow Europe’s lead by Simon Nicholas | posted on February 2, 2023
  • What’s best for Hydrogen transport: ammonia, liquid hydrogen, LOHC or pipelines? by Herib Blanco | posted on May 5, 2022
  • Wind (and Solar) need their own Financial Transmission Rights to hedge their unique congestion risks by James Kim | posted on January 31, 2023
  • Gravity Batteries: any nation can do it at scale using rocks by Simon Read | posted on July 27, 2022
  • Hydrogen production in 2050: how much water will 74EJ need? by Herib Blanco | posted on July 22, 2021
  • Concrete: 8% of global emissions and rising. Which innovations can achieve net zero by 2050? by Ben Skinner | posted on January 24, 2023
  • Why hydrogen fuel cell cars are not competitive — from a hydrogen fuel cell expert by Zachary Shahan | posted on June 17, 2016
  • Smart Glasses: experts can monitor and advise on power plant inspections anywhere in the world by Christoph Gatzen | posted on January 25, 2023
  • The 10 big problems with simply replacing fossil cars with electric by Schalk Cloete | posted on December 6, 2021

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        Recent Posts

        Wind and Solar generated record 20% of EU electricity in 2022. More than gas, nuclear, hydro, coal

        Steel decarbonisation: Australia must stop making excuses and follow Europe’s lead

        Can new cheap, frequent “laser” monitoring of critical components extend Nuclear plant lifetimes by decades?

        Wind (and Solar) need their own Financial Transmission Rights to hedge their unique congestion risks

        The U.S. should support the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM)

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