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Making Fuel Cells cheap enough for mainstream use: can Cobalt nanoparticles replace Platinum as catalysts?

November 22, 2023 by Tsun-Kong Sham and Ali Feizabadi

Fuel cells could be a game-changer in decarbonisation. They efficiently convert chemical energy into electricity with only water and heat as byproducts. One of the most promising types is the PEMFC (polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell) because of its applications in transportation, as well as stationary power sources. But it can’t go mainstream until the costs come down, specifically the platinum catalysts. Platinum is scarce and expensive. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Energy, Innovations, Renewables Tagged With: catalysts, cobalt, decarbonisation, EVs, fuelcells, palladium, PEM, platinum, transport

Resource nationalism is not the United States’ biggest minerals problem

October 23, 2023 by Gracelin Baskaran and Cy McGeady

A growing number of resource-rich nations are planning to restrict exports of unprocessed raw materials, explain Gracelin Baskaran and Cy McGeady at CSIS. Currently, a significant proportion of critical minerals are exported to China for processing, giving it monopoly power in the value chain. If countries like the DRC, Namibia, Ghana, Zimbabwe, and Indonesia instead processed their own raw materials they would create skilled jobs and industries … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Energy, Policies, Resources Tagged With: China, cobalt, copper, CriticalMinerals, DRC, Ghana, Indonesia, industry, lithium, Namibia, processing, uranium, US, Zimbabwe, Zinc

Circular Battery Economy: what policies and processes can accelerate recycling and reuse?

July 18, 2023 by Marie McNamara

As battery production scales up so do the risks of the long global supply chain failing, or causing more emissions, damaging the environment, and breaching human rights. A circular battery economy should greatly reduce those risks. Yet the U.S. has no federal recycling mandates or requirements for lithium-ion batteries, and state policies are inconsistent. Marie McNamara at RMI maps out the five critical issues that must be dealt with. Before … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Energy, Storage Tagged With: batteries, circular, cobalt, Environment, EU, humanrights, lithium, nickel, recycling, reuse, SKorea, storage, transparency, transport, US, waste

“Battery Passports”: ensuring environmental sustainability, decarbonisation and mining labour rights

July 13, 2023 by Benedikt Sobotka and Robin Zeng

With battery production taking off, concerns are focussed on environmental sustainability, carbon footprint and labour rights where the raw materials are mined. Benedikt Sobotka, Co-Chair at the Global Battery Alliance and Robin Zeng, CEO at Chinese manufacturer Contemporary Amperex Technology, writing for WEF, describe the concept of the digital “battery passport” where compliance with the rules is certified and monitored throughout the life … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Energy, Storage Tagged With: batteries, certification, China, cobalt, copper, digital, EU, EVs, industry, JustTransition, lithium, mining, sustainability, transport

Can Phytomining deliver Critical Minerals at scale: farming plants that accumulate high metal concentrations

May 10, 2023 by Maria Krol-Sinclair and Thomas Hale

Both Europe and the U.S. are making plans to secure supplies of critical minerals as the transition gains pace. Domestic mining or securing import deals with close allies is the main focus. Here, Maria Krol-Sinclair and Thomas Hale at CSIS review the prospects for a new method that will require neither: phytomining. Some plants, called hyperaccumulators, soak up high concentrations of metals into their leaves, bark, and roots. These plants can … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Energy, Innovations Tagged With: agriculture, batteries, cobalt, CriticalMinerals, EVs, farming, hyperaccumulators, metals, nickel, phytomining, RareEarthElements, regulations, selenium, US

LIBRA: modelling sustainable Battery supply chains as Grids and EVs scale up

May 3, 2023 by Rebecca Martineau

Sustainable battery manufacture needs supply chains that minimise gaps and maximise resilience. Rebecca Martineau at NREL describes their Lithium-Ion Battery Resource Assessment Model (LIBRA) that guides investments and research to make sure the growth of grid storage and EV batteries continues uninterrupted. LIBRA tracks the movement of lithium, cobalt, nickel and other elements through the supply chain, and is designed to adapt to … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Energy, Storage Tagged With: batteries, cobalt, EVs, investment, lithium, nickel, recycling, storage, SupplyChains, sustainability

Critical Minerals: will there be enough to meet the 2050 net-zero emissions target?

March 14, 2023 by Lilly Yejin Lee and James Glynn

If the production and processing of critical minerals cannot keep up with the accelerating adoption of batteries, EVs, wind turbines and solar PV technologies, the pace and success of the global energy system transformation will be put at risk. In this explainer, Lilly Yejin Lee and James Glynn at the Center on Global Energy Policy, Columbia University address the big questions, drawing on the data underlying the IEA’s “The Role of Critical … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Energy, Resources Tagged With: australia, batteries, Chile, China, chromium, cobalt, copper, critical, DRC, EVs, graphite, IEA, lithium, manganese, minerals, netzero, nickel, processing, production, REEs, silicon, solar, SouthAfrica, turbines, wind, Zinc

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

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      Recent Posts

      What does cutting-edge Smart Metering look like as Grids become increasingly complex?

      EU Energy Outlook to 2060: power prices and revenues predicted for wind, solar, gas, hydrogen + more

      How to manage price risk as the EU shifts from Russian Gas to Renewables

      Carbon Footprints for every product: the need for sector-specific, comprehensive granular data and accounting

      Improved “Solar Thermochemical” process captures 40% of the sun’s heat to produce Green Hydrogen

      Italy: 71 GWh of additional Grid Storage required by 2030 says Terna

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