Even though automakers like Volkswagen AG, Tesla Inc and other electric-focused automakers and battery manufacturers are investing billions on research & development (R&D) in the new technologies, they still must rely on imports of the minerals needed.
According to many lawmakers and government agencies, a major push is needed to develop more domestic mining and manufacturing facilities, reports Reuters.
China is the dominant force to contend with in the electric vehicle supply chain, producing nearly two-thirds of the globe’s lithium-ion batteries. Here in the U.S., we produce about 5 percent of the batteries, forcing automakers to look overseas.
With U.S. imports of lithium nearly doubling since 2014, government officials are now looking for ways to fast-track battery production, reports The Hill.
China also controls most of the world’s lithium processing facilities, according to data from Benchmark Minerals Intelligence. Benchmark tracks the pricing of lithium and other minerals and is organizing the Washington, D.C., event.
Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and John Hoeven (R-N.D.), both members of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and officials from the departments of State, Energy, and the Interior as well as the U.S. Geological Survey have been invited to attend the May meetings.
Simon Moores, managing director of Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, testified February 5 before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Moores said that the future of renewable hinges heavily on the electric battery. “And we’re in a global battery race which the U.S. is now only a bystander in,” Moores said.
A year ago, when Moores testified before the committee, there were only 17 lithium battery supply chains active around the world. Today, that number has grown to 70 internationally controlled supply chains.
And not to leave out other essential minerals needed for the electric car and battery supply chain – there is graphite, cobalt, and nickel that must be mined and refined before distribution. “The U.S. controls none of the mining involved with nickel, cobalt and graphite [around the world] and less than 1-percent of lithium,” Moores said.
“The question is: does the U.S. want a role or does the U.S. have a role in global energy storage solutions?” Moores said, noting later that there was no discussion on the environmental impacts to opening refineries in the U.S. Even though increasing mining interests in the country was discussed at length, there was no testimony on how such development might affect the environment.
No environmentalists have been invited to the May meetings, either.
“We need to find ways to more efficiently develop our nation’s domestic critical mineral supply because these resources are vital to both our national security and our economy,” North Dakota Senator John Hoeven, a member of the Senate’s Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said in a statement to Reuters when asked about the meeting.
“There’s a real opportunity in the electric vehicle supply chain if the United States wakes up,” said Jonathan Evans, president of Lithium Americas, which is developing a lithium project in Nevada expected to open by 2022.
What has happened to the recycling of vital minerals?
On January 17, US Energy Secretary Rick Perry announced: “America’s dependence on foreign sources of critical materials undermines our energy security and national security. DOE will leverage the power of competition and the resources of the private sector, universities, and the National Laboratories to develop innovative recycling technologies, which will bolster economic growth, strengthen our energy security, and improve the environment.”
Perry’s announcement was in response to the President’s Executive Order 13817, dated December 29, 2017. The executive order identified the need for “developing critical minerals recycling and reprocessing technologies” as part of a broader strategy to “ensure secure and reliable supplies of critical minerals.”
Interestingly, China recycles over 66 percent of its lithium-ion batteries, or 191,000 tons annually, and has created a fast-growing e-waste recycling industry. If and when North America and Europe ever get moving in developing recycling technologies, China will have already gained the competitive edge in proven technology and available capacity.
