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Critical metals, such as cobalt and lithium, are essential for the green transition. However, citizens' awareness of critical raw materials is low, which may affect their attitudes towards, and acceptance of, mining activities.

Tech Xplore

Researchers assess EU citizens' attitudes toward critical metals and mining technologies

China dominates the global supply chain for lithium-ion batteries. Now rival countries are scrambling for more control over “white oil.”

Wired

The World Can’t Wean Itself Off Chinese Lithium

It wants to increase its stake in Keliber to 50% plus one share and is offering to buy minority shareholders out to reach a 80% ownership.

Mining.com

Sibanye-Stillwater seeks control of Finnish lithium miner

In recent years, engineers worldwide have been trying to devise new battery and energy storage technologies that are more sustainable and cost-effective. One of the solutions attracting particular interest is sodium-based battery technology.

Team creates anode-free Na batteries with high energy densities and long cycle lifetimes

After emerging victorious from the “fierce battle” with BHP and closing the acquisition of Noront in April, Wyloo is wasting no time. 

Post Noront takeover, Wyloo gets to work on Ring of Fire assets

Costs for electric vehicle components like lithium and nickel are soaring, which translate into price hikes of popular EVs from Tesla, GM and Ford.


Observer

Gas Prices Are Surging But the Cost of Owning Electric Vehicles Is Rising Even Faster

In a new comprehensive literature review, researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) discovered that alternatives to recycling may have untapped potential to build an effective circular economy for solar photovoltaic (PV) and battery technologies. These alternative strategies, such as reducing the use of virgin materials in manufacturing, reusing for new applications, and extending product life spans, may provide new paths to building sustainable product life cycles.

Analysis highlights strategies beyond recycling to bolster circular economy for solar and battery technologies

Zeng Yuqun is China’s most prolific battery billionaire. His ascent has major implications for a world increasingly reliant on electric vehicles.

The Rise and Precarious Reign of China’s Battery King

Cheaper and far more abundant than lithium, sodium is increasingly appealing as a foundation for a next generation of high-voltage rechargeable batteries. Development of commercially viable sodium ion batteries lags significantly behind that of lithium batteries, which were widely adopted in the 1990s. But researchers worldwide aim to change that with the hope of eventually creating a more economical alternative to lithium. Advances in sodium ion battery performance could eventually lead to more widespread renewable energy adoption in power grids and drive down the cost of electric vehicles.

A new approach leads to better sodium ion battery

Sayona Quebec has formally approved the restart of spodumene concentrate production at the North American Lithium (NAL) project near La Corne, Que. [&#8230;]

Sayona, Piedmont approve NAL restart in Q1 2023

Robert Friedland's exploration and development company owns properties in Arizona, Utah and Montana. It also has a battery storage business.

Ivanhoe Electric shares fall in debut after $169 million IPO

Among post-lithium-ion battery technologies, rechargeable magnesium (Mg) batteries utilizing divalent Mg2+ as charge carriers are expected to offer substantial improvements in volumetric energy density and sustainability of batteries.

Unheeded failure mechanism of magnesium metal anode

Thanks to the renewables boom, the limiting factor of the energy revolution is not power supply as much as power storage these days. Cleaner, greener batteries are needed to charge cars, ebikes and devices for longer.

Salt and a battery: Smashing the limits of power storage

With global sales of new energy vehicles hitting new highs, the price of lithium, a rare metal used in battery raw materials, has soared. In response to the soaring price of lithium, Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer BYD is rumored to have found six lithium mines in Africa and has reached acquisition agreements. The mines are expected to meet its battery demand for the next 10 years

Energy Trend

Battery Lithium Prices Soar! 

Researchers are using electrochemical exfoliation to turn petroleum coke into graphene.

Coke may be a sustainable source of graphene

Widgie Nickel emerged from a trading halt Monday to rocket higher after the Perth-based company released assays from its Mt Edwards Project in Western Australia. 

Nickel junior shoots up 50% after high-grade discovery

Inomin's inaugural 2021 drilling program at Beaver generated a significant discovery of high-grade magnesium and other critical minerals including nickel, chromium, and cobalt.

UBC tests carbon-capture potential of Inomin’s Beaver critical minerals project

Next-generation batteries have long been heralded as a transition toward more sustainable storage technology. Now, the need to enable these lithium-ion alternatives is more pressing than ever.

Nature

Time for lithium-ion alternatives

This week’s Current Climate, which every Saturday brings you the latest news about the business of sustainability.

Forbes

More Offshore Wind, Tesla’s ‘Money Furnaces’ And Green Hydrogen In Coal Country

Taibai Li, Xiang Ge, and their colleagues from School of Materials and Metallurgy, Guizhou University have reported the efficient closed-loop recycling of the cathode material lithium cobalt oxide (LCO) of lithium-ion batteries employing ChCl:OA type deep eutectic solvent. The ultrafast leaching process can be achieved in 10 s at 180 ℃, and a nearly 100% leaching rate can be achieved in 2 h at 90 ℃, which meets the requirements of mild and efficient reaction process design.

Closed-loop cobalt recycling from spent lithium-ion batteries based on a deep eutectic solvent

The amount corresponds to the second tranche of an £18 million ($22m) funding package agreed with TechMet in November.

Cornish Lithium secures further $11m for UK project

One major problem for lithium markets is the pricing model, there is no futures market which means spot prices are soaring but do not represent most lithium that is being sold.


Oil Price

Will Soaring Lithium Prices Spark Demand Destruction?

Investment will fund research and mapping of areas with potential for critical minerals to strengthen key domestic supply chains.

US allots $74 million to critical minerals mapping

No bottom in sight for lithium stocks even as Pilbara Minerals concentrate auction sets new record price above $7,000 a tonne.

Lithium stocks rout continues despite fresh hard rock price record

Shares of E3 Lithium surged over 30% on news of the Imperial Oil investment.

E3 Lithium, Imperial Oil to collaborate on pilot project in Alberta

Lithium Power is merging with its JV partners in the Maricunga project in Chile to become the asset’s sole owner.

Lithium Power to become sole owner of Chile project

Ruling ends string of litigation for one of copper-nickel project's key permits.

Minnesota Court of Appeals dismisses challenge to PolyMet air permit

The MacLean battery electric vehicle (BEV) fleet at Onaping will consist of support vehicles for explosives charging, secondary reduction, shotcrete spraying, concrete transport, and utility vehicles.

MacLean to supply BEVs for Glencore’s Sudbury nickel operations

Electra has been focused on creating North America's first integrated battery materials park near the town of Cobalt, Ontario.

Electra begins preliminary talks on second cobalt refinery

The increased uptake of electric vehicles (EVs) and home batteries comes with its own environmental and sustainability problem—what to do with the batteries at the end of their lifespan?

Solving the problem of battery waste

Redwood is adding Toyota to a growing list of global automakers it’s working with and will be recycling and refurbishing batteries from the Prius and other hybrid models.

Toyota Partners With Tesla Cofounder’s Redwood Materials To Recycle Prius, EV Batteries

An international team, which included Skoltech researchers and their colleagues from France, the United States, and Switzerland, found out why energy losses occur during the charge-discharge cycle in lithium-ion batteries with cathodes made from complex lithium-rich oxides of transition metals. Published in Nature Materials, the new study shows that the difference in the charge-discharge operating voltage leading to low energy efficiency is due to long-lived kinetically hindered intermediate species of nickel.

Chemists pin down the cause for energy losses in high-capacity lithium-ion battery cathodes

Australia’s Core Lithium is expected to supply Tesla with up to 110,000 tonnes of spodumene concentrate over four years.

Tesla lithium supplier targets first shipment by year-end

The new MOA between FPX and the Binche Society formalizes protocols for continuing the co-operative working relationship established regarding exploration and development activities.

FPX, Indigenous partner sign MOA for Decar nickel project in British Columbia

Involving Phobos may increase the profitability of mining the Main Belt of asteroids for iron, precious metals, water, or other valuable materials.

Martian moon could be crucial for asteroid mining

India is about to embark on a new revolution. It’s all the way in the automobile industry this time, with electric vehicles (EVs) becoming the nation’s favourite.

The Times of India

How Lithium Batteries are the ‘Future of India’

Inside practically every electric vehicle (EV) is a lithium-ion battery that depends on several key minerals that help power it.

Visual Capitalist

The Key Minerals in an EV Battery

Fundamental mispricing has generated an outsized supply response well ahead of the demand trend.

3 Reasons Goldman Sachs Is Wrong About Lithium

Ties to potentially coercive labor practices could prove a problem for an industry that is heavily dependent on China, once a new law barring Xinjiang products goes into effect.

The New York Times

Red Flags for Forced Labor Found in China’s Car Battery Supply Chain

A new study by Stanford University researchers lights a path forward for building better, safer lithium-metal batteries.

New mathematical model offers potential solutions for next-generation battery challenges

The Wyoming Innovation Center is a place for companies and researchers to work on developing asphalt, graphene, graphite, agricultural char, and carbon fibre, and extract rare earths from coal and coal byproducts.

New Wyoming facility to boost extraction of REEs from coal

Should the European Commission take this decision, it may undermine the EU's energy security.


Energy Transition Goals At Risk As EU May Label Lithium As Toxic

Every day, Americans see more battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) on the road. According to Fortune Business Insights, the market for electric vehicles in the U.S. is expected to grow from $28.24 billion in 2021 to $137.43 billion in 2028. The reasons for the switch from internal-combustion-engine vehicles to BEVs are compelling: EVs are cleaner for the environment, cheaper to operate and offer the chance to breeze by gas stations currently selling fuel at $5 per gallon nationally.

Study shows electric vehicles could be charged on the go via peer-to-peer system

The world's largest miners are in excellent financial shape to lead global transition to clean energy, says PwC.

Miners must invest in critical minerals or risk energy transition

There is now evidence of a new carbon solid called "amorphous graphite."

Researchers better understand chances of making graphite from coal

Glencore expects adjusted operating profit to exceed $3.2bn for the first half of the year amid "unprecedented" market environment.

Glencore trading profit poised for best-ever year

Adding a thin layer of certain metals to the electrolyte surface helps extend battery life and enables fast charging.

Researchers figure out how to make solid-state batteries charge faster, last longer

Alsym Energy, a seven-year-old Massachusetts startup, aims to halve the cost of electric vehicle batteries with a new design that eliminates lithium and cobalt, two increasingly costly ingredients in many current EV batteries, the company said on Wednesday.

Reuters

EV battery startup Alsym aims to slash cost, eliminate lithium and cobalt

There has been a major breakthrough in batteries. Dalhousie University from Canada has developed a new variant to the lithium nickel manganese cobalt battery, which can last for a century.

New Lithium Nickel Manganese Cobalt Battery has a Century of Lifespan?

A new study shows how a magnetic material can be used to help monitor the amount of life left in a rechargeable battery before it needs to be recharged.

Magnetic material could help monitor battery life

Battery | Battery Metals

Magnets are valuable components. Although functional magnet recycling methods have been developed in recent years, they have not yet been applied in practice and magnets continue to be melted down into steel scrap. Researchers at the Fraunhofer Research Institution for Materials Recycling and Resource Strategies IWKS provide good arguments for why this should change in the future. Their FUNMAG project demonstrates that recycled magnets can be used to power engines in the e-mobility sector, without any loss of power. It also shows that establishing a value chain for large-scale magnet recycling will pay off.

Magnet recycling pays off

Northeast German DSO Mitnetz Strom and Volkswagen subsidiary Elli have launched a nationwide electric vehicle (EV) grid integration pilot.

Smart Energy International

Smart grid integration of EVs pilots in Germany

Federal climate change and energy minister Chris Bowen has left open the possibility the Albanese government could introduce stronger vehicle performance standards, as part of efforts to boost the uptake of electric vehicles.

The Driven

Labor leaves path open to stricter vehicle efficiency standards to support EV push

One of Europe’s biggest automakers warned after a landmark deal to phase out combustion engines that the industry is doomed unless electric vehicles get less expensive.

Bloomberg

Stellantis Warns of Car Market Collapse If EVs Don’t Get Cheaper

The big knock against electric vehicles has always been about their range, so much so the term “range anxiety” became a part of the electric vehicle lexicon

What Range Anxiety? Mercedes' Vision EQXX EV Goes 747 Miles On A Single Charge

Success in the ongoing energy transition will require development of an array of solutions to satisfy a variety of applications. One U.S. company, Cummins, is working to provide such solutions in the transportation sector.

Cummins Strives To Meet The Challenge Of A Complex Energy Transition

EVs haven’t always been cool but now they’re bonafide celeb magnets. Just ask Kylie Jenner

London Evening Standard

How green became the new black

Government climate advisers propose tax system to cover fuel duty shortfall

The Telegraph

Electric cars could pay tax by the mile

Automakers are breaking new ground when it comes to speed and range. Their latest concept models offer an exciting glimpse into possible vehicles of the future - from a Mercedes-Benz that can go more than 1,000 km on one charge to a “Batmobile” setting new records on the racetrack.

Euronews

The EVs of the future smashing speed and distance records

CATL’s Qilin battery features a whole-new design and manufacturing process; the battery is not only compatible with two types of cathode materials but, most importantly, boasts largely enhanced energy density.

CATL Announces New EV Battery with Record-High Energy Density and 1,000+ km Range

Can it just be a coincidence that Volkswagen's long-delayed ID.Aero concept car is finally being revealed just before Hyundai shows its Ioniq6 EV?

Volkswagen Goes After Tesla, Benz EQE With Mid-Sized, 385-Mile ID.Aero Concept

Startups and major carmakers are starting to incorporate solar panels on their electric vehicles, an addition that extends the range of the cars even if perpetual motion remains a dream.

Range extenders: solar panels provide more juice to EVs

Environmentalists welcomed the European Union (EU) decision to ban the sale of new internal combustion engine (ICE) powered cars and SUVs by 2035, but the auto industry warned the policy wouldn't work without a huge investment in the charging network.


Greens Laud New EU ICE Ban, But Manufacturers Demand Fast Charger Action

The European Union approved a plan to end the sale of vehicles with combustion engines by 2035 in Europe, the 27-member bloc announced early Wednesday, in a bid to reduce CO2 emissions to zero.

EU approves end of combustion engine sales by 2035

Electric conversion can extend life of classic vehicle ‘by 200,000 miles’

The Independent

‘Drop-in’ kit converts old Land Rovers into fully electric vehicles

The number of electric cars registered in London increased by 60 per cent last year, but the public infrastructure is not keeping up

London’s electric car postcode lottery: which are the best and worst boroughs to find a charging point?

SMMT warns that higher energy prices will add £100mn to industry costs this year 

Financial Times

Electric vehicle drive puts 22,000 UK jobs at risk, warns industry

Electric vehicles (EV) can be considered a boost to carbon reduction but the electricity that needs to be used must come from green energy that does not produce carbon emissions. 

Supply Chain Raw Material Issues and Competition From EV Industry Impedes Progress of Energy Storage construction in US

Japan is pushing to remove a target for zero-emission vehicles from a G7 communique expected this week, according to a proposed draft seen by Reuters, a move that would water down language on climate change from the leaders’ summit in Germany.



Financial Post

Japan pushes to remove zero-emission vehicle target from G7 statement, draft shows

Across Canada, the wait times for EVs can be between 12 and 18 months, said Joanna Kyriazis, clean transportation program manager for Clean Energy Canada, a think tank based out of Simon Fraser University.

National Observer 

Gas prices have you thirsting for an EV? Good luck — they’re like unicorns

Ferrari and Lamborghini are trying to design battery-powered cars that inspire the same devotion as their costly internal combustion models.

Icons of Italian Automotive Style Struggle to Go Electric

China Billionaire Trio’s Xinyi Solar, Xinyi Glass Warn Of Profit Drop; Stocks Slide

Two industry heavyweights, one a carmaker and the other a tech company have collaborated to create a new company to produce electric vehicles. Honda and Sony announced earlier this month that they formed Sony Honda Mobility Inc. with plans to start EV sales and mobility services from 2025.


Honda And Sony Announce Joint Venture To Build Electric Vehicles

EO, a British provider of electric vehicle charging to companies such as Amazon and Tesco, is close to securing private funds to back its expansion into the EU and US after a failed attempt to float in the US through a Spac.


Car charging start-up EO dumps Spac for private funding

In other news, Stellantis demonstrates wireless charging tech that transfers energy from road infrastructure to EVs, Toyota defies shareholder pressure to step up electrification efforts, and Volkswagen threatens to dethrone Tesla on EV sales by 2024.

PV Magazine

The mobility rEVolution: Charging on the go via peer-to-peer system to reduce range anxiety

Can the cost of EVs match that of conventional fuel-powered vehicles in a year? The road is long yet

Business Standard

The race for price parity between EVs and conventional vehicles in India

From 15.9% market share for plugin vehicles in Ireland to 86.1% market share for plugin vehicles in Norway, those countries are racing into the mass market stage of new tech adoption.

CleanTechnica

Market Share Growth In 16 Lagging European Countries

Extending EV tax exemptions could help bolster sales in the auto sector.China is reportedly mulling more tax breaks for electric vehicles, just months after it was widely thought that Beijing would be phasing out subsidies for EVs.


China Considers Extending EV Tax Breaks

A new battery from Contemporary Amperex Technology Co Ltd promises to resolve one of the chief complaints that drivers have with electric vehicles: battery range.


New EV Battery Boasts 1,000km Range

Auto makers mark up electric vehicles to offset rising battery-material costs and capitalize on the interest caused by higher gas prices

The Wall Street Journal

Tesla, Ford and GM Raise EV Prices as Costs, Demand Grow

The standard was formulated considering real-life scenarios such as EV parked vehicle (battery is not used for an extended period of time), battery running at high and low temperatures

BIS formulates standard for EV batteries following spate of fire incidents

The hottest electric cars in the US market aren’t coming from Tesla factories. All eyes are on Hyundai’s Ioniq 5 and the Kia EV6.



Sorry Elon Musk. Hyundai Is Quietly Dominating the EV Race

Is it a genuine push toward a cleaner—and safer—nation?

Foreign Policy

Nepal’s Big EV Bet

Tesla has had a lot of success in China’s megacities for years, but it is now rapidly expanding to other more remotes regions throughout the country. Indeed, one small mountain town in Yunnan province is now nicknamed “Tesla village”.

World Economic Forum

How electric vehicles are the new frontier of China’s rural economy

Makers of the €250,000 Lightyear 0 hope to convince drivers it can be a viable climate-friendly alternative. Winding past the ochre-coloured plateaux of the Bardenas Reales natural park in northern Spain, Roel Grooten nudged me to take my foot off the accelerator. 

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