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🗞️ Driving the news: A New Zealand company, CarbonScape, is transforming woodchips into synthetic graphite for electric vehicle (EV) batteries, offering a sustainable alternative to traditional graphite source
• This innovation, dubbed 'biographite,' utilizes forestry by-products and a thermo-catalytic graphitisation process to produce battery-grade graphite, aiming to reduce dependency on Chinese graphite supplies and mitigate environmental impact
🔭 The context: Traditional synthetic graphite production relies on fossil fuels, emitting significant CO2, while natural graphite extraction harms communities and ecosystem
• CarbonScape's biographite process, on the other hand, captures carbon, turning a potential waste product into a valuable resource for the booming EV market, and potentially revolutionizing the battery supply chain with a climate-positive material
🌍 Why it matters for the planet: Biographite production is not only more environmentally friendly but also supports the reduction of carbon emissions by using renewable feedstocks and potentially situating production close to battery manufacturers
• This innovation aligns with global efforts to find sustainable alternatives for critical materials in lithium-ion batteries, contributing to the reduction of the carbon footprint associated with EV production and use
⏭️ What's next: With the backing of significant investments, CarbonScape aims to scale up biographite production in Europe and the US
• This development could help meet the growing demand for graphite in the EV and grid-scale battery sectors, while also reducing Western dependence on China for battery materials, addressing supply chain vulnerabilities and environmental concerns
💬 One quote: "Utilising these widely available, sustainable feedstocks to make our product captures carbon that would otherwise have been emitted when they rotted," (Ivan Williams, CarbonScape CEO)
📈 One stat: CarbonScape's technology can remove the equivalent of 2.7 tonnes of carbon emissions for every tonne of biographite produced, showcasing its potential as a significant contributor to sustainable battery production
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