The Elements of Innovation Discovered
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Li-Bridge alliance unveils blueprint to build resilient US lithium battery supply chain. A wide chasm lies between where the United States is today and securing the lithium battery mineral resources and manufacturing capacity required to achieve ambitious visions of a green energy future where electric vehicles are charged with low-carbon energy. An alliance of America's national laboratories and more than 40 companies representing the entire lithium battery supply chain have...
Electric vehicles are a major player in the decarbonization of the global transport sector. The industry is under pressure to seek the shortest, most profitable route to a renewable future, which puts its most expensive asset – battery production – at risk of potentially redistributing rather than neutralizing carbon usage. Nowhere is this pressure more acute than in the growing demand for a more sustainable and scalable battery lifecycle. Due to roughly 15 years of ope...
Global automaker signs deal to buy future cobalt and nickel from early-staged projects at historical mines in southern Norway. To help ensure that it has future supplies of the nickel and cobalt that will be needed for the electric vehicles produced by Alfa Romero, Maserati, Peugeot, and its other European brands, Stellantis has signed an offtake agreement to buy 35% of the future nickel sulfate and cobalt sulfate produced from Kuniko Ltd.'s mineral exploration projects in Nor...
With the world-class deposits already found within its borders, the United States has the potential to be a major global producer of copper, lithium, and the other minerals and metals critical to the clean energy transition. Realizing this potential, however, will require reserves of political will in Washington, DC, that match the nation's domestic energy metals endowment, according to R Street Institute. "Despite political rhetoric and policies promoting the use of domestic...
With mining for critical minerals like cobalt embattled on many fronts, the preference for fair trade options, need for source transparency, and massive investments in battery recycling infrastructure are being keenly felt. To meet demand, two ReSource electric vehicle (EV) battery passport pilots were successfully issued in January by the Global Battery Alliance (GBA) and its founding consortium of China Molybdenum (CMOC) mining group, Eurasian Resources Group (ERG),...
Global automaker signs deal to buy EV battery metals from future mine. In a deal that shows that global automakers need more battery materials to meet their electric vehicle ambitions than is currently available, Stellantis has signed a binding offtake agreement for nickel and cobalt from a Western Australia mine that has yet to be developed and is investing directly into the junior mining company behind the development project. Under the deal, Stellantis has agreed to...
Mercedes-Benz says it will follow its supply chains all the way back to the mines, if that is what it takes to ensure that the lithium and cobalt going into its rapidly expanding line of electric vehicles is produced with high environmental and human rights standards. "Our aspiration is very clear – we want our products to contain only raw materials that have been mined and produced without human rights violations," said Renata Jungo Brüngger, a board member of both Me...
In a move to fund research and build alliances across America's lithium battery supply chain, the U.S. Department of Energy is providing $209 million for 26 new national laboratory research projects focused on electric vehicles and the next generation of advanced batteries that will power them. "President Biden's administration wants to make it easier for millions of American families and businesses to make the switch to electric vehicles," said Secretary of Energy Jennifer...
To encourage greater transparency in the inevitable battery-powered world, Ford Motor Company has partnered with Everledger to deliver the world's first passport pilot for the responsible recycling of electric vehicle batteries. Founded in 2015, Everledger is an independent technology company that aims to help businesses monitor asset information with various security technologies, such as blockchain, artificial intelligence, smart labeling with near field communication (NFC)...
Tesla and other automakers clamor for nickel suppliers with low CO2 footprint Tesla CEO Elon Musk's 2020 appeal to "please mine more nickel" served as a rallying cry for mining companies with projects positioned to deliver this critical battery metal into global markets. Going into 2022, however, the electric vehicle trailblazer's words were echoing in nearly empty warehouses as the lithium-ion batteries that power EVs are demanding more nickel than global miners can supply....
In a collaborative twist, automotive giant Honda Motor Co. Ltd. announced an agreement with Sony Group Corp. to explore the possibility of forming a strategic alliance aiming to create a new era of high value-added battery electric vehicles and commercialize them in conjunction with providing mobility services. While it may seem strange for the monolithic entertainment company that has brought into the world things like the Playstation and the original Spiderman movies, Sony...
Joining the trend of world-class automakers reshaping their entire focus on a zero-carbon future, Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. has unveiled Nissan Ambition 2030, a vision for delivering exciting electric vehicles and technologies over the coming decade. "The role of companies to address societal needs is increasingly heightened," said Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida. "With Nissan Ambition 2030, we will drive the new age of electrification, advance technologies to reduce carbon footprint...
In a deal that is expected to electrify the future of mining, Newmont Corp. plans to invest $100 million into a strategic alliance with Caterpillar Inc. to develop fully connected, automated, and zero-carbon emitting mining systems. This marks a major step in Newmont's commitment to reduce its global greenhouse gas emissions 30% by 2030, with the ultimate objective of transforming to a carbon-neutral mining company by 2050. "A year ago, Newmont announced industry-leading emiss...
With the global transition to electric vehicles charged with renewable energy creating massive new demands for rare earth materials and magnets, copper, and electrical steel, General Motors and GE Renewable Energy are working together to evaluate opportunities to improve supplies of the materials critical to a low-carbon future. "A secure, sustainable and resilient local supply chain for electric vehicle materials is critical to the execution of GM's vision of an all-electric...
Glencore plc has teamed up with fellow miners China Molybdenum Co. Ltd. and Eurasian Resources Group, and battery material supplier Umicore to pilot a blockchain solution for end-to-end cobalt traceability. Earlier this year, Glencore joined the Global Battery Alliance, a World Economic Forum initiative to help establish and collaborate on a sustainable battery value chain. As of 20 May, a new pilot named Re|Source, headed by major metals and mining companies as well as...
5 is shaping up to be a watershed year for Nouveau Monde Graphite Inc.'s mission to be a carbon-neutral supplier of the graphite needed in the anodes of lithium-ion batteries. "This year will be an exciting year, as we produce our first anode materials and further the execution of our business strategy, which is set to build a company which is one of the world's largest high quality anode material producers," said Nouveau Monde Graphite President and CEO Eric Desaulniers....
Quebec has put in motion a plan to establish itself as a leader in the global transition to a green economy – by both lowering the eastern Canadian province's carbon footprint through the adoption of renewable energy and electric vehicles, and being a source of responsibly mined minerals and metals that make these technologies possible. Provincial officials recently unveiled the Quebec Plan for the Development of Critical and Strategic Minerals 2020-2025, which provides the f...
Tesla Inc. has joined a growing effort to address artisanal cobalt mining in the Democratic Republic of Congo, not by boycotting this much maligned source of the lithium-ion battery metal but by investing in it. The iconic electric automaker has joined the Fair Cobalt Alliance, an organization with a vision of making the small but often dangerous cobalt mines in DRC a better place to work for men and women who have few other livelihood options. Artisanal mining in DRC has...
In a move that demonstrates its commitment to environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) practices, First Cobalt Corp. joins the Cobalt Institute as associate member. "Becoming a member of the Cobalt Institute demonstrates our commitment to implementing the most rigorous supply chain sourcing and ESG standards," said First Cobalt President and CEO Trent Mell. First Cobalt is a Canada-based company that is endeavoring to become North America's sole primary cobalt...
Solar energy accounted for nearly 40% of all new electricity generation added in the U.S. in 2019, the largest annual share in the industry's history. According to the most recent quarterly report, the U.S. Solar Market Insight, presented by Wood McKenzie and the Solar Energies Industries Association (SIEA). The growth of solar photovoltaic (PV) shows signs of outstripping other energy competitors. According to the report, PV accounted for 39.8% of new electricity generating...
LAS VEGAS – The machinery is enormous, and the ambitions are even larger for the global mining equipment companies unveiling the very latest technologies they have to offer at the National Mining Associations' MINExpo 2021 being held from Sept. 13-15 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Held every four years, with the current exception of a one-year delay in 2020 due to COVID-19, the MINExpo is hailed as the largest mining event on Earth. Considering the fascinating a...
"Please mine more nickel," these four words from Tesla CEO Elon Musk reverberated across the global mining sector and raised awareness of how fundamental nickel is to the lithium-ion batteries powering hundreds of millions of electric vehicles to come off Tesla and traditional automaker assembly lines over the next two decades. "Tesla will give you a giant contract for a long period of time if you mine nickel efficiently and in an environmentally sensitive way," Musk implored...
The envisioned green future where every North American is driving a battery-powered electric vehicle charged with renewable energy could be undermined by cobalt, a somewhat scarce and controversial metal that makes lithium-ion batteries better. "Cobalt is considered the highest material supply chain risk for electric vehicles in the short and medium term," the U.S. Department of Energy penned in an April report. This risk has automakers, lithium-ion battery manufacturers, and...
Global mining company Rio Tinto Group and heavy equipment manufacturer Komatsu Ltd. have partnered to fast-track the development and implementation of zero-emission mining haulage solutions, with Rio offering a mine site for testing and Komatsu allowing first picks from its future lineup of power-agnostic trucks. "Rio Tinto and Komatsu have a shared history of partnership on innovation going back to when we built the world's largest Komatsu autonomous haulage fleet in 2008,"...
Answering Tesla Inc. CEO Elon Musk's call for new supplies of nickel that are mined "efficiently and in an environmentally sensitive way," Anglo-Australian mining giant BHP Group has struck a deal to supply the electric automaker with this fundamental lithium-ion battery ingredient from its Nickel West operation in Western Australia. "We are delighted to sign this agreement with Tesla Inc., and to collaborate with them on ways to make the battery supply chain more sustainable...