The European Commission announced Thursday (Sept. 3) the addition of lithium, the raw material used to produce batteries, to the EU’s list of key raw materials and a plan to secure the supply of raw materials needed for a green recovery.
The EU needs to diversify its sources of raw materials, the European Commission said. The list of key raw materials has increased from 27 to 30 items. Helium was removed from the original list, and four more metals – strontium, lithium, titanium and bauxite – were added.
The European Commission says the pandemic has disrupted global supply chains, making the supply of critical raw materials even more problematic.
The European Commission is the executive arm of the European Union. Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic said, “We cannot allow our current dependence on fossil fuels to be converted into a dependence on key raw materials. The problem is exacerbated by the neo-crown epidemic, which has disrupted our strategic value chain.”
To that end, Sevkovic said in a statement that the European Commission will set up a European raw materials alliance in a few weeks, focusing first on rare earths and magnets, materials that are key to renewable energy, defense and space.
The EU’s need for lithium metal is expected to increase more than 60-fold between now and 2050, and its need for cobalt is expected to increase more than 15-fold. These two materials are mainly used in the production of batteries for electric vehicles. Over the same period, the amount of rare earths contained in the permanent magnets needed by the EU will increase by more than 10.
The EU has also set a goal of increasing the EU’s recycling of critical materials, and intends to begin forging supply partnerships between the EU and Canadian and African countries, as well as exploring whether Europe has the capacity to mine these materials.
Currently, 98% of the EU’s rare-earth material needs come from China; 98% of its cobalt from Turkey; 78% of its lithium from Chile; and 71% of its platinum from South Africa.
We must diversify our supply and use resources more efficiently,” said Sevkovic, “to ensure that the highest environmental and social standards are implemented within the EU.
In other news, the European Investment Bank (EIB) has pledged to invest €1 billion to support the development of the battery industry across Europe, including financing the extraction and processing of raw materials.
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