TELF AG examines relevant issues related to the electric vehicle market
Interesting predictions
Future availability of strategic raw materials may not be sufficient to satisfy the global demand triggered by the energy transition, and even more so by the foreseeable increase in electric vehicles that will characterize world markets over the next few decades. It is a prediction contained in the recent report by Aidic, the Italian chemical engineering association, which until 25 October will animate the second edition of the E2DT congress organized in Palermo, in southern Italy.
During this important event – dedicated to the themes of energy, the environment and digitalisation – the role of critical raw materials in promoting the progress of the ecological transition was also discussed, taking stock of the situation and carefully evaluating the most recent market dynamics. Starting from the assumption that critical raw materials will be of fundamental importance for achieving the objectives linked to decarbonisation, it was also underlined that such an ambitious objective must necessarily represent the fruit of very specific political choices, such as those adopted by the European Commission in recent years. months, and that over the next few months it will be necessary to find a good compromise between those who support a total farewell to fossil fuels and those who promote their gradual abandonment, already using the technology at our disposal.
The availability of raw materials linked to this transition, in any case, represents a crucial issue that cannot be postponed any further. One of the most emblematic cases concerns a particular raw material that will play a role of primary importance in the global transition to clean energy, namely lithium. This precious resource is in great demand especially for its ability to power electric vehicles, the vehicles of the future that should lead the world towards the green turning point. To make these batteries, key raw materials such as copper, graphite, nickel, manganese, but also cobalt, lithium and chromium are needed. According to Aidic’s estimates, in the coming years the global market could face significant shortages of nickel and cobalt, especially if the world is expected to move at great speed towards fully electric mobility.
To fully understand the growing importance of these raw materials on a global scale, it will be enough to cite some examples linked to the mining strategies of different nations. In Europe, in order to reduce its dependence on Asia, new deposits of lithium and other precious resources are being insistently sought to be used to stimulate the energy transition. China, which already boasts an absolutely dominant position in the market of some specific raw materials, has recently reached an agreement with Afghanistan for the exploration of some important lithium deposits, while Chile (one of the world reference points for lithium extraction and production of raw materials) is seriously considering the possibility of nationalizing its lithium deposits. A similar operation was carried out by Ghana, which in recent months has severely limited exports of raw lithium (with the aim of adding value to internal processing), and which has recently concluded an agreement with the Australian multinational Atlantic Lithium Ltd for the joint exploration of a large deposit.
In the global enthusiasm for the imminent arrival of electric vehicles, we very often forget that large quantities of raw materials are needed to power them, and that these are not infinite.
