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Is Lithium the weakest link in our green energy supply chain?

Published on August 10, 2021

COP26 is rapidly approaching and there is widespread agreement that we must urgently transition to a low-carbon economyย to meet the ambitious green energy targets thatย were setย back in 2015, when governments signed the Paris Agreement.

As part of our RSK COP26: Green Dialogues webinar series, we are exploring the key challenges ahead for the green energy sector and setting out the actions needed to overcome these.

To make the transition to a zero-carbon economy, switching to renewables is critical.ย  But as these sectors expand to meet our energy demands, what are the wider implicationsย andย do they run the risk of creatingย further problems for societyย to tackle?

Renewable energy isย a product of nature, so it isย not alwaysย possible for it to beย made when or where it is needed. This means that the energy or electricity generatedย byย renewable sources must then be stored, as pumping it directly into the grid when there isnโ€™t enough demand would simply waste it. Batteries are used toย  store energy on site and transport it to where it is needed. This solves the wasted energy issue but unfortunately brings about other battery-related challenges. The metals used to make the anodes and cathodes on conventional batteries โ€“ lithium and nickel โ€“ are extremely rare. The scarcity of these metals that the mines from which they are extracted are likely to become global flashpoints for tradeย and the supplyย of these metalsย is likely to becomeย unreliable,ย cutting offย  future growthย in the green energy sector.

So where is lithium found? More than half of the global reserves of lithium are in South America, particularly in Chile and Bolivia, where the largest mines for nickel are located as well. Eastern Europe also has large deposits of lithium, particularly in the Czech Republic where extraction is yet to begin, but it is hoped that a European battery industry may develop.

With such a limited supply of the lithium required to make batteries, there is concern that global competition could result in increasingly aggressive practices to gain control of these resources. There is already some evidence of certain states gaining control of mines in South America, as noted by the Institute of America reportย China Stakes Its Claim in Latin American Energy. This report highlightsย Chinaโ€™s commitment of billions of dollars to lithium projects in Latin America, withย Chinese deals in Latin American energy reaching $7.7 billion in 2020.

To avoid these potential future global conflicts over resources,ย we need to urgently invest in developing alternativesย to lithiumย batteries.ย There are some alternatives already being developed. One example is aย cryogenic batteryย that uses low temperature liquids such as liquid air or liquid nitrogen to store energy. Another is a battery powered by gravity technology. But we cannot rely on a small number of innovative technology companies working on advances that might take a decade to come to fruition. Governments must step up and back the green energy sector financially to progress these potential alternatives into viable solutions that can be scaled up to meet energy needs and deliverย against climate commitments.

Investing in hydrogen is another potential alternative. Soย called โ€˜green hydrogenโ€™ fuel can be created from renewable energy at the site of production through a process known as electrolysis that splits water into hydrogen and oxygen. The resulting hydrogen gas can then be stored in containers and transported as a fuel. This removes the need for batteries but there are also some downsides to consider with hydrogen. It takes a lot of hydrogenย fuelย to power a vehicle, thisย fuelย is likely to be a moreย viable solution for larger transport modes such as trains, buses, ships and planes thanย forย personal cars.

With these challenges ahead, it is vital that we do not become overly reliant on lithium batteries to store our green energy.ย Instead, we must focus on developingย ethical,ย viable and geopolitically neutral alternatives to meet the increasing need for batteries.ย Asย governments commit to more ambitious green energy targetsย and the switch to renewable energy continues apace, we are likely to need to bring all theseย alternative energy storage options into play to meet the net-zero challenge, particularlyย within theย urgentย timescales required.

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