Reliance on lithium mining in the US to qualify for subsidies, will continue to negatively impact the lithium battery supply chain and delay the forced transition to EVs.
Published August 24, 2022, at CFACT https://www.cfact.org/2022/08/24/inflation-reduction-act-will-hinder-ev-growth/
Ronald Stein is an engineer, senior policy advisor on energy literacy for CFACT, and co-author of the Pulitzer Prize-nominated book “Exploring Clean Energy”.
After being tasked with making the transition to electric vehicles, President Joe Biden then signed the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) requiring electric vehicles to contain a battery pack and other components made in North America with minerals. products are mined or recycled in the United States. Given the small-to-zero chance of strip mining for lithium in the US, no EV will be eligible for tax credits in the IRA.
Biden’s 50% goal of electric vehicle sales by 2030 will test the lithium supply chain and the economic strength of American society to meet those projections without any subsidies to buy those vehicles. that car.
While the race is on to produce more lithium in the United States as the supply chain for the key component of EV batteries, lithium, has been compromised internationally. The following international dark clouds over the lithium supply chain could be a prelude to Americans’ rejection of strip mining in the world’s most environmentally controlled and regulated communities:
- A proposal by the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) risk assessment committee for labeling purposes three lithium compounds dangerous to human health. Compounds include lithium carbonate, chloride, and hydroxide. A final decision is expected to be made in late 2022 or early 2023.
- Earlier in 2022, China’s electric vehicle giant BYD won a government contract to mine lithium in Salar de Atacama, Chile – a massive terrain containing 55% of known lithium reserves. In the world. But before the company could tap that resource, local residents took to the streets and demanded the bid be canceled due to concerns about the impact on local water supplies. In June, the Chilean Supreme Court issued the award, saying that the government had not consulted the indigenous peoples first. In the US, we call these local and environmentalists NIMBY’s (Not-In-My-Back-Yard).
- Initiative to open mines and ore processing plants as in Serbia and Portugal caused an uproar in the community as environmentalists and locals fear the impact on nature and people’s livelihoods. In other projects, engineers are trying to mine lithium from geothermal waters cost-effective and harmless, no need to mine. The current, Portugal has stopped a lithium project in the context of the EU competing for raw materials for battery production.
Due to the potential for fire, FAA bans in checked baggage, spare (removable) lithium metal batteries and lithium-ion batteries, e-cigarettes and vaping devices. They must be carried in the passenger’s hand luggage. Smoke and fire incidents involving lithium batteries can be mitigated by flight attendants and passengers inside the aircraft cabin.
Since you may have read about EV fires, here is a website that keeps tabs on TESLA EV fires only https://www.tesla-fire.com/, Tesla fires as of August 19, 2022 are 97 confirmed cases and Deaths related to a Tesla vehicle fire are 38. Shockingly, while the Federation bans lithium batteries in checked baggage on planes due to the potential for fire, Biden pushes them for transportation.
The actions of the Biden government and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) investments in fossil fuels The movement is now in favor of jumping on the EV train, but Biden and the ESG’ers can forget that EVs have a very dark side to environmental brutalityand the non-existent transparency of human rights abuses occurring in other countries, both of which are directly related to the extraction of minerals and exotic metals that are required to manufacture wind turbines, panels solar cells and EV batteries.
The book was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize “Clean Energy Mining – Help citizens understand environmental and human abuses in support of clean energy, does an outstanding job in discussing the lack of transparency to the environmental degradation and human brutality that occurs in developing countries extracting such exotic minerals and metals to support the “green” movement. Electric vehicle subsidies are a financial incentive to encourage further exploitation of yellow, brown and black populations in developing countries. Are those subsidies ethical?
Amid tougher emissions regulations around the world, established automakers are racing to add more EVs to their lineups. A Reuters analysis shows that global automakers such as Audi, BMW, Hyundai, Fiat, Volkswagen, GM, Ford, Nissan, Toyota, Daimler and Chrysler plan to spend a combined $300 billion on vehicles. electricity over the next decade as car companies are betting big on EVs. Most electric vehicles will be manufactured overseas, far from US ports.
China went from zero production in 1950, to 2019 where it now produces more cars than the United States, Japan, and India as a whole. The 6-minute video on car production “needle”“ shows how the dominance of foreign manufacturing has played out over that 69-year period.
Bringing these foreign-built cars to the US can be an insurmountable insurance problem. The Felicity Ace, a 650-foot cargo ship carrying hundreds of millions of dollars worth of luxury cars, sank in March 2022. Rescue crews working on the burning ship said Electric vehicle batteries are part of the reason it still burns after a few days. Estimated market value of Felicity Ace is 24.5 million USD, while the total value of 3965 cars can reach more than 500 million USD.
With potential fires caused by EV batteries in vehicles, who will be responsible for insuring their safe journey from foreign manufacturers to US ports, cargo ships or manufacturers?
How dirty is lithium strip mining? Since the mineral contains dangerous substances, the mining process also contaminates local water basins. Lithium mining exposes local ecosystems to toxicity and other related health problems. How many Americans want strip mining for lithium in their backyard to see environmental degradation from rice fields What is part of the mining efforts?
Number of electric cars on the world’s roads in by the end of 2021 about 16.5 million VND, or just over one percent of the world’s 1.4 billion vehicles. With lithium production being hampered internationally, EV growth will be hampered by local revolts over lithium mining impact on water supplies and environmental degradation in the future. their community.
Ronald Stein, Production Specialist
Energy & Infrastructure Ambassador
http://www.energyliteracy.net/
Related
