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A millennial is building #America’s first #Nickel-#Cobalt refinery

Posted on March 1, 2024 by Nanthakumar Victor Emmanuel, P.Eng Leave a comment

America had no nickel-cobalt refineries of its own.

The promise of the largesse doled out by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), Joe Biden’s signature bill to catalyse America’s clean-energy transition. Subsidies for electric cars attracted $110bn in investments in green manufacturing and battery-making within a year of the IRA’s passage in 2022. But as firms boosted production it became clear that China’s grip on the world’s mineral mines and refineries could prove perilous for its political foes. If China decides not to export refined metals tomorrow, as it has threatened to do, dozens of brand-new American gigafactories could soon sit idle.

Even with subsidies, mining and refining in America are not for the faint of heart. Regulations can make both activities uncompetitive. But the maths flipped in refiners’ favour in December 2023 when the tax agencies charged with implementing the IRA made it more protectionist. Their new rules clarified that companies selling electric cars made with materials processed by firms with at least 25% Chinese ownership are ineligible for subsidies. For makers of batteries and cars this was bad news—their inputs got pricier overnight.

#China likely to beat #Europe, #US in meeting battery metals demand through recycling – study

Posted on December 12, 2023 by Nanthakumar Victor Emmanuel, P.Eng Leave a comment

China is the most likely candidate to first meet its entire demand for the three most important raw materials for batteries – lithium, cobalt and nickel – through recycling, new research has found.

According to a study by a team at the University of Münster, the race to achieve a complete circular economy for key battery metals will see Europe arriving in second and the US in third place.

In detail, the results show that China is expected to be able to employ recycling to meet its own demand for primary lithium for electric vehicles from 2059 onwards; in Europe and the US, this will not happen until after 2070.

When it comes to cobalt, recycling is expected to ensure that China will be able to meet its needs after 2045, at the earliest; in Europe, this will happen in 2052 and in the US not until 2056.

Finally, for nickel, China can probably meet demand through recycling in 2046 at the earliest, with Europe following in 2058 and the US from 2064 onwards, according to the report.

#China metals firms see #US rules unlikely to upend supply chains

Posted on December 7, 2023 by Nanthakumar Victor Emmanuel, P.Eng Leave a comment

Chinese firms producing and processing battery materials see new US rules aimed at limiting Beijing’s grip on the electric-vehicle industry as less stringent than feared, allowing them to preserve a key role in the global supply chain.

Washington’s move, which seeks to cut China out of US tax credits and curb the country’s control over joint ventures, created uncertainty at the end of last week, with questions swirling around the status of Chinese-owned battery-material operations outside the mainland, and over the impact on the wider car and battery industry.