China’s two largest EV battery makers are pledging to slash the cost of their batteries this year. Behind the pledge is a cost war – and new battery chemistries.
The temptation to justify critical minerals mining at all costs is a dangerous fallacy. The social and environmental impacts of poorly mined critical minerals are dire.
Mining nodules from the deep ocean seabed could provide the metals crucial for today’s EV batteries and renewable energy technology, but little is known about the harm it could cause.
Canada is connected to the Democratic Republic of Congo through the global economy, international peacekeeping efforts and migration. We must not ignore violence because it’s far away.
Canada could become a global leader in the supply of materials needed for renewable energy systems if it finds ways to control the environmental footprints associated with their extraction.
The US is generating more electricity than ever from wind and solar power – but often it’s not needed at the time it’s produced. Advanced energy storage technologies make that power available 24/7.
It seems the production of Earth science knowledge in Africa is simply not progressing, despite the world’s interest in (and exploitation of) the continent’s mineral wealth.
Building renewable energy infrastructure involves mining for materials such as lithium, graphite and cobalt. If not done responsibly, that could cause huge environmental damage.
Electric vehicles are taking off, but will demand remain sustainable once governments phase out subsidies? And as the “hidden costs” of the EV revolution emerge, some might get left behind…
Is it too much to dream of batteries that are part of the structure of an item, helping to shape the form of a smartphone, car or building while also powering its functions?