Frequently asked questions about lithium, a key energy transition material

Under pressure to meet rapidly growing demand from EVs and energy storage, the transformation of the lithium supply chain is speeding up.

The steel and metals industries stress that their products are key to enabling solutions to address global environmental priorities. Myra Pinkham gathers international views on progress in ‘green’ transformation and asks what today’s environmental goals imply for industrial production and future demand

Lithium production must quadruple between 2020 and 2030 to meet growing demand, from 345,000 tonnes in 2020 to 2 million tonnes in 2030. That is the biggest challenge and opportunity facing the lithium industry in the next decade

Work is under way in Fredrikstad, Norway, to build a plant that will be key to electric vehicle (EV) transportation in Europe.

Volkswagen Group is seeking partnerships with battery raw material producers in order to vertically integrate and achieve security of supply and competitive prices for its minerals needs, a spokesperson for the German automaker told Fastmarkets on Thursday June 17.

Junior miner Lithium Americas is on track to begin construction of its Thacker Pass project in the United States in early 2022, chief executive officer and president Jonathan Evans told Fastmarkets on Tuesday June 15.

As demand for battery raw materials grows, economic conditions and supply constraints are driving prices higher while labor shortages could affect the development of new lithium projects, Fastmarkets heard.

Technology entrepreneur Elon Musk once described the ongoing use of fossil fuels and their generation of a vast carbon footprint as “the dumbest experiment in human history.”

Mineral sequestration could be used to develop the world’s first-ever carbon-neutral nickel mine, according to the president of Giga Metals Corp, which is developing the Turnagain project in British Columbia, Canada.