According to her, Europe currently does not produce an ounce of lithium, which, in particular, is a key component for electric vehicle batteries, and the United States provides only 2% of global demand.
Jukka notes that Europe’s first lithium mine is scheduled to come online in Finland in 2025, while the French intend to produce 34,000 tonnes of lithium hydroxide a year at the mine, which is due to open in 2028.
“If all European lithium projects are implemented, they will be able to meet around 40% of the expected demand of 600,000 tons per year by 2030,” the author writes.
The observer estimates that by 2050, Europe will have to spend a total of 5.3 trillion dollars on clean energy projects, which by 2040 will require a six-fold increase in world production of copper, lithium, graphite, nickel and other earth metals. rare.
At the same time, Yucca writes, China leads in processing and, to a lesser extent, in the extraction of the most important products – it processes 58% of the world’s lithium, 65% of the cobalt and more than a third of the nickel and copper. .
“Russia is also rich in nickel, palladium and cobalt. Europe, which imports between 75% and 100% of most metals, seems especially vulnerable,” the author states.
In February, it was reported that Gazprom would start mining lithium in Russia.