Automotive Engineering - October 2022 - 19

COVER STORY
nickel-rich batteries, he said. But according to Statista,
total global mining of nickel produced only 2.7 metric
tons in 2021. The industry would have to more than double
worldwide production-unless recycling was a factor.
" Recycling is absolutely essential, " Abuelsamid said.
" We don't want to be dumping batteries with these
essential metals into landfills. We need to recapture as
much as possible, because we will need way more EV
batteries than we currently can build with available
virgin materials. "
Complicating the nickel supply is the disruption of
the Russia-Ukraine war. Russia is the third-largest global
nickel supplier, and in first quarter 2022 prices doubled
to $100,000 per ton on potential disruption fears.
Nickel is only one of the problematic metals that make
up today's li-ion batteries-which are still the state of
the art, at least until production-ready solid-state batteries
(without liquid electrolyte) are available.
Henry Sanderson, a former Financial Times commodities
and mining reporter who now works for
Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, is the author of Volt
Rush, a new book that focuses on the problematic materials
in li-ion batteries. " We have to open our eyes to
the supply chain behind the move away from fossil
AUTOMOTIVE ENGINEERING
fuels, " Sanderson told SAE Media. " It is hidden, almost opaque, and
currently mostly controlled by China. And it involves more than putting
up some solar panels-it's about raw materials and mining. "
Lithium is heavily sourced through evaporation processes in arid
basins in Chile, Argentina and Bolivia. And according to the Natural
Resources Defense Council, the practice " contributes to the ecological
damage of internationally recognized wetlands and protected
areas, where water resources are already exhausted for local and indigenous
peoples. " Many of these communities have no say in-and
receive little benefit from-the mining operations, NRDC reports.
Chile, a major producer, has debated nationalizing its lithium resource,
for both economic and environmental reasons.
More than 70% of the world's cobalt comes from the Democratic
Republic of the Congo, where there are severe child labor issues (up
to 40% of the cobalt work force), ongoing human rights abuses and
horrendous working conditions with minimal safety.
Like lithium, cobalt is mostly refined in China, and Chinese companies,
operating through the massive 'Belt and Road' international
development initiative, own or have financed major stakes in lithium
and cobalt mines-including 80% of the cobalt in the DRC, reports
GlobalEDGE. After an international outcry, the leading Chinese companies
have made some modest improvements in DRC mining practices.
And some crude refining is now done locally, economically
benefiting locals in the DRC.
October 2022 19
GM
Automotive Engineering - October 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Automotive Engineering - October 2022
