Why we might need to quickly open up new mines in Europe

Summary - The EU is currently 75% to 100% dependent on imports for most metals. With the EU's green and digital ambitions raw materials’ requirement requiring 18 times more lithium alone by 2030, this dependence must be reduced. She has come up with an action plan that includes setting up new European mines, which are not taken kindly upon by everyone.

This article originates from the Financieel Dagblad and added upon. For the original, click here.

Please in my backyard?

The gap between theory and practice could hardly be wider. While the European Commission published an action plan in September to make the EU less dependent on raw materials and ‘sometimes’ unfriendly non-member countries, a campaign group in the hills of northern Portugal is preparing for a new series of actions against a local mining project that is seen as the embodiment of the Brussels ambitions.

European Commissioner Maros Sefcovic, who presented the Brussels action plan in Brussels, was not put off by it. Faced with backlash in Northern Portugal against a new lithium mine, which is important for the production of European batteries for electric transport, the Slovak said he was "aware of the concerns of local communities" when mining projects are launched in their vicinity.

Good supervision of the projects should provide some solace, according to Sefcovic, as should a proper dialogue with local residents. He sees opportunities to mine raw materials such as metals and minerals that are necessary for the EU's green and digital ambitions in places where mining of raw materials we no longer want - such as coal - is disappearing.

There is a need for new economic perspectives in those places and a new mine life can provide this, not in the very least by propping up employability. "Not in my backyard should please be in my backyard," said Sefcovic. In other words: from not in my backyard to happily in my backyard. Poland, among others, was mentioned. That country has a strong coal industry, but is also rich in cobalt, a raw material that is also used in the production of batteries.

List of 'critical' resources

The Commission's action plan was accompanied by a list of raw materials that it considers "critical" from both an economic and strategic point of view. The Commission draws up such a list every three years and the new one has three times the amount of raw materials compared to 2017. Four have been added, while helium has been removed. Lithium is one of the newcomers.

The EU is 75% to 100% dependent on imports for most metals. China, Russia and Turkey, among others, are major suppliers of the critical raw materials listed by the Commission. As some of you readers might be aware of, the EU maintains tense relations with all three countries.

If Europe does not want to see its green and digital ambitions fail, the raw materials problem must be tackled, Sefcovic warned. "In terms of batteries for electric driving and energy storage alone, Europe will need eighteen times more lithium in 2030 than it does now and even sixty times in 2050. We cannot afford to exchange our current dependence on fossil fuels for a dependence on other critical resources. "

Fellow European Commissioner Thierry Breton, who co-presented the action plan, said: "A number of raw materials are essential for the digital and green transition in which Europe wants to lead. We cannot simply depend on other countries to provide us these materials. In some cases, this would mean dependency on a single one of those countries.” Resource dependency is indeed something history has shown us we cannot afford.

Recycling

In addition to the start-up of new mining projects, the EU action plan provides for additional efforts to promote recycling and the creation of a genuine ‘European Raw Materials Alliance’.

Through these types of alliances, the Commission wants to promote cooperation between Member States and companies for parts of the economy that it considers strategically important. Previously, a European battery alliance and a European hydrogen alliance had already been set up. The resource alliance is to be kicked off in 2020.

According to Dutch politician Tom Berendsen, the corona crisis has once again shown that Europe should not be dependent on China, Russia or other parts of the world when it comes to indispensable products or raw materials. "We will need more electronics, windmills, batteries and solar cells for our economy of the future. We want to develop them as much as possible in Europe, so that we also keep the jobs of the future. But more than half of the raw materials needed now come from China. That has to change."

His fellow-Dutch-politician, Mohammed Chahim, points out that it is good that the EU is developing alliances of its own industries for batteries and hydrogen. "Once you have that in your own hands, you can also start thinking about the use of other raw materials. That way you also reduce dependence on other countries. "

References & Further Reading

Insights - Resources & Circularity

Mr. Sustainability - NorthVolt’s Battle Plan to Win the Upcoming Battery-Wars

Mr. Sustainability - Tesla’s Battery Day from a Maritime Perspective