[MCN] Update on increasing dependency on batteries, and mining

[Lance Olsen]

The Financial Times  August 14, 2023

The battery revolution: rivals race for car market supremacy

Two forms of lithium-ion technology are vying to dominate an industry destined to be worth hundreds of billions of dollars
By Harry Dempsey <https://www.ft.com/harry-dempsey> and Peter Campbell <https://www.ft.com/peter-campbell> in London and Christian Davies <https://www.ft.com/christian-davies> in Seoul

https://www.ft.com/content/67abc929-db1a-43c3-b03a-259a4316fd76 <https://www.ft.com/content/67abc929-db1a-43c3-b03a-259a4316fd76>
EXCERPT - 1st 5 paragraphs
Lithium-ion batteries have already changed the world, putting smartphones, laptops and wireless headphones in the hands of billions of people. Now they are triggering another revolution.

The technology of choice both in electric cars and the nascent electricity storage industry, the cells will be a vital pillar in the global transition to a carbon-free economy.

As demand soars, the rollout promises huge rewards. Global lithium ion battery revenues will grow to $700bn a year by 2035, according to consultancy Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, by which time $730bn will have to be poured into battery plants, mines and processing facilities to meet the need not just for lithium but for other ingredients including nickel and cobalt.

“This is going to be a race to see who can develop the most advanced technologies in the world,” said Glen Merfeld, chief technology officer of Albemarle, the world’s largest lithium company.

With two principal branches of lithium-ion technology vying for supremacy, winners and losers will be decided in the coming years as companies race to supply the world, from carmakers including Tesla, Volkswagen and BYD, and battery makers CATL and LG Energy Solution, to mining companies such as Glencore and BHP. 



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“On the basis of our analysis of a global data set of large lakes and rivers, we conclude that transpiration recycles 62,000 +or- 8,000 km3of water per year to the atmosphere, using half of all solar energy absorbed by land surfaces in the process. We also calculate CO2 uptake by terrestrial vegetation by connecting transpiration losses to carbon assimilation using water-use efficiency ratios of plants, and show the global gross primary productivity to be 129 +or- 32 gigatonnes of carbon per year, which agrees, within the uncertainty, with previous estimates (6). The dominance of transpiration water fluxes in continental evapotranspiration suggests that, from the point of view of water resource forecasting, climate model development should prioritize improvements in simulations of biological fluxes rather than physical (evaporation) fluxes.”

NATURE 18 APRIL 2013
doi:10.1038/nature11983

Terrestrial water fluxes dominated by transpiration
Scott Jasechko, Zachary D. Sharp, John J. Gibson, S. Jean Birks, Yi Yi & Peter J. Fawcett

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