Lithium is one of the 34 critical raw materials listed by the EU under the Critical Raw Materials Act, and a key component in the EU’s quest to ditch fossil fuels and switch to clean energy.

 

The Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA), recently adopted by the EU Council, paves the way for the European industry to deliver 10% of extraction, 40% of refining and 15% of recycling of key minerals by 2030. The new law identifies two lists of materials — 34 critical and 17 strategic — that are crucial for the green transition. Lithium is one of a small group of highly significant critical raw materials.

 

Why Lithium?

 

According to the EU's energy transition plan, the mineral will face increased demand due to the massive battery production needed for electric vehicles and energy storage systems. The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that global demand for lithium will increase 42-fold by 2040 compared to last year.

 

"Mainly the cars, buses, and trucks in the future will consume all the lithium," Peter Tom Jones, director of the Institute for Sustainable Metals and Minerals at KU Leuven in Belgium, informed Euronews.

 

Lithium, being an exceptionally light mineral, plays a crucial role in facilitating the green and digital transition, aiding in addressing the intermittency of renewable energy sources like solar and wind power.

 

"More and more companies will have renewable electricity production facilities, and they store this electricity in large stationary batteries to use it as a smart system, whether storing the electricity or feeding it back into the grid," added Jones.

 

Lithium can be extracted from hard rock or (liquid) brines. Regarding lithium brines, scientists make a "clear distinction" between geothermal lithium brines and the so-called salars, which are found in Chile, Argentina, and Bolivia, while not present in Europe. Jones believes there is genuine potential in hard-rock deposits.

 

Lithium as an available resource

 

Andreas Bittner, Executive Director of the European Lithium Institute, told Euronews that processed lithium is primarily imported from Chile (79%), Switzerland (7%), Argentina (6%), and the United States (5%), with the remaining portion coming from China. He noted that the European Union currently imports 81% of extracted lithium and 100% of processed lithium.

 

Although the raw material is currently only produced outside the European Union, 27 deposits have been identified in Europe, located in countries such as Czech Republic, Finland, France, Ireland, Germany, Portugal, Serbia, Spain, and the United Kingdom, among others. Approximately ten of these deposits have actual mining potential. According to Jones, the Jadar deposit in Serbia is the largest one.

 

Considering the current and feasible development of these ten locations, geologist Wouter Heijlen believes that by 2030, the European Union's self-sufficiency in lithium obtained from mines could reach 50% of the bloc's demand. These deposits vary in depth and are typically located deep underground. Portugal is the only European country with four open-pit mining sites.

 

Bittner stated, "Currently, only Portugal (excluding the UK) produces lithium from hard rock deposits, with the largest lithium resources located in Germany." However, the lithium extracted is currently only used for ceramics manufacturing, rather than batteries.

 

The challenges faced in lithium mining

 

A recent scientific study published in "Material Proceedings" claims that among four countries with ongoing lithium projects, the Mina do Barroso project in Portugal, owned by Savannah Resources, is the only one facing strong opposition from the local population. Projects underway in France, Finland, and the UK "seem to be favored by local communities, as there have been no reports of controversy or dispute."

 

"I think the biggest issue is the water consumption, especially in arid regions like Portugal and Spain," added Jones. He also mentioned that he has been involved in two EU-funded lithium projects focused on reducing water consumption levels by 90% compared to benchmark methods.

 

"Another uncertainty regarding lithium is the potential breakthrough of sodium-ion batteries, which could replace the demand for lithium in the long term. One huge advantage is that you don't need to mine vast amounts of critical metals like lithium and cobalt, where cobalt is a critical metal, whereas sodium is abundant and can be extracted from seawater," Jones stated, noting that this scenario remains "highly uncertain."

 

What is the EU doing to secure it?

 

Several trade partnerships have been forged by the EU with countries that either have lithium production or identified reserves with projects in the pipeline. These include Argentina, Canada, Chile, Democratic Republic of Congo, Greenland, Namibia, Norway, Rwanda and Uzbekistan. The bloc also reinforced transatlantic cooperation on critical raw materials by forging a partnership with the US last month with a view to “diversifying global critical minerals supply chains”.

Source: euronews.green (2024.5.9) Why is lithium crucial to the EU's green and digital transition?