MARIETTA, Ohio -- It’s the third rail of electrified transportation: metal. Shiny or dark, metal is the new oil. This is the raw material that is needed to deal with climate change.
Much ingenuity and capital are being focused on batteries, with new materials and new configurations. The most efficient so far is the lithium-ion battery used in electric vehicles (EVs). A new generation of cars, SUVs, pickups and trucks now coming off the assembly line are powered by batteries built with metals -- lithium, cobalt, nickel, graphite, manganese, copper and rare earth minerals. And before too long, batteries made from these same materials will be used for the electricity transmission of solar and wind.
As climate change unfolds, zero-carbon EVs and renewables will be on the frontier of response. In fact, the take-off of EVs is emerging as the dominant economic and environmental event in the first quarter of this century, especially in Ohio and other states where batteries are made. While the production of combustion vehicles is slowing down, EVs are speeding up. All-electric cars account for 8% of U.S. car sales, but the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is proposing limits on auto emissions which would ensure that electric cars make up as much as 67% of all new cars sold by 2032.
Environmentalists have every reason to rejoice at the emergence of EVs, because there’s now an alternative to the combustion car. It’s good news that Ford, General Motors, Tesla, Toyota, Honda and other auto manufacturers are opening new EV factories in the United States. Economically depressed cities are beginning to come back to life.
But from another angle China’s global grip on the mining and processing of battery metals could mean a perpetual shortage in the supply of metals, since demand for metals is expected to skyrocket in the years ahead and China is likely to give priority to Chinese auto companies who are the world’s leaders in EV production. Or, if U.S.-China relations worsen, China might cut off exports of battery metals. This would disrupt EV production in the United States and be bad for our own country’s economic and environmental well-being. What can be done?
Robert W. Chase is Professor Emeritus at Marietta College, where he led the department of petroleum engineering and geology until 2015.
The answer is to open new mines in the United States, increase battery recycling and make greater use of mineral resources in friendly countries. But boosting domestic mining is the key. Today, there is only one mine each for several critically important battery metals -- lithium, cobalt, nickel and rare earth minerals. Imports of foreign metals and minerals, primarily from China, supply most of our needs. How can this be possible in a country like the United States, which has trillions of dollars in untapped mineral resources? Well, given such impediments as environmental impact reports and a labyrinthine permitting process, it takes an average of 16.5 years from the idea for a new mine to first production, according to an International Energy Agency review of 2010-2019 data. That reality discourages investment in new mines.
Before it’s too late, Congress must take action on legislation to simplify the U.S. permitting process for mines and processing facilities so that automakers have a secure supply of minerals and metals. With global warming, mining can help preserve the planet.
Emeritus Professor Robert W. Chase served as the chair of the Petroleum Engineering and Geology Department at Marietta College from 1978 to 2015. He is a registered professional engineer in Ohio and served on the Ohio Oil and Gas Commission from 2008 to 2012.
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