President Biden recently called Defense Production Act to boost supply of essential minerals electric electric vehicle and reducing America’s oil dependence. Yet, despite this welcome executive action, the US cannot produce enough of some minerals, such as nickel. The US must rely on reliable, often hostile foreign-controlled sources for these key materials. There is an alternative: to find politically safe, economically viable and ecologically responsible ways to obtain these minerals elsewhere, including in the depths of the oceans.
Out Metal is currently most responsible for providing range in electric-vehicle batteries. Global nickel demand for batteries is projected to increase 20 to 25 times by 2040, and market analysts expect a significant reduction in two to three years. Russia is one of the largest suppliers of Class 1 battery-grade nickel, and Chinese interests control production elsewhere in Asia, mostly under rainforests in the Philippines, New Caledonia and Indonesia.
opinion | Undersea Trove for Electric Vehicles
President Biden recently called Defense Production Act to boost supply of essential minerals electric electric vehicle and reducing America’s oil dependence. Yet, despite this welcome executive action, the US cannot produce enough of some minerals, such as nickel. The US must rely on reliable, often hostile foreign-controlled sources for these key materials. There is an alternative: to find politically safe, economically viable and ecologically responsible ways to obtain these minerals elsewhere, including in the depths of the oceans.
Out Metal is currently most responsible for providing range in electric-vehicle batteries. Global nickel demand for batteries is projected to increase 20 to 25 times by 2040, and market analysts expect a significant reduction in two to three years. Russia is one of the largest suppliers of Class 1 battery-grade nickel, and Chinese interests control production elsewhere in Asia, mostly under rainforests in the Philippines, New Caledonia and Indonesia.