The Elements of Innovation Discovered
The Elements of Innovation Discovered
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Belgian precious metals recycler Umicore unveils Nexyclus certifications, a green guarantee at every step of its process. Leveraging the might of its precious metals refining and jewelry and industrial metals capabilities, Umicore SA has launched Nexyclus to address resource scarcity and the increased demand for recycled, responsibly sourced and low-carbon metals. Based out of Belgium, Umicore is a multinational materials technology firm that was formed through the merger of...
As 2024 gets underway, the direction of rechargeable battery design continues to have major implications for the mining industry. A range of renewable power technologies are under development and expansion across the globe to replace fossil fuels. These advancements and the continued electric vehicle push driving the need for increased energy storage capacity, continue to add to the world's energy transition minerals shopping list. The numbers are already in – the new mines n...
The ages of human history have been defined from stone to iron, from hunting to husbandry, and from industry to information. The latest change has come not through any one revolutionary commodity or tool but in an overall shift from resource consumption to one of stewardship. "The argument could be made that, with the clean energy transition, we're exchanging a fossil fuel-based energy system with a metals-based energy system," said Scott Odell, MIT Environmental Solutions...
Critical minerals can be recycled from decades of e-waste The necessity of reclaiming waste as a means to curb the seemingly impossible material requirements of a renewable future is fostering a different kind of industry – urban mining. "When you're in the renewable energy space, you've got to think through the whole lifecycle – where will EV and lithium-ion batteries go when they are no longer useful? It can't be to a landfill. That's not responsible," said Graphite One Pres...
Lithium is an indispensable element in the clean energy transition for several key reasons; like all alkaline metals on the periodic table, it has one more electron than it strictly needs, and this tendency to shed electrons makes it well-suited for passing them back and forth between cathode and anode, charging and discharging thousands of times without degradation. Pure lithium does not occur in nature, but traces are found throughout nearly all igneous rocks, mineral...
Deep-sea battery metals mining has created an ocean-sized rift between those that want to speed regulations, slow the process, to save the planet. Loose legislation and tight deadlines have created a deep-sea mining rift that divides governments, electronics giants, vehicle manufacturers, banks, and scientists across unexpected lines. The mining industry has found itself rapidly transforming into a vital participant in worldwide efforts to reverse climate change due to the...
Piggybacking off its initial Lithium-Ion Battery Recycling Prize, the U.S. Department of Energy announced more than $192 million in new funding for recycling batteries from consumer products, launching an advanced battery research and development consortium. With electric vehicles and stationary energy storage projected to increase the lithium battery market by as much as ten-fold by 2030, DOE says it is essential to invest in sustainable and lower-cost recycling of consumer...
The sourcing of the cobalt, graphite, lithium, nickel and other materials that go into lithium-ion batteries, and what happens to these rechargeable cells when they are spent has many worried that electric vehicles may not be any better for the environment than their internal combustion counterparts. To address these concerns before they become a problem, the U.S. Department of Energy, Ford Motor Company and Everledger have teamed up on pilot programs to ensure EV and...
January 8, 2021 may go down in history as the inflection point for the transition from the fossil fuel powered vehicles that transported humanity through the 20th century to the electric vehicles that will carry us into the future. This tipping point for global transportation offers a spectrum of challenges and opportunities to sustainably mine, refine, and recycle the minerals and metals needed to build this electric mobility future. Entering 2021, Tesla Inc. was celebrating...
The challenge of reducing emissions from the mining industry as a whole is ongoing and especially vital for the metals needed in renewable power and de-carbonized transportation. Taking center stage in this push, the electric vehicle space is being tasked to evaluate the overall environmental impact of EV battery life cycles. Scalable solutions are needed by 2030 for the anticipated first wave of batteries soon reaching end-of-life to keep them out of the toxic waste stream....
RecycLiCo Battery Materials Inc. announced it has successfully closed the lithium-ion battery supply chain loop with its patented recycling and upcycling process. Closed-loop battery recycling is a method of recycling that aims to re-use all materials from an original discharged battery and re-purpose them into a new version of the same battery. This method also represents an important shift from a linear economy to a circular economy. Using the company's battery-ready...
By 2030, batteries will likely need more than 5x all the graphite mined in 2021 While shortages of the lithium and nickel needed for electric vehicle batteries has dominated news headlines over the past year, the massive demand for graphite has largely been overlooked. As the primary ingredient in the anode side of lithium-ion batteries, graphite is the single largest element in lithium-ion batteries and the mining sector's inability to keep pace with skyrocketing demand of...
Upon completion of an exhaustive review of the circular economy for solar and battery technologies, researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory found that alternatives to recycling – reducing the use of virgin materials in manufacturing, reusing for new applications, and extending product life spans – may offer untapped potential to build an effective circular economy for renewable energy. As demand for photovoltaic (PV) panels and lit...
With lithium quadrupling in price over the past year, it's a great time to own this mineral, and the good times extend to Canada-based Li-Cycle Holdings Corp., which recycles metals from electronic waste – including nickel, copper and cobalt, but especially the lithium in consumer and electric vehicle batteries. In recognition for its incredible growth and potential, Corporate Knights has selected Li-Cycle as one of Canada's fastest-growing sustainable companies. "We are t...
As part of ongoing efforts to create an electric ecosystem for the United Kingdom, battery manufacturer Britishvolt has partnered with Swedish commodity giant Glencore to develop an industry-leading battery recycling joint venture. The partnership is intended to create a world-leading ecosystem for battery recycling in the UK and will be anchored at Britannia Refined Metals' – a Glencore company – future recycling plant in Northfleet. This project sees a return to rec...
A team of researchers at the University of Exeter, Minviro, the British Geological Survey, and the Circular Economy Solutions Unit has recently determined the benefits of utilizing a life cycle assessment (LCA) or "cradle to grave" evaluation in the ongoing endeavor to facilitate and improve green mining techniques. Generally used to assess the environmental impacts associated with the life cycle of commercial products, from extraction to the use and disposal of said...
VanadiumCorp Resource Inc. has acquired full rights to a unique, low-carbon emitting means of extracting vanadium, another key to its goal of unlocking the potential of vanadium redox flow batteries as a sustainable renewable energy storage solution. "We have achieved another critical step in our strategic plan to rapidly advance VanadiumCorp's sustainable assets," said VanadiumCorp Resource CEO Adriaan Bakker. These assets are found along the entire vanadium redox flow...
Graphite One Inc.'s plans to establish a complete domestic supply chain for the advanced graphite materials for electric vehicle batteries was bolstered by President Joe Biden's decision to use the Defense Production Act to boost American supplies of critical battery materials. On March 31, the President signed a memorandum that orders the Pentagon to utilize Defense Production Act Title III funding to establish and expand upon sustainable and responsible production of the...
The ambitious 2035 target for a complete transition to electric vehicle sales set by most global automakers hinges on establishing reliable and responsible supply chains for the batteries that will power this envisioned electric mobility future. To help meet the burgeoning EV sector's battery material needs, First Cobalt Corp. is moving forward with an integrated battery refining, recycling, and manufacturing park in Ontario. "We see serious strains in the automotive supply...
Reminiscent of America's gilded age, the world is priming itself for a new era of technology and energy centered on the electricity that sparked the imaginations of visionaries such as Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison. This new era, however, sets aside more than a century of burning fossil fuels in favor of new clean sources of the electricity that will power human innovation into the 21st century and beyond. Solar, wind, hydro, and geothermal are but a few of the methods...
