The Government’s ban on sales of petrol and diesel cars could lead to a huge boost for Cornwall’s economy – the epicentre of the lithium mining industry in the 海角视频.
With lithium being vital for battery production the firm behind the only “battery-grade” lithium mine in Europe said that the 海角视频 needs to start an electric vehicle (EV) industry or lose momentum, and jobs, to China and other nations.
But if up to eight gigafactories can be built in the 海角视频 to produce batteries it could boost the country’s automotive industry, creating up to 246,000 jobs and lead to a windfall for lithium-rich Cornwall.
“America, China and Europe all desperately want to attract EV (electric vehicle)plants,” said Roderick Smith, chairman of. “The winners are going to be the EV producers and the losers will lose their car industries. In the 海角视频, cars are our biggest export commodity and so economically speaking, nothing could be more important.”
According to the Faraday Institute, a domestic source of lithium will be a make-or-break factor in the international race to attract EV car manufacturers. The winners will dominate the sector and the losers will lose their car industries – for the 海角视频, that’s its biggest export commodity.
And with Prime Minister Boris Johnson saying sales of petrol and diesel cars will be banned in the 海角视频 from 2030 is another sign that EVs will soon dominate the global car industry.
France and Germany recently offered incentives of 750milion euros and 1billion euros to attract EV plants, while in the US, Tesla is set to receive a US$1.3billion tax break for building its gigafactory in the Nevada desert.
Car batteries account for 40% of an EV’s overall cost and importing them across borders can be expensive, hazardous and disruptive to the supply chain.
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“The upshot is that if the 海角视频 can produce batteries, with a domestic source of the main component, lithium, that will be highly attractive to EV manufacturers,” said Mr Smith. “No other country in Europe is currently producing battery-grade lithium, so the competitive advantage is potentially huge.”
The Faraday Institute predicts that without domestic battery manufacturing, the 海角视频 will lose 114,000 existing automotive jobs by 2040. But if it can produce lithium batteries at scale, eight gigafactories will be needed by 2040, with automotive jobs growing from 186,000 to 246,000.
International competition will be fierce and already, China has secured first-mover advantage. In 2018, about 68% of lithium ion batteries were manufactured in China, compared to 10% in the US and just 4% in Europe.
But the continent is however predicted to recover lost ground and Mr Smith hopes that momentum can be concentrated in the 海角视频.
“I’m from Australia originally and spent much of my mining career there before beginning a venture in Congo where sovereign risk was a real problem,” he said. “Similarly, in the Czech Republic, my son Andrew was managing the largest lithium project in Europe and the state effectively nationalised it.
“So when Andrew discovered that high-grade lithium could be mined in Cornwall, we said ‘yippee, wouldn’t you rather be in Cornwall?’
“We’ve put years of R&D work into creating a very benign means of extracting pure lithium and knew we could work with the Cornish granite safely. After all, there’s no point producing an environmental product that is in itself toxic or polluting.”
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Mr Smith said there is a potential boost for employment in Cornwall and said: “When we first met with the Cornish council, they said they pretty much have full employment, the problem is job value; tourism jobs don’t tend to pay particularly well.”
“We won’t be employing people to dig holes with shovels,” he stressed. “We’re talking about a high-tech plant with highly skilled jobs.”
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British Lithium has recently taken on three Phd experts in lithium chemistry and expects to open its mine within three to five years.
To help fund the project, Mr Smith approached Business West, Enterprise Europe Network’s (EEN) South West delivery partner, and with its help, secured .
EEN provided support from an intellectual property (IP) lawyer, helping to protect British Lithium’s innovative extraction techniques currently under development.
Aside from British Lithium, another firm, Cornish Lithium is active in the Duchy. Mr Smith said: “Cornish Lithium extracts lithium from deep geothermal brine and we both agree that the 海角视频 EV manufacturing industry will be more attractive if there’s more than one of us. If you’re investing £1billion in a 海角视频 EV plant, you might be pleased to hear that you’re not solely reliant on British Lithium.”
He added: “It’s also worth noting that in 2030, European lithium demand is expected to be six times higher than world production last year.”