Lithium is one of 34 critical raw materials listed by the EU under the Critical Raw Materials Regulation and is a key component as the bloc seeks to move away from fossil fuels and towards clean energy.
The Critical Raw Materials Directive (CRMA) recently adopted by the European Council requires European industry to achieve 10% extraction, 40% refining and 15% recycling of critical minerals by 2030. Among the key materials for transformation, there are 34 critical materials and 17 strategic materials, and lithium is one of the very important raw materials.
Why lithium?
The mineral will face increased demand due to the massive production of batteries needed for electric vehicles and energy storage systems under the EU's energy transition plan. The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that global demand for lithium will increase 42 times by 2040 compared to last year.
"It's mainly the cars, buses and trucks of the future that will consume all the lithium," Peter Tom Jones, director of the Institute for Sustainable Metals and Minerals at KU Leuven in Belgium, told Euronews.
Lithium, a very light mineral, plays a key role in promoting green and digital transformation, helping to cope with the volatility of renewable energy sources such as solar and wind power.
“More and more companies will have renewable electricity production facilities and they’ll store that electricity in large stationary batteries so they can use it as a smart system, either storing the electricity or sending it back to the grid,” Jones added.
Lithium can be extracted from hard rock or (liquid) brine. In terms of lithium brines, scientists make a "clear distinction" between geothermal lithium brines and so-called salt lakes, the latter of which are found in Chile, Argentina, and Bolivia, but not in Europe. Jones believes the real potential lies in hard rock deposits.
Lithium as a usable resource
Andreas Bittner, executive director of the European Lithium Institute, told Euronews that processed lithium is mainly imported from Chile (79%), Switzerland (7%), Argentina (6%), the United States (5%), and the remainder from China. He pointed out that the EU currently imports 81% of extracted lithium and 100% of processed lithium.
Although the raw material is currently produced only outside the EU, 27 deposits have been identified in Europe, including in the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Ireland, Germany, Portugal, Serbia, Spain, and the UK, with around ten of these potentially viable for mining. According to Jones, the Jadar deposit in Serbia is the largest.
Taking into account the current and potential development of these ten sites, geologist Wouter Heijlen believes that the EU could reach 50% of its lithium self-sufficiency from mines by 2030. These deposits vary in depth, often deep underground. Portugal is the only European country with four open-pit mines.
“Currently only Portugal (excluding the UK) produces lithium from hard rock deposits, while the largest lithium resources are in Germany,” Bittner said. However, the lithium that is mined is currently only used to make ceramics, not batteries.
Challenges of lithium mining
A recent scientific study published in Material Proceedings on lithium projects in four countries claims that the open-pit mining project Mina do Barroso in Portugal, owned by Savannah Resources, is the only commercial venture facing strong opposition from local people. Projects underway in France, Finland, and the UK "appear to be favored by local people, as no signs of controversy or disputes have been reported."
“I think the biggest issue, especially in arid regions like Portugal and Spain, is water consumption,” added Jones, who said he was involved in two EU-funded lithium projects focused on reducing water consumption by 90% compared to a baseline approach.
Another uncertainty surrounding lithium is the potential breakthrough in sodium-ion batteries, which could replace lithium demand in the long term. “One of the huge advantages is that you don’t need to mine large quantities of critical metals like lithium and cobalt, which is a critical metal, and sodium, which is very abundant and can be extracted from seawater,” Jones said, noting that this scenario remains “extremely uncertain.”
What measures is the EU taking to ensure the production of lithium?
The EU has established several trade partnerships with countries that have lithium production, identified reserves, or projects in the pipeline. These include Argentina, Canada, Chile, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Greenland, Namibia, Norway, Rwanda, and Uzbekistan. Last month, the EU also established a partnership with the United States to strengthen transatlantic cooperation on critical raw materials, with the goal of "diversifying global critical mineral supply chains."
Source: euronews.green (May 9, 2024) Why is lithium crucial to the EU’s green and digital transition?
