Resource World Magazine

A U G U S T / S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 9 www.resourceworld.com 9 ENERGY METALS according to the International Energy Agency (IEA), the share of nuclear power in the global energy mix has fallen from a peak of about 18% in the mid-1990s to 10% in 2018, largely due to concerns of radioactive waste and nuclear accidents like those that happened at Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and Fukushima. Canada, however, has long been a leader in nuclear power. It currently makes up 15% of the country's energy mix, and bil - lions of dollars are being spent in Ontario to refurbish aging nuclear plants. But elsewhere, some large-scale and expen- sive conventional nuclear plants are aging out of commission. Canada is now posi- tioning itself to be a leader in a new age of nuclear power by exploring the use of small modular reactors that generate under 300 megawatts of electricity. They would be cheaper and smaller than conventional nuclear power plants and are manufac - tured in factories. They are portable; they could be shipped to remote communities or job sites, such as the Alberta oil sands or mines that are off the grid and otherwise rely on diesel. The demand for green power genera - tion will be exacerbated as grid power is required to charge the batteries used in Electric Vehicles (EVs). The hype around EVs replacing combustion engine powered transport has been going on for some time but constrained by the development of reliable and efficient battery technology to provide the power. With advances in battery technology and with many juris - dictions around the world planning to legislate the banning of internal combus- tion engines in the future, the age of EVs may have finally arrived. However, the continued transition won't be easy. As well as the challenges in the grid generation, there are concerns over the future supply of many of the metals essen - tial to the manufacture of EV batteries. The lithium-ion battery is by far the dominant type. The structure of a typical battery cell has three primary functional components: a positive electrode, a negative electrode, and an electrolyte in between. The negative electrode (anode) is made from carbon usually in the form of graphite; the positive electrode (cathode) is a metal oxide, and the electrolyte is a lithium salt in an organic solvent. Currently, graphite anodes are not manufactured in North America and fur - ther, there are only two operating graphite mines in North America – the Imerys Carbon and Graphite Mine in Quebec and Eagle Graphite Inc.'s [EGA-TSXV] Black Crystal Mine in BC. EV manufacturer Tesla said recently that there could be a shortage of all of these key battery metals as a dearth of investment in mining has failed to keep up with the soaring demand. Lithium demand is set to more than triple through 2025, rising from 300,000 tons per year to over 1 million tons per year and the World Bank estimates that by 2050 demand for lithium, graphite and nickel will skyrocket by 965%, 383% and 108%, respectively. Copper supply may also be affected as EVs need twice as much copper as conven - tional engines. Tesla said recently that it might enter the mining business as it seeks to ensure that it can make enough batteries for future vehicles. Tesla is also trying to cut its use of cobalt that is primarily mined in the war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo where its production is associated with human rights abuses. China controls about two-thirds of the world's battery electric manufacturing capacity, a figure that is expected to rise to 73% by 2021, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF). By compari - son, the US only accounts for about 13% of global lithium-ion battery manufactur- ing capacity. An alternative to the lithium-ion bat- tery is the nickel metal hydride battery, (NiMH). The chemical reaction at the posi- tive electrode is similar to that of the nickel cadmium battery except that the negative electrodes use a hydrogen-absorbing alloy instead of cadmium. Toyota has announced that the company will move its electrification goals forward by five years and remains the final frontier for the use of NiMH batteries in hybrid electric vehicles. Most other auto manu - facturers committed to lithium-ion battery technology although Toyota has already shifted the hybrid drivetrains to be com- patible with both battery technologies, for example in the 2018 Toyota Camry. Toyota's rare earth NiMH batteries used in their HEV fleet have grown to account for over half of demand in 2018. Rare earths lantha - num and cerium are already significantly The four main types of Li-ion batteries are defined by the cathode material. Source: Synergy Files.

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