[INFOGRAPHIC] Clean energy metals: the rise of lithium
As commodities like gold and iron ore continue to endure a downward spiral, a window of opportunity is beginning to open for clean energy metals like lithium, cobalt and graphite. The following infographic reveals how the shift to clean energy will commence a lithium revolution.
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• Related content: Nevada will soon play a major role in supplying lithium to Tesla
The demand for electric cars and energy storage for renewable sources continues to rapidly increase, paving the way for a shift towards energy metals. The momentum has been building for some time, according to VisualCapitalist.
Political and social:
2014
• Obama reveals clean energy plan: The push will involve more than $1 billion in government funds to back new clean energy and energy efficiency projects along with funding research and development of new energy technologies.
• Who were the biggest investors in renewable energy in 2014?
China ($83.3 billion), USA ($38.3 billion), and Japan ($35.7 billion)
2015
• Volkswagen DieselGate scandal causes uproar, as it becomes clear that millions of the company’s vehicles have cheated emissions tests for years
• Elon Musk announces a mandate for Tesla Motors to acquire raw materials from the USA when possible.
• 4,000 people die, each day, of pollution related deaths in China alone.
• The United States deems lithium as a strategic metal and doesn’t give any statistics of its reserves or production.
Business:
2014
• Tesla reveals plans to build $5 Billion Gigafactory in the Southwestern US.
• Tesla announces Nevada as the site of its already-famous Gigafactory project.
2015
• The 1 millionth electric car is built in September 2015.
• Report surfaces that Apple plans to ship driverless cars by 2019.
• Google’s self-driving cars reach the milestone of 1 million miles driven autonomously.
• Tesla takes $800 million in orders for its new home batteries in just two weeks.
• A TSX-V traded company was the most recent recipient of an off take agreement to supply Tesla with Lithium Hydroxide.
• Volkswagen’s stock price gets crushed over 30% in the aftermath of DieselGate.
• FMC recently announced an “across the board 15% increase in price” in all finished lithium products. Lithium Hydroxide rose from $9,500 per ton, up to $10,870. Lithium Carbonate from $6,500 per ton up to $7,475 USD.
General Trends:
• Charging stations have increased rapidly around the world.
• Every major auto manufacture has more than one fully electric car. Some automakers mandate is to have an electric version of every model.
• The oil price has hit a 6.5 year low, yet electric vehicle sales have held momentum.
• Lithium battery manufacturing costs are dropping in price while lithium battery technology is getting better.
• New technology is decreasing the charge time for electric cars. Meanwhile, “miles per charge” is rising, and some cars can even recharge wirelessly.
• There’s a greater interest in looking after the environment with a continued scare of global warming.
• Wind and solar storage needed to regulate output of electricity back to the grid.
• China is a nation now giving priority to EV cars on their highways and parking lots.
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