Post by account_disabled on Feb 19, 2024 23:29:57 GMT -6
US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm warned that the transition from fossil fuels will make energy security “infinitely more complex” due to China's dominance over the processing of critical minerals essential for renewable energy. China dominates the cobalt, rare earth and graphite industries, which are vital for renewable energy, electric cars and defense technologies. Its global market share for the refining of each of those three materials exceeds 70 percent. “In this critical minerals context, we are faced with a dominant supplier that is willing to weaponize market power for political gain,” Granholm said on Thursday, in comments widely interpreted as a reference to Beijing's power. "The fuel of this energy transition - critical minerals - will make global energy security infinitely more complex and infinitely more important in the coming decades," he added at the International Energy Agency's first critical minerals summit in Paris.
Western officials are increasingly concerned about dependence on geopolitical adversaries for raw materials supplies following Russia's invasion of Ukraine and rising tensions between the United Job Function Email Database States and China over Taiwan. US President Joe Biden introduced the $369 trillion Inflation Reduction Act last year to boost efforts to reduce dependence on Chinese supply chains for clean energy technologies. The Department of Energy and the Department of Defense have invested billions of dollars in subsidies to accelerate the establishment of mines and processing facilities nationwide. But moving to electric vehicles and renewable energy requires large amounts of lithium, copper and nickel. Meeting demand, while reducing dependence on China, would require significant investment from the sluggish mining industry to boost supply. Copper alone requires $250 billion of growth capital by 2030 to meet demand, according to Mike Henry, chief executive of BHP, the world's largest mining company.
China's control also extends to the extraction of raw materials for rare earths and graphite, creating even greater challenges for Western economies to turn to other suppliers should relations with Beijing deteriorate. China has shown a willingness to politicize supply chains, introducing restrictions on key chipmaking materials, gallium and germanium, in August in response to Dutch plans to limit the sale of high-end semiconductor manufacturing equipment to Chinese companies. . EU Commissioner Thierry Breton followed the US warning, saying Brussels needs to reverse the trend of relocating industry outside the bloc to decarbonise due to the “new geopolitics of supply chains”. "We are now clear in the EU that we cannot replace dependence on fossil fuels with that on raw materials," he said. “We know that someone can use these facilities as a weapon against us.
Western officials are increasingly concerned about dependence on geopolitical adversaries for raw materials supplies following Russia's invasion of Ukraine and rising tensions between the United Job Function Email Database States and China over Taiwan. US President Joe Biden introduced the $369 trillion Inflation Reduction Act last year to boost efforts to reduce dependence on Chinese supply chains for clean energy technologies. The Department of Energy and the Department of Defense have invested billions of dollars in subsidies to accelerate the establishment of mines and processing facilities nationwide. But moving to electric vehicles and renewable energy requires large amounts of lithium, copper and nickel. Meeting demand, while reducing dependence on China, would require significant investment from the sluggish mining industry to boost supply. Copper alone requires $250 billion of growth capital by 2030 to meet demand, according to Mike Henry, chief executive of BHP, the world's largest mining company.
China's control also extends to the extraction of raw materials for rare earths and graphite, creating even greater challenges for Western economies to turn to other suppliers should relations with Beijing deteriorate. China has shown a willingness to politicize supply chains, introducing restrictions on key chipmaking materials, gallium and germanium, in August in response to Dutch plans to limit the sale of high-end semiconductor manufacturing equipment to Chinese companies. . EU Commissioner Thierry Breton followed the US warning, saying Brussels needs to reverse the trend of relocating industry outside the bloc to decarbonise due to the “new geopolitics of supply chains”. "We are now clear in the EU that we cannot replace dependence on fossil fuels with that on raw materials," he said. “We know that someone can use these facilities as a weapon against us.