Page 98 - Impiantitica industriale

RENEWABLE ENERGY

Countries to profit billion (A$13 billion) government post-pandemic
Finland and Portugal are two countries in a position bailout of the car sector.
to profit from this policy shift. Finland already has
all the raw materials needed to produce the power
packs they need in a sustainable manner. It is the Green critics
only European country with cobalt mines, although The plan is not without its critics.
others have untapped reserves: Spain, Sweden,
and possibly Cyprus, Slovakia, Austria, Czech Re- Green pressure group the European Environmental
public, Germany, Italy and Poland. One of its mines Bureau (EEB) warned that “simply opening the flo-
uses “a unique and energy-efficient way to extract od gates to new mining projects would contradict
metals with about 40 per cent less greenhouse the Commission’s ambition to keep resource con-
gas emissions and 20 per cent less energy con- sumption within planetary boundaries, as set out in
sumption than the average for nickel production”, the circular economy action plan.”
according to an EU report.
“What we need is more efficient, recyclable and du-
Finland, which opened a lithium-ion battery assem- rable batteries produced from responsibly sourced
bly plant in 2019, also aims to be carbon neutral materials to alleviate the burden on the planet,”
by 2035, a target shared by Sweden and Norway. said its resource efficiency expert Jean-Pierre
A €5.8 billion (U$ 9.42 billion) project called BAT- Schweitzer.
TRACE will guarantee the supply chain sustaina- Friends of the Earth Europe denounced the stra-
bility credentials of these raw materials going into tegy as “a desperate plunder for raw materials –
battery production, seemingly at any cost” and warned that the plan
coordinated by the Technical Research Centre of risks “gifting industry further influence over policy-
Finland (VTT) and Geological Survey making”.
of Finland.
The Commission has said it wants to use its Hori-
“If it was possible to trace the production chain of zon Europe R&D funding stream to clean up mining
battery materials from the battery and production processes, but unfortunately its
plant all the way to the mine, certification could budget has been slashed in 2021-2027.
be given to sustainably produced batteries,” said
VTT’s Päivi Kinnunen. “This would give mines and
metal refineries with responsible operating practi- Car industry must go electric
ces a competitive advantage, which would encou- to receive bailouts
rage the European production chain to develop
and grow.” As part of their bailouts for the sector, which has
suffered catastrophic collapses of sales due to the
Sweden’s Northvolt company has recently begun pandemic, Spain, Germany and France are obli-
construction of a battery “Gigafactory”, and gone gating their carmakers to increase electric vehicle
into partnership with aluminium producer Hydro to production; Spain will churn out at least 700,000
take the usable components from old batteries and per year. They are also giving motorists incentives
recycle them. to either buy a cleaner car or trade in their old mo-
del for a new one.
France is also constructing a battery factory in the
south west. Its Renault and Citroen automotive EVs’ prices will continue to fall as the costs of bat-
companies have been obligated to join the Battery teries decline. According to Bloomberg NEF’s Elec-
Alliance if they want to receive their part of an €8 tric Vehicle Outlook, electric car and combustion

92 Impiantistica Italiana - Marzo-Aprile 2021