- EV and renewable energy are progressing, but we are far away from having the necessary technology to make these the widespread standards.
The renewable energy push is real and progressing daily. The global fleet of electric vehicles is expected to reach 125M by 2030. Today there are roughly 3M EVs on the roads globally. Solar energy is expected to become a top source of energy production in developed nations like Germany.
Panels and EVs are reliant on batteries to store the energy once it has been drawn from the sun or recharged from an EV charging stations. This brings up the importance of lithium and energy storage.
Lithium is an essential component of the renewable energy future because of its use in batteries that store electricity and energy. Thanks to its lightweight and highly reactive properties, lithium is a necessity for renewable energy to work on a grand scale. It’s currently used in the batteries of EVs and the battery storage components of solar panels.
When discussing the future of renewable energy, lithium’s scarcity is overlooked. If all the conventionally-fueled cars in the world were replaced with electric cars overnight, the global supply of lithium would be completely depleted in just approximately fifty years.
While both electric vehicles and renewable energy resources are still very far away from being widespread enough to threaten the world’s lithium stores in the near future, lithium itself is not really the point. It’s just one small problem that exemplifies a larger issue with renewable resources–they are not completely renewable, and we still haven’t discovered the technology to get around that fact.
Renewable energy still relies on several non-renewable resources. Solar panels, for example, can’t be made without the use of finite rare earth elements. Batteries, too, are completely dependent on finite earth-sourced materials for their fabrication.
Bottom line: EV and renewable energy are progressing, but we are far away from having the necessary technology to make these the widespread standards.
Article by: Francisco Cortez – Delgado
I graduated from Queen’s University with a Master’s of Political Studies. The intertwined world of politics and economics intrigue me. My favourite stories to cover are the ones that show how a few selected officials can impact nationwide macro-economic policies. I also follow the broader markets and FOREX.