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Search is on For Cobalt-Free Batteries As Metal Gets Increasingly Rare and Expensive (technologyreview.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Conamix, a little-known startup based in Ithaca, New York, has raised several million dollars to accelerate its development of cobalt-free materials for lithium-ion batteries, the latest sign that companies are eager to find alternatives to the increasingly rare and expensive metal. The problem: The price of cobalt has more than doubled in recent months, as global demand skyrockets for the lithium-ion batteries that power electric vehicles and smartphones. It's also being driven up by the fact that the metal is mined primarily in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where labor and corruption issues are rife. Earlier this year, the nation decided to raise royalties on cobalt and other metals.
Given the ambitious expansion plans of lithium-ion producers, the world will face cobalt shortages by the early 2020s, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance. This is keeping prices of lithium-ion batteries high and preventing major automakers from lining up long-term supply deals on favorable terms. The mounting threat to electric-vehicle growth has prompted a growing number of companies to explore other solutions.
Given the ambitious expansion plans of lithium-ion producers, the world will face cobalt shortages by the early 2020s, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance. This is keeping prices of lithium-ion batteries high and preventing major automakers from lining up long-term supply deals on favorable terms. The mounting threat to electric-vehicle growth has prompted a growing number of companies to explore other solutions.
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i've mentioned this before, on other articles that mention lithium batteries and electric vehicles. cobalt is not the only element involved that's in short supply: there isn't enough copper, there isn't enough neodymium, and lithium is a material that explodes when brought into contact with air and water. copper piping and wiring is already stolen from buildings and from church roofs.
neodymium, i don't know if you've ever investigated how it's refined, but it's a radioactive-decay byproduct, meaning that it's only found in amongst *radioactive* deposits (where do you think those are dumped?) and the actual refining itself requires a THOUSAND LITRES of boiling sulphuric acid per 1kg of neodymium. the black market factory photos from remote places in china are shocking... chimney stacks just dumping sulphuric acid fumes directly into the air, and the waste dumped in the nearest river, poisoning the local environment for hundreds of miles downstream.
and we have western governments, whose populations of course do not live anywhere near these mines and factories in Congo or China, banning diesel cars on the basis that they "create pollution", i mean.. .i'm really shocked by the total lack of understanding and appreciation of the true consequences of tthese "environmentally-friendly" decisions.
i've been trying for many years now, but i honestly have absolutely no idea how to get this across to people that we need to trim down the *amount* of materials needed in vehicles. Category L7e "Heavy Quadricycles" such as Riversimple's design concept, the Renault Twizzy and so on, these are perfect: tuned up these small sub-350kg vehicles can go nearly110km/h (70mph), just like some quad-bikes, and that's with only 25HP!
the concept is called "Mass Decompounding", you don't need power-assisted brakes, you don't need power-steering, you can use cross-radial hard silicon compound tires which will last 80,000 miles and have a rolling resistance coeffficient three times less than a standard tire... *all because of the dramatically-reduced weight*. and that reduced weight means a smaller engine, and if it's hybrid or electric it means a smaller battery.
This is why I always wondered why electric car enthusiasts just automatically assumed that battery prices would just keep dropping and dropping. Sometimes as you use more and more of a material or resource, it may begin to become scarcer, thus actually RAISING the price.
Aluminum can be substituted for copper.
Neodymium is used in NiMH batteries, which are on the way out. Lithium batteries don't use it.
Lithium in lithium ion batteries doesn't explode. That's usually the electrolyte, although if you overcharge them you can get reactive lithium to plate out.
a,e,i,o,u and sometimes w and y (at be if of up cwm by)
Just so people know:
1) The "whistleblower" he refers to is the confessed sabateur.
2) The 9% was a mix of middle management and the being-phased-out Solar City sales division (Tesla's solar division is switching to an exclusive focus on solar roofing products). Tesla has long been criticized for spending too much on SG&A. But of course, expect the shorts to make a fuss when they make SG&A cuts too.
3) The "fire" was something suspicious smouldering in a vent. No impact to production. BTW, I love how you guys focus on every incident, no matter how minor, at Tesla, and completely ignore every issue at every other place, no matter how major. For example, at BMW's SC plant, a worker died from having his head crunched up by a lift. Did you even hear about it?
4) The "tent" is a Sprung building. Cheap, fast, and can last for decades. They're popular for athletic buildings, warehouses, hangars, military applications, mining, etc. There was even one at "Ground Zero" in New York after the terrorist attacks. Reno Tahoe Airport used one for ticketing / checkin / baggage for years.
Re, #2 and #4: please decide on whether you think Tesla is spending too much money or too little so that your arguments can be consistent. Thanks!
I was watching this thing on TV about some guy named Hitler. Someone should stop him!
Indeed, their cathodes tested in at only 3% cobalt by weight, which is mind-bogglingly little. They've stated that they're quickly en route to using no or nearly-no cobalt. Based on the test results so far, I believe it.
I was watching this thing on TV about some guy named Hitler. Someone should stop him!
Permanent magnet motors - which Tesla and many others either use or are moving to - use gobs of neodymium and dysprosium. Typically 2-3 kg of neo magnets per motor.
Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
In the short term, that's the way it is. But the DRC produces under 60% (still too much) of the world's supply, not 100%. Most other producers just make cobalt as a byproduct of copper and nickel.
Cobalt has other uses, pigment, alloying steel, 'superalloys' and matrix for tungsten-carbide. https://www.statista.com/stati...
8800 metric tons/year in the USA, 'Batteries' didn't even make the chart for end uses in 2015.
I agree, the DRC haven't started any world wars. We should just continue watching the Europeans, closely.
John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
Or maybe it’s time to stop being racist and actually bring proper jobs housing food and sanitation to African countries if you want their raw materials.
It's the corruption and dictatorship that keeps people poor. Japan has few resources but is economically free with rule of law to protect investments from robbers and corruption, so people can respond to needs.
In places like this, you need kickback permission to do anything, and if you manage that, have to give a cut to the kleptocrats. Or it's a failed state and you just close up shop because of armed looting robbery. The kleptocrats may keep your competitors out of business, which is the opposite of a free market.
It's difficult and dangerous and low reward to start an enterprise there.
It has nothing to do with quality of government marshalling of a desirable resource. No resources needed to lift a society out of dirt-floor poverty.
(-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
Raw materials are pretty marginal component of battery cost and there is material shortages only at current prices. Plenty more available at higher cost, which battery manufacturers can take without much impact to end price. Currently we are exploiting raw materials that are so cheap, that batteries are not even worth recycling. And bullocks on Neodynium, it's not rare at all, it's just that China has eaten everyone else out of market by using cheapest possible methods to mine it and saturating the market.
What does Uranium, Nickel, Cobalt, and Radon spell? UNiCoRn!
What's the best formula for breakfast? Barium, Cobalt, and Nitrogen (BaCoN)
Perhaps not as cheaply as the Chinese process, but my understanding of what MolyCorp are doing suggests that you can indeed refine Neodymium without dumping sulfuric acid into rivers.
https://cen.acs.org/articles/9...
This isn't so much an issue with Neodymium but with the fact that we tend to buy materials from wherever they are cheapest and without a second thought for the externalized costs that went into producing them.
Radioactivity certainly is an issue if it winds up in wastewater, but if the radioactive elements can be isolated then I can't really see the issue with dumping them in the same environment. The processing is solvent based and it's not like we've "made more" radioactivity than was in the natural environment to start with..
To correct the parent, Telsa claims at least part of the effort in Cobalt reduction is their own innovations as they have their own staff assigned to Battery technology working in Tandem with Panasonic. Musk has specifically claimed the next generation battery will be entirely cobalt free and the 3% figure comes from an independent teardown by Volkwagen's technologies group.
This gives Tesla a MASSIVE advantage in battery production by eliminating one of the most expensive components (which is seeing huge price gains as well) in L-Ion batteries. Given this Cobalt free production they could undercut worldwide battery prices by 20% or more, which they haven't been doing as they are simply absorbing the extra profit..
Can't switch back to brush driven motors like have been used for hundreds of years and are still used in lots of places eh?
The only reason they use Neodymium brushless motors is because the neodymium is so cheap, the second it gets expensive they'll be back to standard motors in no time at all. The rise of brushless motors was directly tied to Chinese subsidies in the rare earth production that cratered the price of rare earth material and made the neodymium so cheap they couldn't justify using brushes that need to be replaced every few years.
Wikipedia doesn't seem to agree with you:
"Although neodymium is classed as a rare earth, it is a fairly common element, no rarer than cobalt, nickel, or copper, and is widely distributed in the Earth's crust."
There does seem to be illegal mining going on in China, but that's not a problem with the element, per se.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
The other often used way is fractioned fluorid cristallization, which uses hydrofluoric acid, not sulphuric acid.
And Neodymium like all Lanthanoids can be found in Rare Earth deposits, together with other Rare Earths like Praseodymium or Samarium. Maybe you are confusing Neodymium (atomic number 60) with Promethium (atomic number 61), which indeed was discovered as a fission product of Uranium?
"Rare earth elements" are not rare. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
And particularly Neodymium is extremely common.
Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
Right now, China is trying hard to control Cobalt by buying up mines all over (like they did with REMs) and spreading lots of lies.
BUT, The Phillipines, along with Canada and Australia, all have plenty of Cobalt to last another decade for all batteries. IOW, if they took over 100% of all cobalt mining, they would still have an easy 10+ years. So, even with China trying to control this, they really can not. What is HAPPENING is that China is manipulating the stock prices and only idiots will buy into this garbage.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
Little tubes that produce power through a chemical process. Usually used to power portable devices and machines.