BRUSSELS -
The European Commission wants to increase production in the Union of raw materials needed for renewables.
The Financial Times reveals it.
According to plans, still in its infancy, the barriers to the extraction and production of critical materials such as lithium, cobalt and graphite, necessary for wind farms, solar panels and electric vehicles, would be lowered.
"Demand is increasing dramatically due to the digital and green transition of our society, but too often we are almost entirely dependent on imports,
while the geopolitics of supply chains is increasingly unstable," says the EU Internal Market Commissioner.
Thierry Breton.
This would require an "open debate" on more extraction, processing, refining and recycling in Europe, explains Breton.
"We prefer to import from third countries and close our eyes to the environmental and social impact, not to mention the carbon footprint of imports. But mining in Europe doesn't have to be a dirty business."
The City newspaper recalls the case of the large lithium reserves in Portugal and the Barroso mine in the north-east of the country, which was supposed to start lithium production for electric vehicle batteries in 2020, but pending environmental approval. the date has been postponed several times.
The Commission is thus working on a bill on raw materials aimed at stimulating EU production.
Ideas include identifying key strategic projects with accelerated authorizations, or a one-stop shop for project authorizations or measures to accelerate national processes in some cases.
According to the Commission,
around 22% of EU energy production in 2020 came from renewable sources, with the aim of rising to 32% by 2030, or even up to 45% according to the request of the Industry Committee of the European Parliament. .
By
2030, EU demand for rare earths for wind turbines will increase fivefold, with global supply only doubling.
The demand for lithium is expected to be 60 times higher than current consumption by 2050, that for cobalt and graphite 15 times higher.
