Deep down territory of Ukrainebelow the ongoing Russia waris a huge, untapped mineral wealth which could be the “key” to a profitable future of green energy for this Eastern European country.
Ukrainian researchers have estimated that on the east side of the country there are almost 500,000 tons of lithium oxidea source of lithium that is important for production of batteries for electric cars. This preliminary assessment, if applicable, makes Ukraine one of the countries with the largest lithium reserves in the world.
However Russian invasion came the time when Ukraine, under President Volodymyr Zelenskywas preparing to enter as a big player in the transition to clean energy – a development for the country that for a long time had built its economy on coal, iron, titanium and other old industries.
At the end of last year, Ukraine began to auction research permits for the development of its reserves in lithium, as well as in copper, cobalt and nickel. All of these natural resources are important for clean energy technology and the transition from fossil fuels, with scientists saying it is essential to guard against the worst effects of climate change.
The move was “strategically important for establishing Ukraine on the international stage, in a new role,” he said last May. Roman Opimakh, head of the State Geological Survey of Ukraine.
Ukraine’s capacity for lithium production had begun to attract global attention. In November, the European Lithiuma company from Australiastated that he secured the rights for two promising lithium reserves in his area Donetsk, in Eastern Ukraineand to Kirovogradin the center of the country. In the same month, the Chinese company Chengxin Lithium It also applied for inventory rights in Donetsk and Kirovograd, according to media reports, a move that would give it a first springboard in Europe. Neither company responded to requests for comment.
Although lithium it is not uncommonis currently virtually irreplaceable in batteries and in demand has risen sharply as electric cars have become more popular, with automakers looking to secure enough stock. Lithium prices have risen by up to 600% in the last year.
There are concerns that the global supply of lithium, as well as other important metals for the transition to clean energy, is controlled by some countries. THE Chinathe Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Australia constitute the ¾ world lithium production, cobalt and of rare rocks.
“It may not have been the motive for the invasion, but there is a reason why Ukraine is so important to Russia. And that is its mineral wealth. “The invasion put metals in the game,” he said Rod Schoonover, lead scientist at the Ecological Futures Group.
Copyright: 2022 The New York Times
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