Exchanging our EU dependence on Russia for Oil for a dependence on China for Clean Tech

Now we have it in red and white: The EU has exchanged dependence on Russian fossil Energy for dependence on China in #cleantechnologies. From #solar and #wind to #heatpumps and #batteries for #electric cars, between 50% - 90%+ come from China (see red bar).

Energy sector demand for five key critical minerals – copper, lithium, cobalt, nickel and rare earth elements – is expected to quadruple by 2030. An even more striking projection made: extraction of the materials needed in the next 30 years is equivalent to the total amount of materials extracted since the dawn of humanity

A typical electric car requires six times the mineral inputs of a conventional car, with lithium, nickel, cobalt, manganese and graphite crucial to battery performance, longevity and energy density. An onshore wind plant requires nine times more mineral resources than a gas-fired plant, with rare earth elements essential to the production of the permanent magnets needed not just for wind turbines, but for EV motors as well. Electricity networks also need a huge amount of aluminum, while copper is crucial to all electricity-related technologies.