cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/49702325

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More than 90% of the materials currently used in lithium-ion batteries come from mining, a process with substantial environmental impact and concentrated geographic risk. When any dominant power imposes export controls — as China did recently with its sudden critical mineral export restrictions — or restricts processing, or experiences supply disruptions, the entire global economy is negatively impacted, and the West’s clean energy agenda is put at risk. Recent export controls on materials such as graphite anodes and refined lithium clearly demonstrated how shifting industrial policy in one region can ripple instantly through global energy systems.

The US and Europe cannot sustain, much less accelerate, technological innovation without a robust, renewable, domestically-controlled energy supply. The EV revolution cannot gain momentum if automakers face tariff shocks or supply uncertainty. Grid storage, increasingly critical to global AI advancement, cannot be scaled with confidence if critical materials are blocked or flow unpredictably. Data centers, transportation, and the industrial backbone of decarbonization all depend on battery supply chains that today rest on an increasingly shaky foundation of geopolitical convenience.

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