By Dudley Kingsnorth, IMCOA, and Chris Reed, Reed Resources
This article will be published in IM October 2011 as part of the Critical Materials for Green Energy special.
The profiles of lithium and vanadium have increased significantly over the last five years owing to their use in emerging battery technologies. The movement to cleaner, green economies relies on a reduction in fossil fuel consumption, particularly oil and gas. In order to achieve this, industry and governments are turning to battery storage of to make new sources electricity sources – such as wind and solar – more manageable. The rise of battery technology over the last decade has seen designs that are increasingly based on the minerals, lithium and vanadium. But as the technology adoption gathers pace, the supply of these critical minerals is a risk of falling short. Lithium In 2010 the size of global lithium industry (including both chemicals and...