Energy costs to surge ‘unless West breaks China’s grip’
HOUSEHOLDS face higher bills unless Western governments can break China’s stranglehold over critical minerals needed for the green energy transition, Dominic Raab has warned.
The former foreign secretary, who also served as Rishi Sunak’s deputy prime minister, said Beijing’s efforts to dominate materials used to make wind turbines, solar panels and electric vehicles (EVS) risked pushing up prices for the rest of the world.
He also warned that without “a quantum leap” in efforts to secure independent supplies of their own, the UK and other Western countries risked missing their net zero targets.
Rising costs for raw materials would push up production costs for green energy technologies, raising the risk that these could be passed on to governments and taxpayers through higher energy bills or consumer prices.
Mr Raab said: “If you talk about the green transition, we can’t do any of that stuff without the lithium, the graphite and the other critical minerals needed to power the wind turbines, solar panels and EV batteries.
“It’s not a free market, if you have such concentration of both production and refinement of these critical minerals [in China].
“So what will happen? Well, either the price will go up – and that will cost us all, taxpayers and business – or we just won’t meet the targets to reach net zero by 2050.”
Mr Raab’s comments came as he joined private equity firm Appian Capital, which invests in mining, as a geopolitical adviser.
He is also set to chair a new committee formed by Appian and SAFE (Securing America’s Future Energy), a non-profit group that advises the US Government on energy security policy.
Despite lacking reserves of critical minerals, China has come to dominate refining as it processes about 70pc of the world’s cobalt, 70pc of its nickel and 60pc of its battery-grade lithium, as well as 40pc of its copper.
A Department for Business and Trade spokesman said: “Given the global race for critical minerals we’re taking decisive action to ensure we have resilient domestic supply chains that give our businesses the long-term certainty they need.”