Mining market a clean energy concern

Demand for lithium, cobalt expected to rise 12-fold under Paris agreement

WASHINGTON — For close to a century, American politicians have fretted over oil supplies, worrying a war in the Middle East could cut off their supplies and result in skyrocketing energy costs.

With the United States producing record amounts of crude and shifting rapidly toward cleaner forms of energy, such scenarios are becoming less likely by the year. But just as quickly they are being replaced by questions about how the nation will secure the vast supplies of rare metals and minerals it will need for to build wind turbines, solar panels and lithium-ion car batteries in the decades ahead.

The vast majority of those rare minerals used in clean energy technologies come from overseas, often produced by Chinese firms operating in developing nations in Africa and Asia. In the midst of a trade fight with China, there is increasing concern in Washington about the security of that supply chain.

“We’re heavily or entirely dependent on foreign suppliers for dozens of these commodities,” Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said in a hearing this week. “We don’t have guaranteed supplies, much less stockpiles or even strategic reserves, to cover ourselves in the event of a shortage.”

Right now markets for many of these minerals are oversupplied, after mining firms rushed to develop new production in expectation of increasing demand as nations shift away from fossil fuels.

But that is unlikely to last for long. China and Europe are enacting policies to speed up the adoption of electric cars, and power grids around the globe are investing in wind turbines and solar panels.

for his campaign.

Trump continued to try to paint a dark picture of the Chinese economy ahead of talks that resume next month in Washington.

Negotiators from the two countries are also engaging in discussions over the next two weeks to lay the groundwork for the October session.

“China is being affected very badly. We’re not,” Trump insisted.

It’s true that China’s economy is decelerating, slowed by Trump’s taxes on Chinese imports and by Beijing’s deliberate campaign to combat runaway debts. Still, the International Monetary Fund expects the Chinese economy to grow 6.2 percent this year.

Morrison said Australia has benefited greatly from China’s economic growth. At the same time, he said, once China’s economy got to a certain level, “then you need to be obviously playing to the same rules as those other developed nations.”

Meanwhile, the United States Trade Representative updated and expanded its list of products coming from China temporarily excluded from import duties.

The hundreds of products listed include such things as parts for automatic teller machines, power supply cables for airplanes, drone parts, drinking straws and electronically propelled skateboards.

Trump also emphasized the importance of passing a new trade agreement with Canada and Mexico.

“Hopefully that’s going to be put up to a vote very soon,” Trump said. “We need that for our country.”