U.S. power chief involved about China’s important minerals dominance

U.S. Power Secretary Jennifer Granholm on Wednesday stated the nation is “very concerned” about China’s grip on the worldwide provide chain for important minerals.

Her feedback come amid skyrocketing demand for minerals and uncooked supplies very important to the power transition. The top-use of metals reminiscent of nickel, copper, lithium and cobalt are wide-ranging and embrace electrical autos, wind generators and photo voltaic panels.

China is the undisputed chief within the important minerals provide chain, accounting for roughly 60% of the world’s manufacturing of uncommon earth minerals and supplies. U.S. officers have beforehand warned that this poses a strategic problem amid a pivot to low-carbon power sources.

“It’s one of the pieces of the supply chain that we’re very concerned about in the United States. We do not want to be over reliant on countries whose values we may not share,” Granholm instructed CNBC’s Silvia Amaro on Wednesday when requested about China’s dominance as a important minerals provider.

Talking on the sidelines of Worldwide Power Company’s 2024 Ministerial Assembly in Paris, France, Granholm stated the U.S. was within the means of updating its personal rules, together with a 150-year-old mining law to make sure the “sustainable and efficient” extraction of important minerals.

“But it also means that we will be partnering with friends, like Australia, like Canada, and it’s one of the subjects that we are raising here at the International Energy Agency,” Granholm stated.

“We know all countries want to ensure that we have a critical stockpile of critical minerals and that we are allowed to diversify the supplies of those stockpiles. Both internationally and domestically, this is a focus of ours.”

As a part of a speedy uptick in demand for important minerals, the IEA has warned that right now’s provide falls brief of what’s wanted to rework the power sector. That is as a result of there’s a comparatively excessive geographical focus of the manufacturing of many power transition components.

Most uncommon earth reserves are located in China, for instance, whereas Vietnam, Brazil and Russia are additionally main uncommon earths international locations primarily based on reserve quantity.

Requested how rapidly the U.S. can increase cooperation and manufacturing to make sure it does not lose out within the important minerals race, Granholm replied: “Cooperation can be addressed quickly. Production in the United States will take a little bit longer.”

“We feel very strongly though that both extraction and processing of those critical minerals have to be addressed, either by the United States or our allies. And that’s why we are working very closely to ensure that we have identified which raw materials [or] critical minerals we need to be able to do our transition to a clean energy economy.”