Report source: ABC News
"If you want to compare an EV battery to cooking, we have all the ingredients to make a delicious cake in our pantry," Ms Britt, a director at Geoscience Australia, said.
"And the challenge for Australia … is 'Do we want to continue doing what we've been doing … selling some of those ingredients to cake makers overseas, or do we want to take that next step?'
"'Maybe make the cake batter here in Australia and then send it out for cooking, or do we want to go the whole hog and invest in a new oven and make and bake the cake ourselves right here in Australia?'
"That's where we are with the battery situation right now."
Across the world, the uptake of electric vehicles, or EVs, is accelerating as car makers and consumers embrace the technology and governments seek to decarbonise transport.
In Europe sales of EVs have overtaken diesel vehicles — a situation seemingly unthinkable a few years ago.
EVs made up 20 per cent of sales in Europe in 2021, 15 per cent in China and 5 per cent in the US, with expectations of big jumps again this year, according to Bloomberg.
The trend has even seen car manufacturers directly investing in mining companies to shore up their access to essential battery minerals.
This latest vehicle transition looms as the biggest change to personal transport since the internal combustion engine replaced the horse-drawn carriage.
The key question is: Will Australia capitalise on its natural resources advantage to become a superpower in the EV revolution?
Brisbane, Queensland – 3 February 2023 – Airlie Energy announced today that it had successfully flowed gas from the Moranbah Coal Measures in both Mt St Martin 3 and Mount St Martin 4 vertical wells in ATP688.
Queensland will be home to the world’s “largest” pumped hydro scheme and stop “regular reliance” on coal by 2035, under a $62 billion energy plan announced by the Palaszczuk government.
Australian mining is uniquely well-placed to capitalise on the EV revolution.
