Lithium supply scenario to improve with upcoming projects

Abstract

Lithium is considered to play acrucial role in fueling the green energy revolution of the worldthrough the Lithium ion battery technology. Rapid decrease in the cost of batteries in the last decade has opened up the demand from the automobile and power sector. Though the demand of lithium is expected to multiple around 5 times of the current demand by 2025, the supply side is considered to be a bottleneck. Lithium reserves arelimited and in addition the top foursuppliers constitutearound 83percentof the total supply market which has increased the prices in recent years.This article discusses on the lithium supply chain market and itsimpact on the price and end user industrieswith focus onbatteries market.

Introduction

Globally,greenhouse gas emissionshavebeen on the rise rapidly due to the overexploitation of the fossil fuels in the last century,thus leading to climate change.This has led to a demand for increase in the share of cleanenergy in the primary energy consumption. Automobile and energysectorsare amongthe biggest greenhousegas emittersand alsothe major sectorswhere application of lithium is expected to play a major role in cutting down the greenhouse gas emissions through battery storage technology.

Lithium ion-batteries are considered to bethe most efficient batteries due to their high electrochemical potential. The evolution of lithium ion-battery technology in last decade was one of the key factors in accelerating the demand of lithium.Batteries which accounted for less than 5 percentof the consumption in 2001, has increased to 39percentof the consumption in2015. Ceramics or glass is the second largest consumer with 24percent. By 2025,the battery market alone is expected to account for 70percentof the total consumption.