The war in Eastern Europe is reinforcing the reality we cannot rely on non-renewable energy. That’s because scarce minerals distribute unevenly across Earth’s surface, and moreover they are in limited supply. However, sun, tide, and wind move across Earth’s surface abundantly. This is why they, and not scarce minerals are our only counter to relentless global warming.
Nickel Prices Doubled in One Day Last Week
The nickel mineral plays a significant role in cathodes for electric cars. This is a price sensitive industry where cost and performance matter. Major production sites are in Canada, New Caledonia 750 miles east of Australia in the Pacific Ocean, and Russia.
The New York Times (NYT) reported on March 18, 2022 the price of nickel doubled last week beginning March 7, 2022. This caused the London Metal Exchange ‘to freeze trading and effectively bring the global nickel market to a standstill’.
NYT continues ‘The episode provided more evidence of how geopolitical tensions are destroying trading relationships companies once took for granted. This is forcing them to rethink where they get the parts and metals they use to make cars.’
A Sober Warning We Cannot Rely on Non-Renewable Energy
Hopefully this may only be a temporary dysfunction in the nickel market. None the less, it is an unavoidable fact the global supply of the metal is not open ended. And moreover open-cast nickel mining is bad news for the environment and climate shift.
‘An average electric-car battery contains about 80 pounds of nickel’ according to trading firm Cantor Fitzgerald. ‘The surge in prices in March would more than double the cost of that nickel to $1,750 a car.’
We cannot rely on non-renewable energy forever as if there were no tomorrow. We need to remind ourselves of our human fallibility, and the need to resolve global warming together.
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