The Market Chronicles

The electricity system in the UK is undergoing a substantial and rapid transition. It has the most significant installed wind power generation capacity, has effectively halted coal-fired electricity generation, and has reported a 20% decline in sales since the COVID-19 pandemic started. Nonetheless, this shift from traditional, dependable coal to weather-dependent solar and wind generation poses mounting pressure in balancing electricity market forces. It is where vast storage technologies on a grid-scale may help monitor and buffer production and consumption, and enhance grid control.

Recently, the Government announced the elimination of planning obstacles to the construction of energy storage facilities over 50 MW in England and 350 MW in Wales. The Government thinks, would require a substantial new capacity to be built for storing electricity. In the planning phase, the UK currently provides 1GW of active battery storage units with a further 13.5GW of battery mega - projects. The state intervention tends to create a planning climate that might allow the United Kingdom to meet its Net zero emission of carbon target by 2050. It could happen either through a high percentage of large-scale, centralized renewable generation or through more like a focus on smaller community initiatives such as solar panels and wind turbines owned locally. 

Since the United Kingdom has switched from carbon fuels to renewable power production, Carbon dioxide emissions from the energy production market have dropped to 25% in 2019 from over 40 % of the overall UK in 1990. It implies that the transportation sector has become the largest emitter, with a third of all the UK Carbon dioxide emissions generated. It has resulted in an increasing emphasis on the incorporation of all autonomous cars and hybrid vehicles. Because only one in ten vehicles sold in the United Kingdom falls into these classes, there seems to be a way of reducing the influence of diesel and petrol vehicles.

Yet autonomous motors might also contribute to making electricity generation greener. Once an electric car is plugged in to re-charge, it mainly needs access to its battery by the power grid. Once you’ve all plugged in several vehicles at once, they produce a massive aggregated battery shop.

In conclusion, so while the UK government is right that the national grid needs more energy storage to help the transition toward more renewable energy production, the solution is not merely an emphasis on building massive, costly batteries. Alternatively, electric vehicles may encourage the British people to easily share their automobiles, helping to create a safer, more selfless post-COVID environment.

Electric vehicles are on the verge of capturing the global market share. UNCTAD forecasts a purchase of over 20 million electric cars in this upcoming decade. The UN body also estimates rise to $58 billion from $7 billion of the car batteries required to run these cars in the next four years. 

The transition from ICE cars to electric-powered cars is part of the strategy in minimizing carbon emissions and other harmful gaseous emissions that challenge the global climate. A study by UNCTAD reveals that the raw materials for the EV batteries are nucleated in a few countries, making this venture an apple of discord. 

For instance, 67% of cobalt is deep-seated at the heart of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). UNICEF reports that 20% of this cobalt is bought from artisanal mines. This UN body narrates how children are employed to work in these life-threatening mines for a measly income, thereby undermining human rights. 

Elsewhere, lithium excavation in Chile utilizes approximately two-thirds of the water in Salar de Atamaca region mapping the region among the driest areas globally. The water forces out the brine in riveted wells. This move has sequestered the farmers and herders, making them vacate their ancestral lands. The excavation has generally degraded the ground in this region, defaced the landscape, and polluted the underground water. 

UNCTAD’s director of international trade, Pamela Coke-Hamilton, admits that the countries that furnish the EV industry with these raw materials will benefit from trade. This statement is true because there is an increased need for raw materials in the EV industry. But, these countries are left as beggars without the ability to grow their chain value. 

For instance, DRC requires the development of processing plants and refineries so that the citizens can benefit from employment opportunities. Nonetheless, since these countries have insufficient resources and leadership skills to initiate such projects, the purification process for these raw materials is shifted to developed countries, thereby benefiting their economies. 

The UNCTAD report exhorts that countries like DRC should develop mines and refineries for these processes to attract more investment. The body also directs that the EV industry should devise new materials to model the batteries to minimize the pressure they exert on the countries with these scarce resources. Thus, researchers are working on the probability of utilizing the abundant silicon in place of graphite. 

UNCTAD submits that reduced dependence on these nucleated resources will lower the cost of batteries, thereby escalating the uptake of Evs instead of ICE cars. 

Finally, concerning environmental problems associated with mining the batteries’ raw materials, the UN body advocates for research on reliable mining methods and the utilization of the raw materials. These recommendations will counter the demand problem and open new commercial opportunities.