Rhiannon Hoyle of The Wall Street Journal tells her readers that a New Zealand startup is turning forestry scraps (wood chips) into graphite, designated a critical mineral in the U.S. and the European Union, and is a key component in the making of lithium-ion batteries. The project is aimed to reduce China’s dominance in graphite. She writes:
Ivan Williams reckons he can help to break China’s dominance of a key ingredient of electric-vehicle batteries. To do so, he has been collecting wood chips from sawmills around the world.
At a test plant in New Zealand’s picturesque Marlborough wine region, Williams and his team feed the wood chips into machines that turn out a form of synthetic graphite. He says the engineered material is as pure as synthetic graphite made from fossil fuels, which is mostly produced in China and can account for as much as half of the weight of a lithium-ion battery.
That puts the company run by Williams, CarbonScape, on the front-line of efforts by developed countries to reduce their reliance on China for critical minerals that power the energy transition. Graphite has been designated a critical mineral in the U.S. and the European Union, where officials hope to encourage more mined production locally by helping to finance new projects.
“Our mission is to decarbonize the battery industry,” said Williams, who believes the technology can be used anywhere with enough wood scraps. “That solves some other problems, too, including localizing supply chains.”
China sent shock waves through battery metals markets in October when it said it would tighten export controls on graphite, citing national-security concerns. The country is estimated to produce 60% of the world’s natural graphite, mined from the earth, and 69% of synthetic graphite. It refines nearly all of the very pure graphite used in lithium-ion batteries. […]
“Graphite from biomass is certainly an interesting new supply route,” said James Willoughby, senior research analyst at Wood Mackenzie.
Unlike fossil fuels, biomass is a form of renewable energy—although critics of biofuels say they can lead to deforestation and question the way emissions are counted. CarbonScape’s process—which the company says doesn’t require additional trees to be cut down—emits some carbon dioxide but, as a whole, is carbon neutral at worst, according to Williams. The use of logging waste could play a role in maintaining forests, he said, which is an increasing priority of some governments as wildfires grow more intense due to climate change.
“Like with every new technology, it takes time to develop,” Williams said. “Then it takes time for industry to adopt.”
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