U.S. companies and U.S. workers will capture less than 30% of the value of domestically consumed lithium ion battery cells, under present conditions.
This is a problem – an insufficient domestic supply chain inhibits battery manufacture and development of downstream industry clusters.
The US DOE-convened Li-Bridge initiative brought government labs and North American industry associations together to devise visioning, challenges, and strategies for the domestic lithium ion battery supply chain.
Their February report “Building a Robust and Resilient U.S. Lithium Battery Supply Chain” can be found here:
https://lnkd.in/eWY5QcZT
Top 3 challenges:
🤜🏽 Insufficient Return on Investment on Long-Term Projects
🤜🏽 Lack of Access to Critical Minerals and Raw and Processed Energy Materials
🤜🏽 Lengthy and uncertain timelines to secure permits and project approval, especially upstream
Recommendations are made under the following objectives to address these and other challenges:
👉🏽 Improve investment attractiveness of U.S.-based lithium battery technology and material production through expanded and better designed supply- and demand-side incentives
👉🏽 Support research, enable product and business model innovation, and accelerate pathways to commercialization through investments in R&D and validation & scaling capabilities
👉🏽 Help U.S. companies secure access to critical minerals, energy material supplies (virgin and recycled, domestic-and foreign-sourced) and low-carbon infrastructure
👉🏽 Address know-how gaps by investing in workforce training
👉🏽 Establish an enduring U.S. public-private partnership to support the development of a robust and sustainable lithium battery supply chain in North America
Some immediate next steps for key stakeholders:
✔ Permitting reform
✔ Unified battery recycling schema
✔ Industry-informed IRA implementation rules
✔ Funding for pre-commercial battery production facilities