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Because shortages are not just a concept, but a reality, France is putting itself in battle order to secure its supplies of critical mineral raw materials for the 2030 horizon, in particular those used to manufacture batteries.
The next world will be carbon-free, but rich in metals! This finding alone justifies the approach launched by France, because it is because the shortages and delays of supply have affected the industrial sector so much that the authorities decided last fall to reflect on concrete actions. so that 2030 is not a nightmare for the major French technological sectors involved in the energy transition.
The scenario of growing dependence has in fact already been written: by this time, the demand for copper will be multiplied by two that of nickel by three, that of lithium by four and the same for certain rare earths. Tensions which will be global before being French or European.
But some will be better off: ” China took a 20-year lead in controlling battery supply chains», Explains Philippe Varin, the French expert mandated to reflect on the subject. Thanks to its investments in rare earths, it produces in particular 90% of the magnets on the planet which are necessary for the construction of electric motors and in particular wind turbines.
The proposals emerging from the Varin report
Knowing that at the end of the decade a maximum of a third of needs might be met by European suppliers and knowing that recycling will have little effect in meeting the explosion in demand, the author of the Varin report made several concrete proposals.
The first is the constitution of an investment fund in strategic metals. The idea is in particular to secure supplies to European industrialists by acquiring a stake in mining, refining, or even transformation and recycling projects.
Another decision, the establishment of an observatory of critical metals, and the appointment of a ministerial delegate to secure the supply of strategic metals. Not to mention support for research to reflect on the next generations of batteries. The nickel industry is particularly concerned, “it will probably be the most innovative», Explains the French expert, nickel also being perhaps the element whose availability will also be the most worrying between now and 2025.
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