The Keystone XL Would Have Solved This Problem -- October 21, 2023

Locator: 45775EVS. 

From Reuters:

Disruptive:

• EVs: link here. Scorecard. 
• cash burn
  
• graphite
• not for me. "Energy transition is dead" is followed here.
  
• EVs charging.  

GRAPHITE: link here. 

• update: Barron's.
• as you read this article, just remember: the Keystone XL would have solved this problem

China’s stricter controls over graphite exports mean companies, including electric-vehicle makers such as Tesla, will have to accelerate their search for alterative sources of the mineral. 

Demand for graphite for use in batteries has grown by 250% globally since 2018, and is expected to continue to increase as the electric-vehicle market grows. The batteries found in an average electric vehicle each need about 175 to 200 pounds of graphite.

The problem is that China produces more graphite than any other country, while the U.S. heavily relies on imports. That gives Beijing leverage to push back, as it did Friday, when the U.S. takes advantage of its dominance in semiconductors by limiting China’s access to the highest-end chips.

In the U.S., there are four lithium-ion battery plants in operation, with another 21 in development. At full capacity, these plants are expected to require about 1.2 million tons of spherical graphite—a refined form used as anodes in lithium-ion batteries—every year, according to the United States Geological Survey.

Graphite can be produced either from naturally mined material or in a synthetic process using petroleum feedstocks. China is by far the leader in both areas.

Last year, China mined 850,000 tons of natural graphite, about 65% of the world’s total production. The country also processed most of the battery-grade spherical graphite.