2023-12-04 01:03:34
Black mass, or black mass in French, comes from electric batteries. This black powder can be used to extract raw materials, such as lithium, nickel or cobalt.
Nothing to do with black holes or stardust. This black mass, the black mass in French, does not come from the sky, but from electric batteries. It is obtained either from residue from battery factories or by crushing and heating used batteries.
It is a central element for the emerging battery recycling industry, at a time when electric car factories are multiplying, and as the European Union plans to ban thermal vehicles – that is to say gasoline or diesel – from 2035.
Because from this black powder, we can again extract lithium, nickel, cobalt, or even manganese, using heat or chemical processes in particular. Minerals which are among the critical raw materials in the eyes of the European Union, since demand could greatly exceed supply in the coming years, to meet the needs of the energy transition. Also note that the European Union produces little or no of these metals on its soil.
The first steps of the black mass
Brussels has set ambitious recycling targets. For example, on a battery, recover 80% of lithium after 2030. But if we look at the obligatory and restrictive thresholds, in reality, they are for the moment lower than 16% for these types of metals. The evolution of these rules will have a great influence on the development and viability of the battery recycling sector on the continent, explains a European industrialist in the sector.
Let us also point out that in order to hope to limit global warming to one and a half degrees by the end of the century, switching to electric without recycling batteries will not be sufficient at all.
Today, the black mass market is just taking its first steps. One of the main importers of this black powder in the world is South Korea. The prices depend directly on those of the metals it contains, “ several thousand euros per ton », Cautiously specifies the same industrialist.
Also listen to Lithium: insufficient demand to absorb supply
#Black #mass #key #black #powder #battery #recycling