MADRID: If the European Union doesn’t take decisive action, it could become while reliant on China for lithium-ion chargers and fuel cell by 2030 as it was on Russia for energy prior to the war in Ukraine.
During a meeting of EU officials in Granada, Spain, on October 5, conversations on Europe’s financial security will be based on the document, which Reuters obtained.
The leaders will explore the European Commission’s recommendations to lessen the risk of Europe becoming overly dependent on China and the need to diversify toward Africa and Latin America as a result of China ‘ rising global aggressiveness and economic pounds.
The report claimed that in order for Europe to achieve its objective of net-zero carbon dioxide emissions by 2050, it will need to find ways to store energy due to the intermittent nature of renewable energy sources like solar or weather.
The report, which was written by the Spanish president of the EU, stated that” this will skyrocket our need for lithium-ion chargers, fuel cells, and electrolysers, that is expected to increase between 10 and 30 times in the coming years.”
With a market share of more than 50 % worldwide, the EU is strongly involved in the middle and assembly stages of producing electrolysers, but it heavily relies on China for the fuel cells and lithium-ion batteries needed for electric vehicles.
The European energy ecosystem may become dependent on China by 2030 in a different way than it did on Russia prior to the invasion of Ukraine, but without taking solid precautions.
The European Commission reports that the EU consumed more than 40 % of its total gas consumption in 2021, the year before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, 27 percent of oil imports, and 46 % of coal from Russia.
The European Central Bank was forced to raise interest rates sharply as a result of the EU’s electricity price shock and the rise in consumer inflation brought on by the end of most Russian energy purchases, which has slowed economic growth.
Fuel cells and lithium-ion batteries were not the only areas of EU exposure, according to the Spanish president paper.
According to the document,” a similar scenario may develop in the modern – tech space.” ” Forecasts indicate that this decade will see a sharp increase in demand for digital devices like cameras, robots, data machines, storage products, and data transmission networks.”
The EU claims that while it holds a relatively strong position in the latter, it exhibits major weaknesses elsewhere.
According to the report, by 2030, this international dependency could significantly impede the productivity gains that the European industry and service sector desperately need and could obstruct the modernization of agricultural systems necessary to combat climate change.