Billionaire Elon Musk believes that energy security is important to the country and that lithium batteries can be viewed as a type of oil.
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| Lithium batteries are widely used in electronic devices and electric vehicles. |
On July 13, David Sacks, founder of social network Yammer and former COO of Paypal, wrote on Twitter: "What is clear this year is that there will be no security without energy autonomy." Sacks refers to the troubles related to energy problems that many countries around the world are facing.
Elon Musk replied: "Definitely. Lithium batteries are the new type of petroleum." Musk's comment received the support of many social media users, attracting more than 26.5 thousand likes and nearly 2 thousand retweets.
This is not the first time the US billionaire has affirmed the importance of lithium battery technology. In April, he said on Twitter that "Tesla can get into lithium battery refining and mining because its price is going crazy." He cited Benchmark Mineral Intelligence statistics showing that lithium battery prices increased by 280% in 2021 and 127% in the first quarter of the year.
At the end of April, Reuters cited a source as saying that half of the electric vehicles Tesla makes are equipped with pithium batteries instead of the nickel and cobalt batteries favored by Western manufacturers. According to the Washington Post, Musk is trying to call on the US tech community to join the exploitation of this field. Like the chip industry, lithium batteries play an important role but are being neglected by the US while China is leading the world in mining.
The WSJ quoted RJ Scaringe, CEO of energy company Rivian, as saying that the semiconductor crisis was just an "appetizer", the technology manufacturer's nightmare could continue for the next few decades as batteries Lithium is becoming more and more popular.
According to experts, technological advances help lithium batteries become increasingly safe, reduce the risk of fire and explosion, and have a long life. The biggest obstacle is the price of lithium continuously increasing over the years.
Reuters reports that China accounts for about 90% of global lithium battery production. Western manufacturers are trying to build new factories to avoid future dependence on China. However, companies from China are having advantages in technology, materials and markets.