Are Pencils in Danger?

Are Pencils in Danger?

What do pencils and battery-powered vehicles have in common?

Graphite.

Graphite is used in pencils and in the Lithium-ion batteries powering battery-powered vehicles.

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), more pounds of graphite are used in a Lithium-ion battery than copper. 

According to the US Geological Service (USGS) In 2021 the world used 1.05 million tons of graphite, 80% of which was supplied by China.

If every car sold in the US in 2019, the year before the pandemic, had been a battery-powered vehicle, the US would have used 1.12 million tons of graphite … More than the world consumed in 2021.

Will it be possible to mine enough graphite to build the batteries needed by battery-powered vehicles? And will the world be dependent on China for graphite?

How many other materials will be in short supply if the world transitions to battery-powered vehicles?

The quantities could be staggering and will be covered in the next article.

This is one of the many issues raised in the book, Clean Energy Crisis, The Challenge of Replacing Fossil Fuels, which is available from Amazon.

The lowly pencil suddenly emerges as a critical player in the market for graphite. Will pencils become extinct?

What are the real implications of the government mandating that only battery-powered vehicles can be sold in the United States?

The Geological Survey of Finland published a 1,000-page report establishing the amount of materials needed to decarbonize the world.

The next article will look at the Finnish study and compare its conclusions with those in  Clean Energy Crisis

Let others know about this article by using this link in an email bit.ly/3lfgt6L 

 

Clean Energy Crisis is available from Amazon

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6 Replies to “Are Pencils in Danger?”

  1. Good article. In order to save the world and promote green energy, we must now ban pencils. And of course, that will also save the trees. Good to think about.

    • Thanks for the additional information. I’ve downloaded the presentation and hope others will also.
      The Geological Survey of Finland paper authored by Dr. Michaux is a tour de force. The amount of data contained in the report is remarkable. My article next week will begin to reference the report in more detail.

      My primary concern with the report is that it seems to accept that it’s necessary to eliminate fossil fuels and that the only solution will be to change the social contract. While he doesn’t elaborate on that, it suggests the Ehrlich approach or the approach inferred by the Club Of Rome.