Europe joins the ‘white gold’ rush for lithium and faces an energy transition challenge

Local fishes in the protected marine area that contains underground lithium in Tréguennec, western France, on February 26, 2022. © Fred Tanneau, AFP

With the EU committed to making electric vehicles widely available by 2035, the demand for metals required to produce batteries, particularly lithium, is expected to explode. The market is currently dominated by a handful of countries, but Europe wants to join the club by exploiting its subsoil.

Shortly before arriving at the Paris Motor Show on Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron told the financial daily Les Echos that his administration wanted to make electric vehicles "accessible to everyone".