Lead The Charge

The world is waking up to the possibilities of bidirectional charging for EVs. Our car batteries can serve as backup energy storage, allowing individuals and even governments to draw on stored power in an emergency. All the more reason to build a clean and equitable EV supply chain - EVs are a critical part of our clean energy transition.

We’re glad to see EV manufacturing in the US ramping up - but if @Hyundai is going to benefit from US tax dollars via the #IRA, they should expect to be held to a high standard in terms of labor, responsible sourcing, water and energy use. US taxpayers invested in the #IRA to drive a #JustTransition to #CleanEnergy, not a race to the bottom that undermines US auto workers. 

Should the mining industry be able to regulate itself, and decide what standards mining companies should follow in terms of respecting Indigenous rights? EARTHWORKS says no, alongside other members of the Lead The Charge network. They’re calling on ICMM to “seriously engage with its critics to take on the necessary work to overhaul the mining industry’s harmful ecological and human footprint in meaningful ways that safeguard the rights, lands and health of communities on the ground.”

Environmental and labor groups are opposing the sale of US Steel to Nippon Steel Corporation - not only because Nippon has not made meaningful commitments to retaining US unionized steelworkers, but also because Nippon has a terrible track record on #GreenSteel. The sale would hold the US back in its attempts to lead the world on producing decarbonized steel.

This new initiative from automotive industry leaders to support their suppliers in the clean energy transition sounds promising - but the devil is in the details. We hope to see this project lead to a rapid expansion of renewable energy capacity, using the power of the auto industry to decarbonize the grid as called for in the recent Sierra Club report, “DEMANDING BETTER: How growing demand for electricity can drive a cleaner grid.” Without expansion of renewable energy capacity, an initiative like this one could amount to no more than greenwashing. Toyota Motor Corporation’s inclusion raises flags for this, but we’re cautiously optimistic that these auto industry leaders are serious about decarbonizing their supply chains through the Suppliers Partnership. 

This new series from Mongabay dives deep into the need - and opportunity - to build circular, decarbonized aluminum and steel supply chains. Mighty Earth’s Matthew Groch kicks off with his analysis of the challenges in the aluminum supply chain. “If we’re able to turn the tide and … stop using coal power for the smelting process from alumina to aluminum, you’re cutting 80% of your emissions almost off the top. But…the simple fact is the environmental and health costs are a lot more grave than they are for the smelting process.” The series highlights innovative solutions to transforming steel and aluminum supply chains, including: 🔥Producers can switch from coal-fueled blast furnaces to direct reduced iron(DRI) processes that run on natural gas or green hydrogen 💿Burning plastic waste to supply energy for steel making - though this comes laden with risks of toxic and climate change-fueling emissions 🪫Alternative inert anodes, which emit oxygen instead of CO2, promise a path to vast emission reductions 🩸Recycling of “red mud,” the bauxite residue left over after extraction. Scientists devised a way to extract the iron oxide from red mud and fashion it into steel using electric arc furnaces. Red mud could also be used in making cement or building roads.

A new study from The International Council on Clean Transportation is shining a bright light on automotive steel sourcing, looking closely at the current and projected emissions of automotive steel. The report found that automakers’ existing commitments to procuring decarbonized steel are woefully inadequate. Even if automakers were to meet all their existing commitments to procure fossil-free steel by 2030, that would only account for a tiny fraction of their total global steel use - only 2%, in fact. According to the @IEA, the global steel sector needs to reduce CO2 emissions by 25% by 2030 to meet necessary emissions reductions goals. According to the report: “none of the automakers studied appear to have sufficiently ambitious targets in 2030 to support the decarbonization of steel production.” The ICCT report reinforces the findings of our Lead The Charge leaderboard - the five automakers who scored points in our ranking for significant public commitments on steel are nearly identical to the six automakers listed in figure 10 of the ICCT report as leading the industry on decarbonizing steel. 

This new report from Sierra Club on how industries with growing energy demand in the US can help accelerate the clean energy transition has important lessons for automakers. According to their analysis, automakers can maximize their impact on the energy grid transition in several key ways. 🏗️As automakers open new plants, as they are currently doing in the US South in response to IRA incentives, they must consider the decarbonization plans of the utilities serving the areas where they intend to operate. 🧽Where they have existing facilities, automakers should actively engage in utility proceedings to demand a clean energy transition and partner with utilities to permanently buy down emissions and maximize demand management capabilities. 💯Automakers can also move past annual volumetric renewable purchases to pursue either 24/7 clean energy or other equally rigorous forms of clean energy and capacity procurement. 📈Automakers can advocate for fair market rules and robust transmission planning and be transparent about their load projections and partner with state policy makers to tighten mandatory renewable portfolio standards (RPS) and clean energy standards (CES), or better, develop a federal CES. To learn more, visit: https://lnkd.in/gt5UM6ep

The International Union, UAW is sticking to its commitment to ensuring that auto battery workers have the same rights and working conditions as auto body workers. “Delays of a planned multibillion-dollar investment into a new battery plant and factory in Belvidere, IL, and possible plans by Stellantis to move production of the Dodge Durango SUV out of the U.S. have emerged as main sticking points for the UAW.”

Thanks to everyone who participated in the panel at #ClimateWeek on how to address the human and environmental costs of mining for #EVs!