This DLD Circular 23 discussion focuses on critical raw materials and their importance for technologies like renewable energy and electrification. It brings together Sarah Fleischer, co-founder and CEO of tozero; Benedikt Sobotka, CEO of the Eurasian Resources Group; investor Michael Smith (Regeneration.VC); and Niclas-Alexander Mauss, co-founder of Circular Republic.
“The green energy transition is the biggest purchase order in the history of this industry ever”, Sobotka notes after showing some graphite, nickel and cobalt to the audience.
That’s because building wind farms, solar energy parks and millions of electric vehicles requires vast amounts of rare metals and other critical materials.
Mining and refining these materials fast enough while also prioritizing sustainability and human rights is an immense challenge, Sobotka points out. “We haven’t really figured out a way to be green and to be clean.”
Many critical materials are sourced from Asia, Africa or Latin America – increasing Europe’s dependence on countries like China, Chile and Australia, Sarah Fleischer observes.
This makes recycling part of the solution, she argues, for example when it comes to lithium-ion batteries that are found in anything from smartphones to electric cars.
“The batteries are here, and we have these critical materials inside of the batteries”, Fleischer says. “This is a really awesome opportunity for us to extract those raw materials and reuse them.”
This panel discussion highlights many other aspects of sustainable supply chains, geopolitical dependencies, and innovation needed to enable circularity.
