UPDATED

Thailand blames migrant workers as Covid-19 cases cross 5,000

Thai health officials have reported 548 new cases, almost all of them among migrant workers in the seafood industry in Samut Sakhon province

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Migrant workers stand in front of a closed shrimp market, amid the coronavirus disease outbreak, in Samut Sakhon province, in Thailand, December 20, 2020. (Reuters)

Thailand’s total number of confirmed coronavirus cases have surged past 5,000 as hundreds of migrant workers tested positive, posing a major challenge for the authorities.

Thailand has been one of several Southeast Asian countries that were faring relatively unscathed by the pandemic.

But on Saturday, health officials reported a daily record of 548 new cases, almost all of them among migrant workers in the seafood industry in Samut Sakhon province, 34 kilometres (21 miles) southwest of Bangkok.

Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha said on Monday his government would wait to see how the situation looked in a week’s time before deciding on any special restrictions for New Year’s celebrations.

The new cases in Samut Sakhon, most not exhibiting symptoms, were found by mass testing after a 67-year-old shrimp vendor at a seafood market tested positive for the virus.

The Klang Koong seafood market — one of the country’s largest — and its associated housing were sealed off by razor wire and police guards.

READ MORE: Migrant worker exodus from Thailand over virus lockdown


Night curfew

The province has also imposed a night curfew and other travel restrictions until January 3. Many public places, including shopping malls, schools, cinemas, spas and sports stadiums, have been ordered closed.

Some 360 of the 382 new cases reported Monday were migrant workers in the province, said the Center for Covid-19 Situation Administration. There were 14 other cases defined as locally transmitted and eight found in state quarantine facilities where virtually all people arriving from abroad must stay for two weeks.

Most migrant workers in Samut Sakhon are from neighbouring Myanmar, which has seen a surge in coronavirus cases that began in August. The situation in Myanmar had caused concern among Thai officials, and efforts were made to sharply reduce border traffic.

There was alarm last month when several cases were found among Thai women who had worked in Myanmar and then evaded health controls when returning home to northern Thailand. Several people from the north who recently were in Myanmar and tested positive were tracked only after having already flown to Bangkok.

Thailand has had a total of 5,289 cases, including 60 deaths.

Anti-Myanmar hate speech flares in Thailand over virus

By Panarat Thepgumpanat, Shoon Naing and Matthew Tostevin

© Reuters/ATHIT PERAWONGMETHA FILE PHOTO: Outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Thailand

BANGKOK (Reuters) - "Wherever you see Myanmar people, shoot them down," read one Thai comment on YouTube after a surge of coronavirus cases among workers from Myanmar.


The outbreak, first detected at a seafood market near Bangkok, has prompted a flare-up in such online hate speech as well as questions over the treatment of millions of migrant workers in traditionally tolerant Thailand.

"Myanmar people are being labelled for transmitting COVID-19, but the virus doesn't discriminate," said Sompong Srakaew of the Labor Protection Network, a Thai group helping migrant workers.

Shifting sentiment had real consequences, he said, with workers from Myanmar, previously known as Burma, being blocked from buses, motorcycle taxis and offices.

One of the many incendiary comments on social media seen by Reuters called for infected migrant workers to remain untreated and punishment for people that brought them into Thailand.

The rhetoric reflects a global pattern since the start of the pandemic of foreigners being blamed for spreading the virus.

Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha this week said illegal immigration was behind the outbreak in a country that had brought COVID-19 under control, although Thailand's virus task force appealed for sympathy for immigrants.

The independent Social Media Monitoring for Peace group told Reuters it found hundreds of comments classified as hate speech on YouTube with others on Facebook and Twitter.

"The comments included racist language aimed at triggering discrimination and promoting nationalism," said the group's Saijai Liangpunsakul. "We're concerned that online discrimination could translate into further discrimination and even lead to real-world violence."

After Reuters flagged some posts, Facebook said it had removed several for violating hate speech policies.

"We know that hate speech targeted towards vulnerable communities can be the most harmful," a Facebook spokesperson said, saying its technology detected 95% of hate speech.

Facebook came under heavy criticism for the role it played in spreading hate speech that fuelled violence against Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar in 2017 and has since invested in systems that can rapidly detect and remove such content.

Twitter said it was looking into the issue. YouTube did not respond to requests for comment.

Not all the social media traffic has been negative, with some Thais defending the Myanmar workers.

Government spokespeople in Thailand and Myanmar did not respond immediately to requests for comment on hate speech.

'REALLY SAD'

The outbreak was first detected last week at a shrimp market at Samut Sakhon, barely 35 km (20 miles) from central Bangkok. Since then nearly 1,300 infections linked to the market have been found while thousands of people have been quarantined.

"We feel really sad that we Myanmar workers are being blamed," said Nay Lin Thu, a 35-year-old worker from Myanmar who has now volunteered to help others.

"We are told 'this happened because of you Myanmar'. Mostly we do not respond but some of us couldn’t contain their anger."

Officially, Thailand has nearly 1.6 million workers from Myanmar, almost two-thirds of all migrant workers, but the real figure is higher because of illegal immigration. Most migrants are labourers or work in service industries.

"Thai people won't take the jobs they are doing," Taweesin Wisanuyothin, of Thailand's COVID-19 taskforce said as he pleaded for tolerance in a televised broadcast. "Today they are our family... Both Myanmar and Thai people are Buddhists."

Thailand has traditionally been seen as tolerant of foreigners, but a historic enmity has been revived on social media with references to the 18th century destruction by Burmese forces of Ayutthaya, capital of what was then known as Siam.

Myanmar has suffered a much more severe outbreak of coronavirus, with over 2,500 dead from nearly 120,000 confirmed cases compared with 60 fatalities from over 5,800 cases in Thailand.

How the new cases first appeared in Thailand is unclear.

Similar outbreaks among migrant workers living close together in Malaysia and Singapore showed how the virus can spread undetected among healthy young people who show few symptoms. It was first detected in a 67-year-old woman.

Although Thailand reported few local transmissions in recent months, Myanmar had detected cases in citizens returning form Thailand.

"Our judgement is that silent carriers have been present in Thailand," said Sein Htay of the Yangon-based Migrant Worker Rights Network. "Living conditions for Myanmar workers are difficult for social distancing with three or four to a room."

Despite the accusations against Myanmar workers of crossing the border illegally, Thais have done so too.

A previous coronavirus scare flared recently when several Thai women returned home, some using illegal border crossings, after an outbreak at the nightlife spot where they worked in Myanmar.

(Reporting by Shoon Naing in Yangon; Writing by Matthew Tostevin; Editing by Sam Holmes)

‘Matter of great concern’: Scientists find microplastics in human placenta for 1st time

For the first time, scientists have found microplastics in the human placenta, leading experts to fear that the chemicals could interfere with fetal development, according to a recent study.

© Getty Images fetus inside the womb

The Italian study, published in early December, said microplastics were found in four out of six women's placentas who consented to donate the organ after giving birth.

Read more: Here’s how much plastic you might be eating every day

Only a small portion of the placenta was sampled, suggesting the amount of microplastic was much higher, the authors of the study said.

Tiny fragments of plastic are referred to as microplastics. The particles are usually five millimetres or less in diameter and have been detected in bottled water, drinking water, fish and sea salt in various studies.

The findings of the recent study show that once microplastics are in the human body, they can also reach placenta tissues "at all levels," the authors said.

Video: Scientists find microplastics deep in Arctic ice

The placenta plays a major role in the development of the fetus, supplying oxygen and nutrition, as well as removing waste products.

Microplastics in a placenta may lead to dangerous pregnancy outcomes, including preeclampsia and fetal growth restriction, the authors warned.

"Due to the crucial role of (the) placenta in supporting the fetus development .... the presence of exogenous and potentially harmful (plastic) particles is a matter of great concern," the authors stated.

'It's like having a cyborg baby'

Plastic production has surged in the last 50 years with the widespread use of inexpensive disposable products. As plastic is not biodegradable and only breaks down into smaller pieces, it ultimately ends up everywhere, cluttering beaches and killing marine wildlife, as well as in the food chain.

There have been reports of microplastics found in human intestines and the gastrointestinal tract of marine animals.

Read more: Are microplastics ending up in human stool? Experts say study is too small to prove anything

The authors of the Italian study said they're not sure how the microplastics reached the bloodstream of the women -- as it could have been through the respiratory system or the gastrointestinal system.

"Further studies need to be performed to assess if the presence of (microplastics) in the human placenta may trigger immune responses or may lead to the release of toxic contaminants, resulting harmful for pregnancy," the authors stated.

Dr. Antonio Ragusa, director of the Uoc Obstetrics and Gynaecology Fatebenefratelli hospital in Rome, where the research was conducted, told the Daily Mail the findings were very worrying.

"When I saw for the first time microplastics in the placenta, I was astonished," he said.

"If you find something in the placenta, this means you find something in the baby… It's like having a cyborg baby: it is no longer made up of just human cells but a mixture of biological and inorganic materials."

Video: B.C. study says humans unknowingly consume microplastics

A 2019 WWF International study said there is so much plastic in our environment that humans could be ingesting the equivalent of a credit card of plastic every week.

In Canada, microplastics have been found in the Arctic and in Ontario's Great Lakes.

A federal report found that in 2016, 29,000 tonnes of plastic garbage, the equivalent of about 2.3 billion single-use plastic water bottles, ended up as litter in Canada — on beaches, in parks, in lakes and in the air.

The Trudeau government has proposed a ban on single-use plastics in Canada by the end of 2021. The ban would eliminate plastic checkout bags, straws, stir sticks, six-pack rings, foodware and cutlery.

However, in a 2019 study, the World Health Organization (WHO) said there is not enough evidence to say ingesting these particles is harmful to human health.

Microplastics don’t currently pose health risks: WHO

The authors of the report said the minuscule plastics are “ubiquitous in the environment” and have been found in drinking water, including both tap and bottled, most likely as the result of treatment and distribution systems.

The WHO said the levels of microplastics in drinking water don’t appear to be risky, but that research has been spotty and more is needed into their effects on the environment and health.

-- With wiles from Reuters and the Canadian Press

Electron-producing microbes power sustainable wastewater treatment

by Tina Hilding, Washington State University

A switchable bioelectrochemical wastewater treatment system was tested at the pilot scale at a wastewater treatment facility in Moscow, Idaho. Credit: Washington State University

WSU researchers have developed a sustainable wastewater treatment system that relies on electron-producing microbial communities to clean the water.


The work could someday lead to reduced reliance on the energy-intensive processes that are used to move and treat wastewater, which accounts for as much as two percent of the total electrical energy consumption in the United States.

Led by Abdelrhman Mohamed, postdoctoral research associate, and Haluk Beyenal, Paul Hohenschuh Distinguished Professor in the Gene and Linda Voiland School of Chemical Engineering and Bioengineering, the researchers report on their work in the journal, Bioelectrochemistry.

In wastewater treatment, aeration is an energy intensive and necessary procedure to remove contaminants. Pumps work continuously to mix air into water, adding oxygen that bacteria then use to oxidize organic matter and contaminants. In their work, the researchers used a unique microbial fuel cell system they developed as a substitute for external aeration.

"If we cut the energy use even by a small percentage in the U.S., that is billions of dollars in annual costs," said Mohamed. "Energy costs are one part but that also means reducing environmental emissions, too."

Microbial fuel cells work by having microbes convert chemical energy to electricity in a manner that is similar to a battery. They don't generate a lot of electricity, so they have been used in low-power applications especially in remote areas where batteries are not feasible.

In the case of wastewater treatment, the microbial fuel cell can fill the role that aeration and oxygen plays—accepting electrons that bacteria generate as a product of their metabolic work.

In addition to substituting for the oxygen, the system can also generate a small amount of electricity, which can be used to do additional aeration.

"We tried to think about it in two steps," said Mohamed. "We lower the energy costs because you don't have to aerate and add oxygen, but the second part is we generate a little power that we can use for some useful applications in the wastewater treatment plant itself."

"It's like we're double dipping," added Beyenal. "We use the electrodes and then the electron acceptor to promote microbial growth. On the other hand, we gain a little bit of electricity for the pump and to aerate. With this approach it is more powerful and can treat the wastewater faster."

The fuel cells have been used experimentally in wastewater treatment systems under ideal conditions, but under real-world and varying conditions, they often fail.

"The microbial fuel cells lack internal regulation controlling the potential of anodes and cathodes, and thus cell potential," said Mohamed. "This can cause system failure."

In the system the WSU team developed, the researchers added an extra electrode that allows additional control to their fuel cell system. The system is switchable. It can either work by itself as a microbial fuel cell, using no energy as it slowly cleans up waste, or it can be switched to one that uses a smaller amount of energy than aeration and that cleans more intensively. Mohamed invented a cheap portable electronic device that controls the electrodes.

The researchers were able to operate their system for a year in the laboratory without failure as well as at the pilot scale at a test wastewater treatment facility in Moscow, Idaho. The pilot scale treatment facility is owned and operated by University of Idaho Environmental Engineering Professor Erik R. Coats, who was a collaborator on the project. The system removed waste at comparable rates to aeration.

The system could potentially be used entirely independently from the power grid, and the researchers hope it could someday be used for small scale wastewater treatment facilities, such as for clean up around cattle operations or in very rural areas.

"Over time, we have made a lot of progress," said Mohamed, who first became interested in microbial fuel cells as an undergraduate at WSU. "There are still challenges that we need to overcome to see this as a real application, but it's exciting to see the field moving significantly over a period of time."

"These are difficult systems to build," added Beyenal. "I think everything is so easy when I write the proposal, but this takes a lot of time and a lot of new discovery. There is nothing like this on the market."


Explore further Researchers develop unique waste cleanup for rural areas

More information: Abdelrhman Mohamed et al, Large-scale switchable potentiostatic/microbial fuel cell bioelectrochemical wastewater treatment system, Bioelectrochemistry (2020). DOI: 10.1016/j.bioelechem.2020.107724

Provided by Washington State University

Engineers go microbial to store energy, sequester carbon dioxide

by Blaine Friedlander, Cornell University

Bioengineered microbes may one day be used to store the sun’s energy, as well as absorb atmospheric carbon dioxide to later turn it into fuel. This illustration features microbe images taken by postdoctoral researchers Youngchan Park and Bing Fu in chemistry. Credit: Wendy Kenigsberg/Cornell University

By borrowing nature's blueprints for photosynthesis, Cornell University bioengineers have found a way to efficiently absorb and store large-scale, low-cost renewable energy from the sun—while sequestering atmospheric carbon dioxide to use later as a biofuel.


The key: Let bioengineered microbes do all the work.

Buz Barstow, assistant professor of biological and environmental engineering at Cornell University, and doctoral candidate Farshid Salimijazi have assembled theoretical solutions and models that calculate efficiency in microbes, which could take in electricity and store carbon dioxide at least five times more efficiently than photosynthesis, the process by which plants turn sunlight into chemical energy.

"Soon, we will be living in a world with plentiful renewable electricity," Barstow said. "But in order to bring the bountiful energy to the grid, we will need energy storage with a capacity thousands of times greater than we have today."

The research, "Constraints on the Efficiency of Engineered Electromicrobial Production," was published in October in the journal Joule. Salimijazi is lead author.

Electromicrobial production technologies fuse biology and electronics so that energy gathered from wind, sun and water can get converted into renewable electricity in the form of energy-storage polymers (engineered microbes). Solving a storage problem, these microbes can be used on demand or to create low-carbon transportation fuels.

"We need think about how we can store energy for rainy days or for when the wind doesn't gust," he said, noting that battery or fuel-cell technology can take up a lot of space. "We need solutions on how to store this large amount of energy in a cheap and clean way."

In the paper, the researchers suggest taking advantage of microbial electrosynthesis, in which incoming electrons are fed directly to an engineered microbe, which would convert carbon dioxide into non-carbon molecules. More research is necessary to determine the best microbes for the job.

Postdoctoral researcher Alexa Schmitz, a member of Barstow's lab, said the engineered microbes both store energy and absorb carbon dioxide. The CO2 can be converted into a hydrocarbon fuel—effectively neutralizing the carbon cycle, resulting in net-zero carbon emissions.

"While the hydrocarbon fuel would not be carbon negative, carbon neutrality is still very good in this case," Schmitz said. "For a lot of machinery or in aviation, society may still need low-density hydrocarbon fuels for that sector."

That scenario is much better than carbon expansion, she said. "We want to be able to make low-carbon fuel without digging for oil or getting gas out of the ground," she said, "and then releasing the carbon into the atmosphere.

"The microbes act as an efficient microscopic fuel cell," said Barstow, a Cornell Atkinson fellow. "That's why we're offering this road map for the best ways to exploit this potential. More research is necessary to determine the best microbes for the job, as everything comes down to efficiency at the end of the day."


Explore further Engineered bacteria could be missing link in energy storage

More information: Farshid Salimijazi et al, Constraints on the Efficiency of Engineered Electromicrobial Production, Joule (2020). DOI: 10.1016/j.joule.2020.08.010

Journal information: Joule

Provided by Cornell University

Four ways microbial fuel cells might revolutionize electricity production in the future

by Godfrey Kyazze, The Conversation

Credit: Jackie Niam/Shutterstock

The world population is estimated to reach 9.5 billion by 2050. Given that most of our current energy is generated from fossil fuels, this creates significant challenges when it comes to providing enough sustainable electricity while mitigating climate change.


One idea that has gained traction over recent years is generating electricity using bacteria in devices called microbial fuel cells (MFCs). These fuel cells rely on the ability of certain naturally occurring microorganisms that have the ability to "breathe" metals, exchanging electrons to create electricity. This process can be fuelled using substances called substrates, which include organic materials found in wastewater.

At the moment microbial fuel cells are able to generate electricity to power small devices such as calculators, small fans and LEDs—in our lab we powered the lights on a mini Christmas tree using "simulated wastewater." But if the technology is scaled up, it holds great promise.

How they work

MFCs use a system of anodes and cathodes—electrodes that pass a current either in or out. Common MFC systems consist of an anode chamber and a cathode chamber separated by a membrane. The bacteria grow on the anode and convert the substrates into carbon dioxide, protons and electrons.

The electrons that are produced are then transferred via an external circuit to the cathode chamber, while the protons pass through the membrane. In the cathode chamber, a reaction between the protons and the electrons uses up oxygen and forms water. And as long as substrates are continually converted, electrons will flow—which is what electricity is.

Generating electricity through MFCs has a number of advantages: systems can be set up anywhere; they create less "sludge" than conventional methods of wastewater treatment such as activated sludge systems; they can be small-scale yet a modular design can be used to build bigger systems; they have a high tolerance to salinity; and they can operate at room temperature.

The availability of a wide range of renewable substrates that can be used to generate electricity in MFCs has the potential to revolutionize electricity production in the future. Such substrates include urine, organic matter in wastewater, substances secreted by living plants into the soil (root exudates), inorganic wastes like sulfides and even gaseous pollutants.

Schematic of an MFC latrine. Credit: Cynthia Castro et al. Journal of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for Development, 2014

1. Pee power


Biodegradable matter in waste materials such as feces and urine can be converted into electricity. This was demonstrated in a microbial fuel cell latrine in Ghana, which suggested that toilets could in future be potential power stations. The latrine, which was operated for two years, was able to generate 268 nW/m² of electricity, enough to power an LED light inside the latrine, while removing nitrogen from urine and composting the feces.

For locations with no grid electricity or for refugee camps, the use of waste in latrines to produce electricity could truly be revolutionary.

2. Plant MFCs

Another renewable and sustainable substrate that MFCs could use to generate electricity is plant root exudates, in what are called plant MFCs. When plants grow they produce carbohydrates such as glucose, some of which are exuded into the root system. The microorganisms near the roots convert the carbohydrates into protons, electrons and carbon dioxide.

In a plant MFC, the protons are transferred through a membrane and recombine with oxygen to complete the circuit of electron transfer. By connecting a load into the circuitry, the electricity being generated can be harnessed.

Plant MFCs could revolutionize electricity production in isolated communities that have no access to the grid. In towns, streets could be lit using trees.


3. Microbial desalination cells

Another variation of microbial fuel cells are microbial desalination cells. These devices use bacteria to generate electricity, for example from wastewater, while simultaneously desalinating water. The water to be desalinated is put in a chamber sandwiched between the anode and cathode chambers of MFCs using membranes of negatively (anion) and positively (cation) charged ions.

When the bacteria in the anode chamber consume the wastewater, protons are released. These protons cannot pass through the anion membrane, so negative ions move from the salty water into the anode chamber. At the cathode protons are consumed, so positively charged ions move from the salty water to the cathode chamber, desalinating the water in the middle chamber. Ions released in the anode and cathode chambers help to improve the efficiency of electricity generation.

Conventional water desalination is currently very energy intensive and hence costly. A process that achieves desalination on a large scale while producing (not consuming) electricity would be revolutionary.

4. Improving the yield of natural gas

Anaerobic digestion – where microorganisms are used to break down biodegradable or waste matter without needing oxygen—is used to recover energy from wastewater by producing biogas that is mostly methane—the main ingredient of natural gas. But this process is usually inefficient.

Research suggests that the microbial groups used within these digesters share electrons—what has been dubbed interspecies electron transfer—opening up the possibility that they could use positive energy to influence their metabolism.

By supplying a small voltage to anaerobic digesters—a process called electromethanogenesis – the methane yield (and hence the electricity that could be recovered from combined heat and power plants) can be significantly improved.

While microbial fuel cells are able to generate electricity to power small devices, researchers are investigating ways to scale up the reactors to increase the amount of power they can generate, and to further understand how extracellular electron transfer works. A few start-up companies such as Robial and Plant-e are beginning to commercialize microbial fuel cells. In the future, microbial fuel cells could even be used to generate electricity in regenerative life support systems during long-term human space missions. It's early days but the technology holds much promise.


Explore further This is how microorganisms can produce renewable energy for us

Provided by The Conversation

Renewables offer savings for Philippine small islands

by SciDev.Net

DECEMBER 23, 2020

islaSol II, a photovoltaic power station located in Negros Occidental, a province in the Philippines. A new report urges the Philippines to shift from diesel to renewable energy to save money. Credit: Kanadaurlauber (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Islasol_II.jpg), CC BY-SA 4.0

Shifting to renewables in small islands and isolated areas can provide cheap, reliable energy to more than half of the Philippine population or around 50 million people, says a new report by the US-based Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA).

"Access to reliable electricity is an important input to ensure healthcare and food supply through cold storage of medication and food produce or fish," Sara Ahmed, author of the report, tells SciDev.Net.

According to the report, published this month, if the government-owned National Power Corporation's Small Power Utilities Group (NPC-SPUG) shifts away from subsidized diesel power—widely used in remote areas and isolated islands—the savings could reach US$275 million per year.

"It is important to note that the repeated argument of limited absorptive capacity versus renewable energy sources do not apply to hybrid power systems, where diesel and PV (photovoltaic) or wind power are designed to complement each other," said the report. "Ongoing cost and efficiency improvements for renewables will mean that renewable energy cost deflation will enable the government to reach its goal of 100 percent electrification by 2022," it also said.

Ahmed says that "the expertise of the Department of Finance, whose secretary is the chair-designate of the Climate Change Commission, the ex-officio chairman of NPC, can help the NPC-SPUG provide not only clean, but also reliable, secure and affordable power for residents of small island grids."

The secretary of the Philippine Department of Finance did not respond to SciDev.Net's request for a comment.

Instead, his assistant secretary referred us to the secretary of the Philippine Department of Energy, who could not be reached for a comment.

Renato Redentor Constantino, executive director of the Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities, a climate and energy policy group based in the Philippines, suggests mandatory clauses in power contracts that are weighted in favor of renewables.

"It's time for the energy regulatory commission to abolish automatic pass-through provisions in power supply agreements that allow fossil generators to bid ultra-cheap in the first year then automatically pass on price and forex fluctuation risks to the consumer, which distorts the market," Constantino tells SciDev.Net.

As customers gain from reduced subsidies to small island grids, the electric cooperatives should receive a share of the proceeds so that they can upgrade their systems and train workers to embrace the new, climate-friendly economy, says Constantino. "Doing so saves a fortune in avoiding more importations of expensive diesel."

The report provided several recommendations. One is to halt new diesel power investments immediately and accelerate hybridisation—where diesel generators work in tandem with renewable energy sources.

Another important recommendation is to redirect electrification subsidies towards investments in renewable energy rather than to diesel-generated power.

"These recommendations are not only realistic, they need to be implemented with speed and a greater sense of inclusivity and urgency," says Constantino.


Explore further Philippines bans new coal-fired projects

More information: Renewables Are a More Affordable, Reliable and Resilient Solution for Small Island and Isolated Power Grids: ieefa.org/wp-content/uploads/2 … ds_December-2020.pdf

Provided by SciDev.Net

Want cheaper nuclear energy?

 Turn the design process into a game

by Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  

In this AI-designed layout for a boiling water reactor, fuel rods are ideally positioned around two fixed water rods to burn more efficiently. MIT researchers ran the equivalent of 36,000 simulations to find the optimal configurations, which could extend the life of the rods in an assembly by about 5 percent, generating $3 million in savings per year if scaled to the full reactor. Colors correspond to varying amounts of uranium and gadolinium oxide in each rod. Credit: Majdi Radaideh/MIT

Nuclear energy provides more carbon-free electricity in the United States than solar and wind combined, making it a key player in the fight against climate change. But the U.S. nuclear fleet is aging, and operators are under pressure to streamline their operations to compete with coal- and gas-fired plants.

One of the key places to cut costs is deep in the reactor core, where energy is produced. If the fuel rods that drive reactions there are ideally placed, they burn less fuel and require less maintenance. Through decades of trial and error, nuclear engineers have learned to design better layouts to extend the life of pricey fuel rods. Now, artificial intelligence is poised to give them a boost.

Researchers at MIT and Exelon show that by turning the design process into a game, an AI system can be trained to generate dozens of optimal configurations that can make each rod last about 5 percent longer, saving a typical power plant an estimated $3 million a year, the researchers report. The AI system can also find optimal solutions faster than a human, and quickly modify designs in a safe, simulated environment. Their results appear this month in the journal Nuclear Engineering and Design.

"This technology can be applied to any nuclear reactor in the world," says the study's senior author, Koroush Shirvan, an assistant professor in MIT's Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering. "By improving the economics of nuclear energy, which supplies 20 percent of the electricity generated in the U.S., we can help limit the growth of global carbon emissions and attract the best young talents to this important clean-energy sector."

In a typical reactor, fuel rods are lined up on a grid, or assembly, by their levels of uranium and gadolinium oxide within, like chess pieces on a board, with radioactive uranium driving reactions, and rare-earth gadolinium slowing them down. In an ideal layout, these competing impulses balance out to drive efficient reactions. Engineers have tried using traditional algorithms to improve on human-devised layouts, but in a standard 100-rod assembly there might be an astronomical number of options to evaluate. So far, they've had limited success.

The researchers wondered if deep reinforcement learning, an AI technique that has achieved superhuman mastery at games like chess and Go, could make the screening process go faster. Deep reinforcement learning combines deep neural networks, which excel at picking out patterns in reams of data, with reinforcement learning, which ties learning to a reward signal like winning a game, as in Go, or reaching a high score, as in Super Mario Bros.

Here, the researchers trained their agent to position the fuel rods under a set of constraints, earning more points with each favorable move. Each constraint, or rule, picked by the researchers reflects decades of expert knowledge rooted in the laws of physics. The agent might score points, for example, by positioning low-uranium rods on the edges of the assembly, to slow reactions there; by spreading out the gadolinium "poison" rods to maintain consistent burn levels; and by limiting the number of poison rods to between 16 and 18.

"After you wire in rules, the neural networks start to take very good actions," says the study's lead author Majdi Radaideh, a postdoc in Shirvan's lab. "They're not wasting time on random processes. It was fun to watch them learn to play the game like a human would."

Through reinforcement learning, AI has learned to play increasingly complex games as well as or better than humans. But its capabilities remain relatively untested in the real world. Here, the researchers show that reinforcement learning has potentially powerful applications.

"This study is an exciting example of transferring an AI technique for playing board games and video games to helping us solve practical problems in the world," says study co-author Joshua Joseph, a research scientist at the MIT Quest for Intelligence.

Exelon is now testing a beta version of the AI system in a virtual environment that mimics an assembly within a boiling water reactor, and about 200 assemblies within a pressurized water reactor, which is globally the most common type of reactor. Based in Chicago, Illinois, Exelon owns and operates 21 nuclear reactors across the United States. It could be ready to implement the system in a year or two, a company spokesperson says.


Explore further Researchers exploit weaknesses of master game bots

More information: Majdi I. Radaideh et al. Physics-informed reinforcement learning optimization of nuclear assembly design, Nuclear Engineering and Design (2020).

DOI: 10.1016/j.nucengdes.2020.110966

Provided by Massachusetts Institute of Technology

CAPITALI$M 

WITH CHINESE CHARACTERISTICS 

Jack Ma: tycoon who soared on China's tech dreams grounded by regulators

by Helen Roxburgh

Jack Ma's rags-to-riches backstory has come to embody a self-confident generation of Chinese entrepreneurs ready to shake up the world

Jack Ma, the ebullient and unconventional billionaire founder of tech giant Alibaba and the totem of China's entrepreneurial brilliance, now finds himself up against a Communist leadership seemingly intent on hacking back his empire and issuing a lesson that no one is bigger than the party.

Ma, the most recognisable face in Asian business with a fortune estimated at around $58 billion, has already faced the ignominy of having the world's biggest-ever IPO spiked by Chinese regulators days before its launch.

The November share sale was set to see his wealth bulge to more than $70 billion in a record-breaking listing of the group's Ant Group financial arm in Hong Kong and Shanghai.

But Chinese regulators abruptly pulled the deal, over what initially appeared to be concerns about the company's reach into the finances of hundreds of millions of Chinese people.

It was a brutal public rebuke to Ma, who was then called in for dressing down by regulators and has since evaporated from the spotlight he normally so ably commands.

Now China's poster boy for enterprise finds himself again caught in the glare of the Communist-run state, with Thursday's announcement of an anti-monopoly probe into Alibaba, the tech giant he founded, and the summoning of Ant Group by regulators.

It is another public relations catastrophe for Ma, a Communist Party member, whose rags-to-riches backstory has come to embody a self-confident generation of Chinese entrepreneurs ready to shake up the world.

Charismatic, diminutive and fast-talking, Ma was cash-strapped and working as an English teacher when someone showed him the internet on a 1990s trip to the United States—and he was hooked.

He toyed with several internet-related projects, before convincing a group of friends to give him $60,000 to start a new business in 1999 in China, then still emerging as an economic giant.

Alibaba was the result, an e-commerce empire founded from his bedroom in Hangzhou and which started an online shopping revolution and grew into a fintech titan.

The company changed the shopping habits of hundreds of millions of Chinese people, and catapulted Ma into the global limelight.

"The first time I used the internet, I touched on the keyboard and I find 'well, this is something I believe, it is something that is going to change the world and change China'," Ma once told CNN.

In 2014, Alibaba listed in New York in a world-record $25 billion offering.

Ant Group, in which Ma is the largest shareholder, is now the world-largest digital payments platform, claiming 731 million monthly users on the Alipay app.

But there are fears it reaches too deeply into the pockets of ordinary Chinese with its micro-loans, investment and insurance products.

Crossed the line?

Ma long enjoyed an image as the benevolent and unconventional billionaire.

Sometimes referred to in China as "Father Ma", he is praised for his self-deprecation—he recounts being rejected by Harvard "10 times"—and a knack for lighting up company events with song-and-dance appearances as Lady Gaga, Snow White and Michael Jackson.

As his fortune grew, Ma rebranded as a philanthropist—in 2019 retiring from the business to focus on giving.

But even his charitable work betrays an idiosyncratic touch.

After footage of a little boy in a village in central China who looked like Ma went viral, the businessman promised to pay for him to go through university.

But that reputation may be in the balance with the regulatory slap-down playing into a growing sense shared on China's Twitter-like Weibo that he has leaned into hubris by criticising fintech regulators.

He has faced his share of travails over the years in a country where getting rich risks catching the attention of the powerful.

Eyebrows were raised when the state-run People's Daily revealed that he is a member of the Communist Party—something Ma has never fully commented on.

He had previously indicated that he preferred to keep the state at arm's length, telling the World Economic Forum in 2007: "My philosophy is to be in love with the government, but never marry them."

But perhaps the biggest challenges remain ahead, as the size and scale of his business mean that relationship may need to be renegotiated.


Explore further  Jack Ma: ebullient billionaire and totem of China's rise

China begins anti-monopoly probe into tech giant Alibaba

by Laurie Chen

DECEMBER 24, 2020

China has launched an anti-monopoly investigation into e-commerce giant Alibaba

China has launched an anti-monopoly investigation into Alibaba, regulators said Thursday, sending the share price of the e-commerce giant tumbling and intensifying the troubles of its billionaire founder Jack Ma.


Regulators will also hold "supervisory and guidance" talks with Alibaba's gigantic financial services subsidiary Ant Group, state media reported, just weeks after its record-breaking IPO was halted at the last minute by Beijing.

The continued squeeze on one of China's most influential companies is the latest sign that the Communist leadership is ready to deflate the ambitions of big tech firms in a runaway internet sector, which has made Ma one of China's richest people with an estimated $58 billion fortune.

Investigators are probing Alibaba for "suspected monopolistic practices", the State Administration for Market Regulation said in a statement.

The probe threatens to impede the growth of Alibaba, a tech juggernaut which revolutionised the e-commerce landscape of China.

Alibaba shares tumbled 8.6 percent to a five-month low in Hong Kong on the news.

In a statement, the company said it "will actively cooperate with the regulators on the investigation".

Financial services subsidiary Ant Group said it too would cooperate and "diligently study and strictly comply with regulatory departments' requests".

Profile of Jack Ma, co-founder of Chinese e-commerce giants Alibaba and Ant Group.

Ant Group made its name via its main product Alipay, the online payments platform and super-app that is now deeply embedded in China's economy.

But the company has also expanded into offering loans, credit, investments and insurance to hundreds of millions of consumers and small businesses, spurring fear and jealously in a wider banking system geared more for supporting state policy and large corporations.

Its reach into the daily spend of Chinese has also caused anxiety over the potential for personal debt to turn sour and toxify the wider economy.

As global demand for the dual Hong Kong-Shanghai listing pushed the IPO toward record valuations—potentially handing Ma and Ant Group even more funding, legitimacy and clout—Chinese regulators acted.

The outspoken and charismatic Ma—a former teacher—had previously lashed out at China's outdated financial system, calling state-owned banks "pawn shops" in an October speech that led to him being summoned for regulatory talks shortly before Ant's IPO was suspended.

He has edged away from the public limelight since the IPO collapsed.

No one bigger than the Party

Noises from the top of the Chinese Communist Party are ominous for companies perceived to have outsized ambitions.

Ant Group's massive IPO was halted at the last minute by Chinese authorities

Party leaders at last week's Central Economic Work Conference vowed to strengthen anti-trust measures and "firmly oppose monopolies" while the Party's executive Politburo body has also vowed to crack down on "disorderly capital expansion".

"There is an underlying political message, that no company, and no individual, can grow so big in China to the point where they can potentially challenge the authority of the CCP," Richard McGregor, senior fellow for East Asia at the Lowy Institute in Sydney, told AFP.

This year, Beijing has also implemented new regulations to contain potential risks in China's growing online lending industry, as the fintech arms of internet firms including Alibaba and Tencent have expanded and consolidated power over the market.

"Undoubtedly, Ant will now become a very different company in structure and in balance sheet," said Ryan Manuel, Chief Asia Strategist at Silverhorn Investment.

"Its regulatory environment will appear more like that of a financial services provider and less of a tech company. Its growth will slow. Its market valuation will decrease."

China's market regulator in November issued draft antitrust guidelines for internet platform economies that highlighted examples of anti-competitive behaviour.

State media have repeatedly called for tighter oversight of these firms, warning of potential financial instability as a result of their unregulated rapid growth.

Bad debt in China's chaotic financial system is a perennial risk, and regulators launched a crackdown on a growing nationwide credit addiction three years ago owing to fears of a financial meltdown.

Ant Group fiasco reflects battle for China's financial soul

by Dan Martin With Beiyi Seow In Beijing

NOVEMBER 5, 2020

Ant Group's Alipay platform has helped revolutionise commerce and personal finance in China

China's last-minute abandonment of Ant Group's record-breaking IPO stems from an intensifying battle for the soul of the nation's financial system that the fintech giant and its charismatic leader Jack Ma helped to ignite.

Global markets were stunned Tuesday when Ant's record-breaking $34 billion IPO was abruptly shelved, frustrating investors eager for a piece of the fast-growing company.

The debacle has prompted head-scratching over how the IPO got so close –- shares were to begin trading Thursday -– only to collapse at the finish line.

Analysts say it was the culmination of an escalating rivalry between Ma, Ant's co-founder and the billionaire founder of Alibaba, and a state-dominated Chinese banking and regulatory system controlled by the Communist Party that has become uncomfortable with Ant's growing power.

Ant Group made its name via its main product Alipay, the online payments platform and super-app that is now deeply embedded in China's economy.

But the company has also expanded into offering loans, credit, investments and insurance to hundreds of millions of consumers and small businesses, spurring fear and jealously in a wider banking system geared more for supporting state policy and large corporations.

As global demand for the dual Hong Kong-Shanghai listing pushed the IPO toward record valuations—potentially handing Ma and Ant Group even more funding, legitimacy and clout—Chinese regulators acted.

In recent weeks, new minimum capital requirements and other restrictions on online lending were imposed to guard against "systemic risk", plugging some of the regulatory gaps that Ant Group had stepped through, analysts said.

"Given the magnitude of Ant Group's operations, the regulators might have felt that they did not have an appropriate handle on the flow of money being processed through Ant Group products," said Philippe Espinasse, a capital markets consultant and former investment banker.

Jack Ma, co-founder of ecommerce titan Alibaba, had stood to become Asia's richest man via Ant Group's IPO

Ma sounds off

The moves angered Ma, 56, who had stood to become Asia's richest man via the IPO.

He uncharacteristically lashed out in a speech two weeks ago, saying capital requirements were outdated and that China lacked a true "financial ecosystem".


Ma likened Chinese banks to "pawn shops" for requiring loan collateral and implied that they underserved smaller, younger borrowers.

Chinese public figures rarely call out the government, and the reaction was swift.

A series of commentaries in government media mouthpieces pushed back against Ma, warning of extensive risks from online lenders like Ant Group and vowing tighter supervision.

Things came to a head Monday when Ma and two other Ant executives were summoned to a highly unusual meeting with financial regulators.

Exact details of the talks remain unknown, but the next day the Shanghai exchange pulled the IPO.

Ma's critiques "didn't sit well with regulators, many of whom have been grappling with the risks of micro-lending", said Alex Capri, a research fellow at Hinrich Foundation.

"Ant has grown too large and too influential as a financial institution in China, something that will not be tolerated by the (ruling Communist Party)," Capri said.

Experts say a robust online lending sector is needed to meet the needs of ordinary consumers but that China has reason to fear a borrowing binge.

Bad debt in the country's chaotic financial system is a perennial risk, and regulators launched a crackdown on a growing nationwide credit addiction three years ago owing to fears of a financial meltdown.

'Awful' timing

But Ant now boasts around 500 million users of its loan and credit products, which allow consumers to take out cash loans or access revolving credit lines.

This has stoked fears of a younger digital generation with little risk awareness falling into a life-long debt spiral, said Zhang Gang, a strategist with Central China Securities.

"Because of Ant's scale and influence, they may dominate private lending in the future and ... (acquire) private lending companies," said Zhang, who feels tighter regulations are badly needed.

The IPO is expected to eventually go ahead after Ant complies with the new regulatory requirements, which it has vowed to do, although analysts expect the size and valuation to be lower in light of the curbs on Ant's businesses.

But the "awful" timing of the IPO's withdrawal could dent China's hopes of being viewed as a financial and technology force to rival the United States, said Espinasse.

Beijing is pushing its national tech champions to list on China's stock exchanges rather than in the US, partly because of an escalating bilateral rivalry.

"This potentially has significant implications, not just for homecoming listings but also for listings of Chinese tech companies more generally," Espinasse said.

"Ultimately, financial markets are all about trust and transparency and it looks like we don't have that right now."


China's Ant Group postpones IPO under regulatory pressure

by Dan Martin, With Jing Xuan Teng In Beijing

NOVEMBER 3, 2020

Ant Group chief chairman Jack Ma was summoned with other executives to meet central bank and regulatory officials

China's Ant Group on Tuesday suspended its record-breaking IPO in both Hong Kong and Shanghai as the fintech giant faces growing pressure from Chinese regulators over potential risks.

The firm's Alipay platform has helped revolutionise commerce and personal finance in China, with consumers using the smartphone app to pay for everything from meals to groceries and travel tickets.

But Ant Group, which has more than 700 million monthly active users, has also caused concern in China's state-controlled finance sector by venturing into personal and consumer lending, wealth management and insurance.

Ant will suspend both legs of its $34 billion listing—originally set to take place this week—after being ordered by Chinese regulators to postpone its Shanghai offering over concerns it would not meet listing requirements, the company said in a filing Tuesday.

The Shanghai stock exchange issued the surprise order due to "major issues such as changes in the fintech supervisory environment", the bourse said in a separate statement on the same day.

The shock announcement sent the New York-listed shares of affiliated e-commerce titan Alibaba plunging by as much as nine percent as US markets opened Tuesday.

The suspension comes after co-founder Jack Ma, Ant Group chairman Eric Jing, and chief executive Simon Hu were summoned to an unusual meeting with regulators on Monday, while state media have recently issued warnings about potential financial instability that could result from Ant Group's rapid growth.

It also follows new state regulations to contain potential risks in China's growing online lending industry, a sector Ant Group has aggressively moved into.

Fintech risks

China's regulators are "attempting to maintain control over a fintech sector that is already huge, profitable, and rapidly evolving," Brock Silvers, chief investment officer at Kaiyuan Capital, told AFP.

Ma, one of China's richest and most powerful business figures as well as Ant Group's controlling shareholder, has faced state media criticism for comments in late October in which he boasted of the size of the IPO and appeared to criticise regulators for stifling fintech innovation.

A Sunday commentary in the state-controlled Financial News warned of internet giants like Ant Group getting too big, saying any resulting systemic problems "will lead to serious risk contagion".

The state-owned Economic Daily newspaper responded Tuesday to the suspension calling it a demonstration of regulators' determination to "safeguard the interests of investors".

"Those who try to subvert the existing system will certainly offend the vested interests just like taxi drivers do not like Uber," said Ivan Li, investment research director of CSL Securities in Hong Kong.

Ant said in a separate social media post Tuesday that it "sincerely apologizes... for any inconvenience caused by this development", adding that it would cooperate with regulators.

The share sale was set to beat the $29 billion chalked up by previous record-holder Saudi Aramco last December.

The Hong Kong Stock Exchange said Tuesday it had been notified by Ant of the suspension but would not comment on specific listings.

Beijing has called on national flagships of the tech sector to list on domestic stock exchanges rather than fundraise in the US, in a period of sharp economic and political rivalry.

Alibaba fintech arm gets nod for record IPO listing in Hong Kong

OCTOBER 19, 2020

Ant Group runs Alipay, one of China's two dominant online payment systems

The financial arm of Chinese e-commerce titan Alibaba received Monday a green light from Chinese regulators to list in Hong Kong, according to data published online, another step towards the biggest IPO in history.


Ant Group aims to raise a massive $35 billion via the share sale in a joint listing in the semi-autonomous finance hub and Shanghai, Bloomberg News has previously reported, citing unnamed sources.

The company is looking to raise the cash—far more than the $29 billion chalked up by Saudi Aramco in December—in a split float between the two Chinese cities, Bloomberg said.

The plan values Ant Group at about $250 billion, it added.

The company runs Alipay, the dominant online payment system in China, where cash, cheques and credit cards have long been eclipsed by e-payment devices and apps.

According to a report in Hong Kong's South China Morning Post, Ant Group has also been granted approval by the city's stock exchange.

In September, the Shanghai Stock Exchange's Star Market platform gave its go ahead for a listing, which meant the Hangzhou-based firm only needs a final, formal approval from the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC).

In its August filing, Ant said it would use the proceeds to expand cross-border payments and enhance its research-and-development capabilities.

The decision not to list in New York is a big loss for US markets and comes as Washington ramps up scrutiny of Chinese tech firms.

A number of high-profile Chinese firms—especially those in the tech sector—have turned to Hong Kong owing to tension between Washington and Beijing.

It is also a shot in the arm for Hong Kong as fears mount over the potential fallout of Beijing's imposition of a new national security law on the city.


Explore further

Alibaba fintech arm eyes record IPO with Hong Kong-Shanghai listing

© 2020 AFP

GREEN CAPITALI$M

Future material demand for automotive 

lithium-based batteries

by Thamarasee Jeewandara , Tech Xplore

DECEMBER 24, 2020 FEATURE

Global EV stock development projected until 2050. BEV battery electric vehicle, PHEV plug-in hybrid electric vehicle, STEP scenario the Stated Policies scenario, SD scenario Sustainable Development scenario. Credit: Nature Communications Materials, doi: 10.1038/s43246-020-00095-x

As the world shifts to electric vehicles to reduce climate change, it is important to quantify future demands for key battery materials. In a new report, Chengjian Xu, Bernhard Steubing and a research team at the Leiden University, Netherlands and the Argonne National Laboratory in the U.S. showed how the demands of a lithium, nickel, cobalt and manganese oxide dominated battery will increase by many factors between 2020 to 2050. As a result, supply chains for lithium, cobalt and nickel will require significant expansion and likely additional resource discovery. Nevertheless, uncertainties are large relative to the development of electrical vehicle fleets and battery capacities per vehicle. While closed-loop recycling plays a minor but increasingly important role to reduce the primary material demand until 2050, researchers must implement advanced recycling strategies to economically recover battery-grade materials from end-of-life batteries. This work is now published on Nature Communications Materials.


The evolution of electric vehicles (EVs)

Electric vehicles (EVs) have a reduced climate impact compared to vehicles with internal combustion engines. This advantage has led to a massive increase in demand, where global fleets have grown from a few thousand from just a decade ago, up to 7.5 million in 2019. However, the global average market of the vehicles is still limited, while future growth is expected to dwarf past growth in absolute numbers. Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are presently the dominant technology for electric vehicles, and typical automotive LIBs contain lithium, cobalt and nickel in the cathode, with graphite in the anode, alongside aluminum and copper in other components. Battery technology is currently advancing for new and improved chemistries. In this work, Xu et al. studied the global material demand for light-duty electric vehicle batteries from lithium, nickel, and cobalt to graphite and silicon and connected the material demands to the ongoing production capacities and known reserves to discuss key factors to improve batteries. The work will assist the transition to electric vehicles by providing insight to the future battery material demand, alongside key factors driving it.

Battery market shares and yearly EV battery sales until 2050 for the fleet development in the STEP scenario. (a) NCX scenario. (b) LFP scenario. (c) Li-S/Air scenario. LFP lithium iron phosphate battery, NCM lithium nickel cobalt manganese battery, Numbers in NCM111, NCM523, NCM622, NCM811, and NCM955 denote ratios of nickel, cobalt, and manganese. NCA lithium nickel cobalt aluminum battery, Graphite (Si) graphite anode with some fraction of silicon, Li-S lithium-sulphur battery, Li-Air lithium-air battery, TWh 109 kWh. Credit: Nature Communications Materials, doi: 10.1038/s43246-020-00095-x

The fleet growth of electric vehicles (EVs)

The team projected the EV fleet growth based on two scenarios of the International Energy Agency (IEA) until 2030. These include the stated policies (STEP) relative to existing government policies and the sustainable development (SD) scenario compatible with the Paris Agreement climate goals of reaching a 30 percent global sale for EVs by 2030. In this analysis, Xu et al. extended these scenarios until 2050. To meet the STEP scenario, a battery capacity of approximately 6 TWh will be required annually by 2050. The material requirements will depend on the choice of battery chemistries used with three battery chemistries currently in consideration.

The most likely scenario will follow the current trend of the widespread use of lithium nickel cobalt aluminum (NCA) and lithium nickel cobalt manganese (NCM) batteries (henceforth known as the NCX, in which X stands for aluminum or manganese). This will lead to the evolution of battery chemistries by 2030. The lithium iron phosphates (LFP) that can constitute the lithium-ion battery cathode material are expected to be in use increasingly for electric vehicles in the future. While their lower specific energy can affect the fuel economy and range of EVs, the LFPs are advantageous due to lower production costs, better thermal stability and longer life cycle. Although the use of LFP batteries is currently common in commercial transport vehicles such as buses, there are also prospects for widespread use in light-duty EVs, including Teslas.

Battery material flows from 2020 to 2050 for lithium, nickel, and cobalt in the NCX, LFP, and Li-S/Air battery scenarios. (a) Primary material demand. (b) materials in end-of-life batteries. STEP scenario the Stated Policies scenario, SD scenario Sustainable Development scenario, Mt million tons. Credit: Nature Communications Materials, doi: 10.1038/s43246-020-00095-x

Battery material demand and recycling potentials

The scientists then assessed the global demand for EV (electric vehicle) batteries and noted the growing demand for lithium to only be slightly influenced by the specific chemistry of the battery, while the specific battery chemistries of nickel and cobalt had a stronger influence on their demand. The team further projected an increased demand for lithium-ion batteries, followed by the demand for nickel from 2020 to 2050. In this way, they predicted the cumulative demand from 2020 to 2050 to range from 7.3 to 18.3 million tons (Mt) for Li, 3.5–16.8 Mt for Co, and 18.1–88.9 Mt for Ni.

Xu et al. next showed the materials present in end-of-life batteries across time and discussed how recovering them would help reduce primary material production. The existing commercial recycling methods for EV batteries include pyrometallurgical and hydrometallurgical processing. Pyrometallurgical recycling includes smelting entire batteries or battery components after pre-treatment. Hydrometallurgical processing is based on acid leaching and the subsequent recovery of battery materials via solvent extraction and precipitation methods. In closed loop recycling, pyrometallurgical processing can be followed by hydrometallurgical processing to convert an alloy into metal salts. Direct recycling aims to recover cathode materials while maintaining their chemical structures for economic and environmental advantages, however, this method is still in its early stages of development.

Conceptual schematic showing how the three considered recycling scenarios close battery material loops and which materials are recovered. In reality not all materials go through all processing steps. For example, pyrometallurgical recycling (smelting) still requires hydrometallurgical processing (leaching) before cathode materials can be produced, while direct recycling is designed to recover cathode materials directly. In pyro- and hydrometallurgical recycling the recovery of Li may not be economical and in pyrometallurgical recycling graphite is incinerated and Al not recovered from the slag. Credit: Nature Communications Materials, doi: 10.1038/s43246-020-00095-x

Outlook for electric vehicles (EVs)

In this way, Chengjian Xu, Bernhard Steubing and colleagues developed models to show how battery production capacity for lithium, nickel and cobalt will have to increase significantly since demands for electric vehicles could outgrow current production rates even before 2025. The battery materials can be supplied without exceeding existing production capacities, although supplies will have to increase to meet demands from other sectors. The outlined supply risks can change with the potential discovery of new reserves. The demand for battery capacity will depend on technical factors such as vehicle design, weight and fuel efficiency as well as the fleet size and consumer choices relative to the size and range of EVs.

Closed-loop recycling potential of battery materials in periods of 2020–2029, 2030–2039, and 2040–2050 in the STEP scenario. Hydrometallurgical recycling is used for NCX and LFP batteries and mechanical recovery of Li metal for Li-S and Li-Air batteries. Gray dots show how second-use, which postpones the time of recycling, reduces the closed-loop recycling potentials and thus the availability of secondary materials in the coming decades. 

Credit: Nature Communications Materials, doi: 10.1038/s43246-020-00095-x

The method of direct recycling is the most economic and environmentally favored closed-loop recycling process since it can allow the recovery of cathode materials without smelting and leaching processes. Successful transition to electric vehicles will depend on sustained material supply that can keep up with the growth of the sector. Scientific sustainability assessments including life cycle evaluations of chemistries will guide the selection of alternative battery chemistries and raw materials. The global demands projected in this work also provide a platform to monitor the global economic environmental and social impacts of electric vehicles and their batteries.

Explore further

New class of cobalt-free cathodes could enhance energy density of next-gen lithium-ion batteries
More information: Xu C. et al. Future material demand for automotive lithium-based batteries, Nature Communications Materials, doi.org/10.1038/s43246-020-00095-x

Knobloch, F., et al. Net emission reductions from electric cars and heat pumps in 59 world regions over time, Nature Sustainability doi.org/10.1038/s41893-020-0488-7

Ponrouch A. & Palacin R. A. Post-Li batteries: promises and challenges. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A. doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2018.0297

Journal information: Nature Sustainability , Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A

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