Sustainability

Bengaluru-based Metastable Materials has developed a 100% chemical-free process for extracting metals out of scrap Li-ion batteries. It has set up an ‘Urban Mining Unit’ on the outskirts of Bengaluru, which is capable of processing up to 1,500 tonnes of dead batteries per annum. This unit will start production early next year. Shubham Vishvakarma, founder and chief of process engineering at Metastable Materials, speaks to pv magazine about the role of urban mining in meeting India’s electric mobility ambitions and the advantages of the process developed by them. 

EKI Energy and First Source Energy have launched a joint venture entity that will drive focused educational initiatives while also mobilising funds from global markets for sustainable climate projects across the globe.

The Gujarat-based solar manufacturer has pledged to become fully carbon neutral by 2023 and achieve net-zero status by 2030.

A recent report by the International Energy Agency Photovoltaic Power Systems Programme (IEA PVSP) reviews the current regulatory and industrial landscape for end-of-life PV management in Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, South Korea, China, Australia, and the United States.

The Indian manufacturer’s facility at Electronic City in Telangana has become the first LEED Gold-rated solar cell and module manufacturing facility in India. It received the stringent green building rating from the US Green Building Council.

In some of the world’s most hazardous locations, a resilient and autonomous common denominator is often found – solar energy. From offshore oil rigs to remote mine sites and the frontlines of conflict zones, solar power functions where others fail, and it does so without the need of refuelling or regular maintenance. But what makes solar such a ‘no-brainer’ that even the oil and gas industry must turn to it? And what other hazardous locations can be electrified with solar? Blake Matich reports.

On the road to becoming carbon negative, Microsoft increases the amount of zero-carbon electricity it’s procuring through long-term contracts.

Hinduja Group, an Indian multinational, has invested GBP 15 million (($18.4 million) with four other investors in Connected Energy, a developer of energy storage systems based on second-life electric vehicle batteries. The investment will help Connected Energy to scale up its operations and move into utility-scale project development. 

A couple of weeks ago, Goldman Sachs sent shockwaves through battery metals markets, issuing a prediction that cobalt and lithium in particular were due for a sharp price decline in the next two years. But London-based Benchmark Mineral Intelligence is loudly pushing back, outlining its reasons why it believes the call on lithium was wrong. Meanwhile, US analyst Wood Mackenzie says that the battery raw material chain will remain tight, but notes that recycling could help to ease the supply deficit.

TBEA-owned Xinte Energy says it cannot produce polysilicon quickly enough to meet demand and wants shareholders to back its bid to quadruple its manufacturing capacity by mid 2024.