Vulcan Energy Resources (Vulcan) regards the Australian Government’s introduction of a Future Fuels plan as a start in the right direction, but the policy does not go far enough.

Transport is Australia’s third greatest source of greenhouse gas emissions, with vehicles accounting for almost half of all carbon emissions in the transport sector. Unfortunately, in comparison to other nations, the use of electric cars in the United States remains low.

The investment in charging infrastructure is critical for increasing community trust in electric vehicles and addressing “range anxiety,” but it is insufficient to significantly cut Australia’s carbon emissions from light vehicles.

Increased use of electric cars creates enormous economic potential for Australia.

Australia is the world’s largest producer and exporter of lithium raw minerals, which are essential components in batteries. Lithium will be a critical resource in our attempts to combat climate change, as worldwide demand for lithium more than doubles over the next four years, owing to an increase in electric cars.

Vulcan’s Zero Carbon LithiumTM project in Germany combines German technical knowledge with Australian entrepreneurship and lithium expertise to create the world’s first lithium producer with net-zero greenhouse gas emissions.

As new European Union battery laws promote responsible lithium sourcing and the phase-out of high CO2 footprint batteries, we see the development of a decarbonised lithium product as critical to powering Europe’s transition to a sustainable and compliant auto sector.

We believe that Australian firms have the expertise, motivation, and ultimately the obligation to consider not only Australia’s emissions, but those of the entire globe.