Do we have enough lithium to power the future?
The Inquiry
BBC
4.6 • 1.7K Ratings
🗓️ 3 February 2022
⏱️ 24 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Can we meet the soaring demand for lithium, a vital metal for electric cars and green energy? Mining is concentrated in a limited number of countries such as Australia and Chile. And with China dominating the manufacture of electric car batteries and already accounting for the importation of a high proportion of raw lithium, it may be difficult for Western countries to secure their own supplies.
With Tanya Beckett. Producer Bob Howard
(A worker checks lithium car batteries at the Xinwangda factory in Nanjing,China on March 12, 2021. AFP via Getty Images)
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the inquiry with me, Tanya Beckett. |
| 0:04.0 | One question, four expert witnesses, and an answer. |
| 0:13.0 | Imagine a metal that is lighter than wood, |
| 0:16.0 | so soft you could cut it with a knife, |
| 0:19.0 | and which fizzes when it comes into contact with water. |
| 0:24.0 | All the normal things you think a metal does, |
| 0:27.0 | this metal cannot do. |
| 0:30.0 | But the price of silvery white volatile lithium |
| 0:34.0 | has quadrupled over the past year, |
| 0:37.0 | because it's used in batteries to power electric cars, |
| 0:41.0 | which are an increasing demand. |
| 0:45.0 | Batteries using lithium can be recharged thousands of times |
| 0:49.0 | and store masses of energy in a very small space. |
| 0:53.0 | They're in mobile phones, laptop computers, |
| 0:57.0 | and there are big plans to use them for storing renewable energy. |
| 1:01.0 | But the biggest use of all is in electric vehicles. |
| 1:06.0 | So this week on the inquiry we're asking, |
| 1:09.0 | do we have enough lithium to power the future? |
| 1:16.0 | Part one, sparks are flying. |
| 1:24.0 | To understand why lithium-ion batteries |
| 1:26.0 | are so important to our world, |
| 1:28.0 | we need first to get to grips with how a battery works. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.