B.C. climate news: Delta company opens lithium refining plant with first-in-North-America technology | B.C. company creates AI 'scout' to predict wildfire risk

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Mangrove Lithium cut the ribbon on its commercial-scale refining plant with the capacity to make enough lithium — an essential element for the heralded energy transition — for up to 25,000 electric vehicle batteries.

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Company CEO Saad Dara called Thursday’s official commissioning “a landmark moment,” which Mangrove Lithium hopes will prove the cost competitiveness of their process and break into a global supply chain that is dominated by mines in South America and refining centred in China and other parts of Asia.

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“All of Canada’s lithium, all of our mineral resources from lithium mining, end up in other countries for processing and refining,” Dara said in his remarks. “That’s not only a geopolitical risk, but it also means that Canada does not capture the full value of its mineral resources,” he added.

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Dara hopes the Delta demonstration plant will help justify a final investment decision for a larger-scale commercial refining plant near lithium mines in Quebec with the capacity to refine enough of the element for the equivalent of 500,000 EV batteries.

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—Derrick Penner

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Austria’s economic model has long been anchored in alpine water flowing through turbines to generate power for homes and businesses, but as climate change redraws the country’s hydrological map, it faces a structural shift and geopolitical tensions have heightened the sense of urgency.

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Scientists warn that the country is approaching a tipping point known as “peak water,” which means that as alpine glaciers shrink, these frozen reservoirs will no longer be able to boost river flows and generate electricity to the same extent they once did.

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“Almost all glaciers have been losing mass. That is consensus,” said Francesca Pellicciotti, a glaciologist at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria. “There will be less water for hydropower at some point.”

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Climate change is already causing more volatile precipitation patterns, but the prospect of declining water availability underscores the need to diversify into wind, solar and energy storage to cushion both climate-driven shocks and external supply risks. Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz after the U.S. and Israel attacked has highlighted how vulnerable export dependence energy systems can be.

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—Bloomberg News

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Royal Bank of Canada and Bank of Nova Scotia have abandoned plans to reduce the carbon footprint associated with loans to heavy emitters such as oil and gas producers.

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The Canadian banks, announcing their decisions in separate statements on Thursday, said they are withdrawing their 2030 financed emissions targets. Both cited the geopolitical and energy-security context. RBC said it will retain its 2050 ambition to achieve net zero emissions via its loan book, while Scotiabank said it had retired that goal altogether.

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Just half a decade ago, banks in North America and Europe lined up to join net zero alliances, as they touted their dedication to addressing climate change. Since then, such commitments have been dramatically wound back against a backdrop of war, higher interest rates, political opposition and energy crises.

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RBC said last year it was reviewing goals it set in 2022 for reducing the carbon emissions intensity of oil and gas, power generation and automotive clients. It now says that the “changing and uncertain operating environment makes some of our interim targets not reasonably achievable and the outlook for others unclear.”