Low rates of investment in the global mining sector have put the global energy transition at risk, widening the supply gap in critical minerals like copper, Rio Tinto chairman Dominic Barton said on Monday…"The gap is humungous, and I am actually very worried about whether we will be able to close (it)," Barton said via video link at the Ecosperity conference in Singapore…The global effort to slash climate-warming carbon dioxide emissions will depend on securing large supplies of minerals like copper, lithium and cobalt required to build electric vehicles, solar plants and wind farms…The amount of metals required for each kilowatt of generation capacity has risen by 50% since 2010, and electric cars require six times more minerals than traditional combustion engine, according to the International Energy Agency…Barton said the world isn't just facing a shortage of minerals, but also a shortage of the capital required to dig new mines, which take far longer to develop than before…Scott Clements, a partner at Tribeca Capital, said there were still enormous opportunities in the mining sector that could "generate phenomenal returns".

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai will tell lawmakers on Tuesday that the Biden administration is "taking a serious look" at U.S. trade defense tools to deal with threats posed by China's trade and economic policies, including a review of Trump-era tariffs on Chinese imports…In excerpts of testimony to the U.S. House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee released ahead of a hearing on Tuesday, Tai said that China's policies were causing "dependencies and vulnerabilities in multiple sectors, harming American workers and businesses and creating real risks for our supply chains." "This is why we are taking a serious look at how our existing tools are addressing this problem, including through our four-year review of the China Section 301 tariffs," Tai said…Tai's testimony on the Biden administration's 2024 trade agenda comes just a week after U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen issued a warning to Chinese leaders that their overinvestment in production capacity for electric vehicles, solar panels and other clean energy goods was threatening an unacceptable wave of exports that would hurt producers and workers in the United States and elsewhere…A major goal of the Biden administration's work on supply chains has been aimed at reducing dependence on China and diversifying sources of supply to avoid bottlenecks like those that occurred at the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, Tai said

A major battery plant near Los Angeles will be among the largest in the world when it comes online later this year, promising to shore up California's power grid during the peak summer season and help the state a meet ambitious climate goals…Calpine's billion-dollar Nova Power Bank, built on the site of a failed gas-fired power plant, will be able to power about 680,000 homes for up to four hours when charged. It could help boost California's renewable power industries which provide more than a third of the state's power needs…The 680-megawatt lithium-ion battery bank is big even for California, which boasts about 55% of the nation's power storage capacity, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration…Battery projects in the hundreds of megawatts are becoming more common. Such large systems exist or are under development in California, Florida, Australia, the United Kingdom and China…Calpine's new facility is part of a U.S. storage boom centered in California and Texas, two states with large and growing amounts of wind and solar energy. Storing power is considered vital to the expansion of renewable energy because it allows electricity generated when the sun is shining or wind is blowing to be used late in the day when consumers need it most…"When people get home from work and they plug in their electric cars, turn on their dishwashers and air conditioners, there is a high demand for power, (but) not as much solar production. Having something that saves the power from the middle of the day (and) moves it to a higher demand period will help make the grid more resilient."

Tesla will lay off more than 10% of its global workforce, an internal memo seen by Reuters on Monday shows, as it grapples with falling sales and an intensifying price war for electric vehicles (EVs)…In a sign of further instability at the EV maker, Tesla's senior vice president Drew Baglino, in charge of battery development, and Rohan Patel, vice-president for public policy and business development, both announced their exits from the company on X on Monday…Their departures "signal that Tesla's major growth phase is meeting serious headwinds," said Michael Ashley Schulman, chief investment officer at Running Point Capital Advisors, deeming it "the larger negative signal today" than the announcement of job cuts…"Tesla is maturing as a company and isn’t the growth story that it used to be," said Craig Irwin, senior research analyst at Roth Capital. "Layoffs imply management expects weak demand to persist."…It is also gearing up to start sales in India, the world's third-largest auto market, this year, producing cars in Germany for export to India and scouting locations for showrooms and service hubs in major cities.

Nissan expects to mass produce electric vehicles powered by advanced next-generation batteries by early 2029, the company said Tuesday during a media tour of an unfinished pilot plant…Solid-state batteries, which replace the corrosive liquids found in conventional batteries with solid metals, are widely seen as the next step for EVs, and leading automakers are racing to develop versions that can be mass produced…But substantial challenges remain before the technology reaches commercial mass production…The sprawling facility Nissan showed off Tuesday was still mostly empty, but company officials said it’s scheduled to begin operating a pilot production line by March 2025, with commercial production of EVs there set to start in fiscal year 2028, which runs from April 2028 to March 2029…Nissan was an EV pioneer, introducing the all-electric Leaf in 2010. The company said it plans to offer solid-state batteries in a range of models, including pickup trucks…“We are finally in the phase of scaling up on our all-solid-state battery line,” said Shunichi Inamijima, corporate vice president…“Our all-solid-state battery technology is a game-changer for making EV sales grow explosively.”