1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:13,000 Welcome to a new episode of Recharge Your Batteries, an educational program brought to you by real scientists. 2 00:00:13,000 --> 00:00:16,000 Our special guests tonight are... 3 00:00:16,000 --> 00:00:23,379 What car do you think was first invented? The electric car or the petrol car? 4 00:00:23,379 --> 00:00:28,379 It may seem weird, but the electric car was invented before, around the 19th century. 5 00:00:28,379 --> 00:00:35,380 This picture shows the first electric engine, which has been improved little by little until the ones we can enjoy today. 6 00:00:35,380 --> 00:00:38,380 Firstly, we will see what happens with the demand on electric cars. 7 00:00:38,380 --> 00:00:47,380 As you can see, this demand hasn't stopped growing, and in the last 6 months of 2018, 1 million vehicles have been sold. 8 00:00:47,380 --> 00:00:51,380 The electric vehicles revolution is getting a cruising speed. 9 00:00:51,380 --> 00:01:00,380 In 2040, the selling of electric car will reach the 41 million that will be the 35% of the vehicles on the road. 10 00:01:00,380 --> 00:01:05,379 At the beginning of the 20th century, there was a huge evolution in lead-acid batteries. 11 00:01:05,379 --> 00:01:09,379 Their site was reduced, they offered more voltage and their autonomy increased. 12 00:01:09,379 --> 00:01:13,379 During the 20th century, the nickel-cadmium batteries were developed. 13 00:01:13,379 --> 00:01:18,379 They stood out because of their efficiency at low temperatures, but their components were very expensive, 14 00:01:18,379 --> 00:01:21,599 expensive, so they adapted better to the aviator sector. 15 00:01:21,599 --> 00:01:26,280 The newest batteries nowadays are the lithium-ion batteries, the LIV. 16 00:01:26,280 --> 00:01:30,739 They double their energetic density, they were three times smaller and they increased 17 00:01:30,739 --> 00:01:32,840 their autonomy as well as their power. 18 00:01:32,840 --> 00:01:37,959 Cobalt is a chemical element with atomic number 27 and atomic weight 59 that belongs to the 19 00:01:37,959 --> 00:01:39,239 group of metals. 20 00:01:39,239 --> 00:01:42,659 Cobalt is of key importance in the manufacturing of electric batteries. 21 00:01:42,659 --> 00:01:47,120 It is used together with other metals such as lithium or manganese due to a property 22 00:01:47,120 --> 00:01:52,159 it has that consists in boosting the features of these other metals and increasing the light, 23 00:01:52,159 --> 00:01:57,200 efficiency and performance of the battery. Currently from 6 to 12 kilograms are used 24 00:01:57,200 --> 00:02:02,239 on the batteries of electric cars. Our special guest Johan Apperson was the man who discovered 25 00:02:02,239 --> 00:02:06,879 lithium. What are you going to tell us Johan? Greetings my fellow scientists, I will teach you 26 00:02:06,879 --> 00:02:08,879 essencias with a bit of music. 27 00:02:08,879 --> 00:02:38,860 First of all, I explored the Lithium Triangle. 28 00:02:38,860 --> 00:02:41,360 made up by Argentina, Bolivia and Chile. 29 00:02:41,360 --> 00:02:46,360 Here we can find more than 85% of our planet's lithium. 30 00:02:46,360 --> 00:02:51,360 This is a picture of a salt flat, the place where lithium extractions mostly occur. 31 00:02:51,360 --> 00:02:54,360 The liquid found here is pumped out and then left to evaporate. 32 00:02:54,360 --> 00:02:55,860 What remains is lithium. 33 00:02:55,860 --> 00:02:58,860 Now let's go to the Democratic Republic of Congo. 34 00:02:58,860 --> 00:03:01,860 This country is the biggest producer of cobalt, 35 00:03:01,860 --> 00:03:04,860 followed by Russia, Australia and Canada. 36 00:03:04,860 --> 00:03:08,860 Scientist Georgina will give us more data about this raw material. 37 00:03:08,860 --> 00:03:15,860 This metal, also known as blue gold of the 21st century, comes mainly from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. 38 00:03:15,860 --> 00:03:24,860 This material represents only 0.001% of the raw materials of the Earth's crust that, as we have seen, are not abandoned at all. 39 00:03:24,860 --> 00:03:30,860 The cobalt extracted is taken to China, where it is processed and later on distributed throughout the whole world. 40 00:03:30,860 --> 00:03:36,460 It is expected that the demand of cobalt will increase significantly and, as a result, its 41 00:03:36,460 --> 00:03:38,020 price will increase too. 42 00:03:38,020 --> 00:03:44,460 In fact, the price of the metal has surged to 95 euros per kilogram in 2018. 43 00:03:44,460 --> 00:03:48,939 Therefore, the seek of other cobalt supplies seems necessary. 44 00:03:48,939 --> 00:03:54,280 Investigating, I discovered that the Spanish company Gravat has presented batteries made 45 00:03:54,280 --> 00:03:59,539 with a graphene polymer which, if used in electric vehicles, it would allow an autonomy 46 00:03:59,539 --> 00:04:08,259 of 800 km. It occupies between 20% and 30% less than a lithium-ion battery, and could 47 00:04:08,259 --> 00:04:14,680 be charged in just 5 minutes. Graphene is a nanomaterial formed by pure carbon and whose 48 00:04:14,680 --> 00:04:21,120 characteristics are hardness, flexibility, and elasticity. Solid-state batteries have 49 00:04:21,120 --> 00:04:27,540 a solid electrolyte that leads to higher energy density, faster charging times, and a reasonable 50 00:04:27,540 --> 00:04:34,339 Price. Manufacturing a normal lithium-ion battery takes from 50 to 60 days, which is a really long 51 00:04:34,339 --> 00:04:41,139 period of time. Solid-state batteries could take less than 10 days in manufacturing. Companies such 52 00:04:41,139 --> 00:04:48,740 as Volkswagen and Toyota will use this technology by 2025 in order to increase the autonomy of an 53 00:04:48,740 --> 00:04:54,579 electric car. In the future, cars will obtain energy from the sun. Others say that it will be 54 00:04:54,579 --> 00:05:00,100 the roads the one that accumulate electricity the waste products generated are a risk for the 55 00:05:00,100 --> 00:05:05,860 environment the european union only recycles the five percent of them according to current laws 56 00:05:05,860 --> 00:05:12,019 the producers are the one that should bear with the costs of recycling some research is being made 57 00:05:12,579 --> 00:05:18,180 using the remains of raw materials of old batteries into new ones or using them as energy storage cells 58 00:05:18,180 --> 00:05:25,240 In Russia, there are red rivers due to nickel spillings, and in the DRC, very toxic gases 59 00:05:25,240 --> 00:05:26,959 are released to extract cobalt. 60 00:05:26,959 --> 00:05:35,399 In 2014, there were 13.5 million tons of lithium reserves, from which 36,000 tons were processed. 61 00:05:35,399 --> 00:05:41,939 In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, there are over 40,000 children working in the mines 62 00:05:41,939 --> 00:05:43,639 to extract cobalt.