Norway's vast phosphate deposits offer hope for sustainable electric cars
Norge Mining, a government organization in Norway, has unearthed extensive deposits of phosphate rocks within the country. This finding holds tremendous potential for the electric car industry, as these rocks can be utilized to power electric vehicles. According to Norge Mining, Norway may possess up to an astonishing 70 billion tonnes of phosphorus, sufficient to meet the electric power demand for the next half-century.
Listed as a critical mineral by the European Union, phosphorus deposits in the Western Sahara region of Morocco. Reports say these are the largest known deposits of the mineral, totaling approximately 50 billion tonnes. Substantial reserves have also been identified in China — approx.
3.2 billion tonnes — and in Egypt — 2.8 billion tonnes — according to the US Geological Survey (USGS). Phosphorus is an exhaustible resource, predominantly consumed by the agriculture sector for fertilizer production, leaving a meager portion available for other industries. This overreliance on phosphorus for farming raises concerns about its availability for alternative sectors, potentially hampering the growth of specific crops.
Moreover, the use of phosphate fertilizers in agriculture has detrimental effects. Runoff from these fertilizers can result in algae blooms in rivers, posing a grave threat to freshwater ecosystems. Notably, phosphorus plays a vital role in the production of solar panels, computer chips, and lithium-iron phosphate batteries utilized in electric cars.
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