The Lithium Revolution

In a time of global resource shortage and increasing energy prices, lithium is a key natural resource. It is a basis for energy storage and widely used in batteries for electromobility. The film tells the stories of Lithium from a three-´fold perspective. In Bolivia, indigenous activists and politicians want to avoid that once again, Western industrial countries exploit a key resource at the expense of indigenous locals. In China, the race is on to secure lithium and become the world's key supplier of renewable energy components. Will the West keep up with a country where the government can force both consumers and industries towards electromobility without much debate? ****** Over 50% of lithium resources worldwide are found in the poor country of Bolivia. Evo Morales, the first indigenous president of the country, wants to break out of the vicious circle of poverty and exploitation and has thrown multinational companies out of the country, in order to industrialize Lithium himself. Will Bolivia succeed to make use of this rare chance? The approaching super power China has no time to waste. Hundreds of millions of people urge up the income ladder, want to consume, travel and drive cars. Ample modernization is only achievable through new technologies like the more efficient e-mobility. The government has reacted by creating funds and pumping millions into the sector. The aim is to make China a leading provider of electric mobility within a few years. Not only the Chinese are determined, many members of the western world are jumping onto the bandwagon: they have realized that e-mobility is the key to the reduction of CO2 emissions and will end the luring dependence on oil. These western states demand e-mobility for environmental purposes and out of fear to fall behind. Renault, Nissan and General Motors produced an electric car suitable for mass production this year, innovative start-ups like Better Place are already working on supply grids. They question is whether batteries will make the necessary developmental jump in a near future, or if the dream of e-mobility will fail as it has in the 1990’s. A number of experts present realistic predictions in the film on the likelihood of an e-mobility success story. Among them renowned environmental- and mobility expert Dr. Axel Friedrich reflects the current developments critically. Two insiders in the field of energy and natural resources Jaakko Kooroshy (Royal Institute of International Affairs, London) and Dr. John Hykawy (Byron Capital Market, Canada) make the connections between lithium and the larger issues at hand. The film „The Lithium Revolution“ uses a variety of perspectives while contemplating whether lithium could be the answer to global energy and environmental crisis of the 21st century. The race to secure access to Lithium is a global power game that affects each and every one of us. The stakes are high.