Wealth and Value in the Lithium ion Battery Chain

The network investigates a crucial area of Denmark and the world's green
transition, namely the lithium ion battery chain. It explores the conditions for
a sustainable supply chain for Denmark, Danish industry and the world at and
from critical nodes in that chain in terms of supply (Australia, Chile, Congo)
and control (China). The energy transition raises challenges that are
technical, logistical and political economic. This network seeks to generate a
research basis upon which to understand the political economic and act upon
the lithium ion supply chain so that it is both a key component of the green
transition and a component that resolves the many socio-economic challenges
that green transition implies. It harnesses knowledge from the natural
sciences (Birmingham, Congo) to ensure sustainability accounts for
technological change. The network is a new formation. As such, the specific
outputs remain to be specified during the network activity period. At the same
time, it is envisioned that the network will ultimately provide analysis of the
where in the lithium ion battery chain issues of security and competition and
are most acute, how firms and states are organised to produce value and
manage wealth and how these issues are evolving in what is a rapidly
changing (in both technical and political economic terms). The network will
also form a basis upon which to develop sustainability principles for
government, investors and industry participants. The concrete and catalytic
output of the network is an large scale grant application that will meet these
ambitions.