{
  "node": {
    "id": "term:critical-raw-materials",
    "type": "Term",
    "label": "Critical raw materials",
    "properties": {
      "id": "critical-raw-materials",
      "name": "Critical raw materials",
      "section": "topic-sustainability",
      "definition": "Materials that an economy depends on and whose supply is concentrated or at risk: for batteries, lithium, cobalt, nickel, natural graphite and manganese. The EU and US both list them and attach sourcing and recycling targets.",
      "related": [
        "lithium-carbonate",
        "cobalt",
        "natural-graphite",
        "eu-battery-regulation",
        "recycling"
      ],
      "url": "https://lemonergy.com/learn/glossary/critical-raw-materials/",
      "mentions": [
        "graphite",
        "manganese"
      ]
    }
  },
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      "id": "edge:3250",
      "source": "term:critical-raw-materials",
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      "type": "relatedTo",
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      "id": "edge:3251",
      "source": "term:critical-raw-materials",
      "target": "term:cobalt",
      "type": "relatedTo",
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        "meaning": "Related context; not a causal claim"
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      "id": "edge:3252",
      "source": "term:critical-raw-materials",
      "target": "term:natural-graphite",
      "type": "relatedTo",
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        "sourceFile": "terms.json",
        "meaning": "Related context; not a causal claim"
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    {
      "id": "edge:3253",
      "source": "term:critical-raw-materials",
      "target": "term:eu-battery-regulation",
      "type": "relatedTo",
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        "sourceFile": "terms.json",
        "meaning": "Related context; not a causal claim"
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      "id": "edge:3254",
      "source": "term:critical-raw-materials",
      "target": "term:recycling",
      "type": "relatedTo",
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        "meaning": "Related context; not a causal claim"
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      "id": "edge:mentions/critical-raw-materials/graphite",
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      "target": "term:graphite",
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    {
      "id": "topic:topic-sustainability",
      "type": "Topic",
      "label": "Supply chain and regulation",
      "properties": {
        "id": "topic-sustainability",
        "name": "Supply chain and regulation",
        "lede": "Where the materials come from, what a battery’s carbon footprint is, and the rules that govern it from mine to market.",
        "context": "Keep boundaries, dates, geography and units.",
        "example": "Carbon footprints can be compared only with compatible boundaries and functional units.",
        "lesson_url": "https://lemonergy.com/learn/fundamentals/cell-production/",
        "lesson_label": "Open production context"
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    },
    {
      "id": "term:lithium-carbonate",
      "type": "Term",
      "label": "Lithium carbonate",
      "properties": {
        "id": "lithium-carbonate",
        "name": "Lithium carbonate",
        "abbr": "Li₂CO₃",
        "aka": [
          "LCE",
          "lithium carbonate equivalent"
        ],
        "section": "topic-sustainability",
        "definition": "The commodity form in which most lithium is traded and the lithium source for LFP and mid-nickel cathodes. Lithium carbonate equivalent, LCE, is the unit the industry uses to count lithium supply whatever its chemical form.",
        "related": [
          "lithium-hydroxide",
          "brine",
          "spodumene",
          "calcination",
          "lithium"
        ],
        "url": "https://lemonergy.com/learn/glossary/lithium-carbonate/",
        "mentions": []
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    {
      "id": "term:cobalt",
      "type": "Term",
      "label": "Cobalt",
      "properties": {
        "id": "cobalt",
        "name": "Cobalt",
        "section": "topic-sustainability",
        "definition": "The metal that stabilises layered-oxide cathodes, mined largely in the Democratic Republic of Congo under scrutiny for working conditions. Its price and ethics have driven the industry from LCO and NMC111 towards high-nickel and cobalt-free LFP.",
        "related": [
          "nmc",
          "lco",
          "high-nickel",
          "critical-raw-materials",
          "due-diligence"
        ],
        "url": "https://lemonergy.com/learn/glossary/cobalt/",
        "mentions": []
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "term:natural-graphite",
      "type": "Term",
      "label": "Natural graphite",
      "properties": {
        "id": "natural-graphite",
        "name": "Natural graphite",
        "section": "topic-manufacturing",
        "definition": "Graphite mined as flake, then milled, spheroidised and coated for use as a negative active material. It is cheaper than synthetic graphite and has slightly higher capacity, with more variability between sources.",
        "related": [
          "graphite",
          "synthetic-graphite",
          "anode-active-material"
        ],
        "url": "https://lemonergy.com/learn/glossary/natural-graphite/",
        "mentions": [
          "active-material"
        ]
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "term:eu-battery-regulation",
      "type": "Term",
      "label": "EU Battery Regulation",
      "properties": {
        "id": "eu-battery-regulation",
        "name": "EU Battery Regulation",
        "aka": [
          "Regulation (EU) 2023/1542"
        ],
        "section": "topic-sustainability",
        "definition": "The European law, in force since 2023, that governs batteries over their whole life: carbon-footprint declarations, recycled-content minimums, due diligence on raw materials, performance and durability requirements, removability, the battery passport and collection and recycling targets.",
        "related": [
          "battery-passport",
          "carbon-footprint",
          "recycling",
          "due-diligence",
          "critical-raw-materials",
          "eu-battery-directive"
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        "url": "https://lemonergy.com/learn/glossary/eu-battery-regulation/",
        "mentions": [
          "collection-target"
        ]
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "term:recycling",
      "type": "Term",
      "label": "Battery recycling",
      "properties": {
        "id": "recycling",
        "name": "Battery recycling",
        "section": "topic-recycling",
        "definition": "Recovering lithium, nickel, cobalt, copper and aluminium from end-of-life cells and production scrap. Scrap is today’s main feedstock; vehicle returns will dominate in the 2030s, and regulation now sets minimum recovery rates.",
        "related": [
          "black-mass",
          "hydrometallurgy",
          "pyrometallurgy",
          "direct-recycling",
          "eu-battery-regulation",
          "collection-target"
        ],
        "url": "https://lemonergy.com/learn/glossary/recycling/",
        "mentions": [
          "cobalt",
          "production-scrap"
        ]
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "term:graphite",
      "type": "Term",
      "label": "Graphite",
      "properties": {
        "id": "graphite",
        "name": "Graphite",
        "section": "topic-components",
        "definition": "Layered carbon, the negative active material of nearly all lithium-ion cells. Lithium intercalates between its layers up to LiC₆, a theoretical 372 mAh/g, at a potential about 0.1 V above lithium metal.",
        "related": [
          "anode-active-material",
          "intercalation",
          "natural-graphite",
          "synthetic-graphite",
          "lithium-plating"
        ],
        "lesson": "fundamentals/cell-anatomy/#components",
        "example": {
          "title": "Compare matching mass bases",
          "text": "A graphite value per gram of active material cannot be directly compared with a value including binder, additive and foil."
        },
        "url": "https://lemonergy.com/learn/glossary/graphite/",
        "mentions": [
          "milliampere-hour",
          "active-material"
        ]
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "term:manganese",
      "type": "Term",
      "label": "Manganese",
      "properties": {
        "id": "manganese",
        "name": "Manganese",
        "aka": [
          "manganese sulfate",
          "high-purity manganese sulfate",
          "HPMSM"
        ],
        "section": "topic-sustainability",
        "definition": "A cheap, abundant metal used in NMC, LMO and LMFP positive electrodes and in alkaline cells. Ore comes mostly from South Africa, Gabon and Australia, but about 95 % of battery-grade high-purity manganese sulfate was refined in China in 2024, which puts manganese on critical-raw-material lists despite plentiful reserves.",
        "related": [
          "nmc",
          "lmo",
          "lmfp",
          "critical-raw-materials",
          "cobalt",
          "nickel-sulfate"
        ],
        "url": "https://lemonergy.com/learn/glossary/manganese/",
        "mentions": []
      }
    }
  ]
}