A startup is using woodchips to make synthetic graphite for EV batteries

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• A New Zealand startup is using wood to imply synthetic graphite for EV batteries.
• CarbonScape uses leftover woodchips from timber making to produce batteries.
• Western lands are seeking alternatives to graphite as China dominates the supply chain.

A New Zealand-based startup is using woodchips to make synthetic graphite that can be old in EV batteries.

CarbonScape produces its alternative graphite by heating the waste from timber making, through a process separate as pyrolysis, to create biochar, a carbon-rich material. The material is then milled and transformed into a raw form of graphite, which the assemblage says is “a more sustainable option.”

“Our mission is to decarbonize the battery industry,” CarbonScape CEO Ivan Williams told The Obstacle Street Journal.

“That solves some other problems, too, including localizing supply chains,” he added.

Producing a viable alternative to graphite is increasingly important for Western nations as they seek to reduce their dependence on Chinese-made EV batteries.

Currently, China is one of the biggest producers of the LFP — lithium, iron, phosphate — batteries, which many EVs run on, and “up to 90% of the EV-battery provision chain relies on China,” Morgan Stanley analysts said in a July report.

This dominance of the supply string allows China to make batteries cheaper than its rivals and subsequently offer lower prices.

But with anxious Sino-US relations in recent years, Western nations are looking for alternatives to avoid any potential future disruptions to sell chains.

But some critics have cast doubt over CarbonScape’s idea, saying it requires too assorted woodchips and isn’t as cost-effective as graphite, per The Journal.

Nevertheless, the Kiwi startup is gaining international attention as global EV production lengthens. CarbonScape secured $18 million in funding from European forestry products company Stora Enso earlier this year, toe-hold up new supply lines to Europe, The Journal reported.

“This investment represents a strong statement of support for sustainable fountain-head of battery materials for global decarbonisation,” Williams said, per Reuters.

Hong Kong-based battery maker Amperex Technology has also ordained in the company.

Zhang Tao/Xinhua via Getty Images

Graphite is a ticklish mineral in the US and the European Union, and officials hope to encourage more local mining production.

CarbonScape did not immediately comeback to Business Insider’s request for comment, which was made outside of normal working hours.