Technological watch

Graphite is considered a critical mineral because of its importance to clean energy transition and global supply concentration. This critical role is evident for electric vehicles that depends on lithium-ion batteries using graphite as anode material. China is the world's largest producer and consumer of natural graphite due to its booming economy and rapid penetration of clean energy driven by carbon neutrality ambition. Given this background, this study conducts a dynamic material flow analysis of natural graphite to reveal the evolution trend of graphite flows in China from 2001 to 2018. Main results include: (1) China's graphite resource experienced extensive utilization to meet demands from domestic consumption (55-83%) and exportation (17-45%); (2) Of the 1643 Gg/yr graphite entering China's anthroposphere, 15% accumulates in in-use stock and 34% enters the waste stage, and secondary graphite only accounts for 0.7-5.7% of the total supply; (3) Releases of graphite (1271 Gg/yr) are mainly divided into tailings, dissipative losses in use, and post-consumer losses; (4) The export-production ratio has increased from 16% in 2001 to 40% in 2018; (5) Graphite demand from electric vehicles is estimated to be 18 times the current level by 2030 (2340 Gg). These results imply that China should not only prepare national policies on managing the overall graphite production activities in response to concerns about domestic resource loss and environmental disruption induced from extractive and processing activities, but also prepare policies encouraging appropriate graphite recycling from safety and economic feasibility perspectives.