Olivier Chasignol/AFP
A worker walks in a mine of the French multinational industrial minerals company Emerys in Etchesires, central France on January 17, 2024.
Environment – Should we open the first lithium mine in France? This question has been raised by a major public debate launched in Echesires (Allier) for four months on Monday 11 March. In this small town of 400 inhabitants in the heart of the Massif Central, businessman Emeris plans to install one of Europe’s largest lithium mines in 2028.
Such a prospect worries some local residents, but the executive firmly supports the project, which he sees as an opportunity to supply French electric car production lines with lithium, an essential component of batteries. The mine will also reduce France’s dependence on China, a major exporter of the precious metal.
“We have lithium mines in France and we will develop them because of the new mining code; It is the key to our sovereignty.”declared the echo Emmanuel Macron at the end of 2022. A few days later, the Ministry of Economy announced funding of 100 million euros for the Emerys project. For Bruno Le Mare, this mine “Will contribute to the objective set by the President of the Republic of producing 2 million electric vehicles in France by 2030”.
“We have the impression that everything is predetermined,” Patricia Ladrich, spokeswoman for Preservation La Forêt des Collets, a local residents’ organization opposed to the project, lamented. An opinion supported by the France Nature Environment Association (FNE), which criticizes “The art of selling a project before discussing it”.
Threats to biodiversity, but especially to water
Environmental protection organizations are demanding details on the management of mining waste from the project and point to the risks of water, soil and air pollution. The controversial site, where a kaolin quarry has already been exploited, is located a stone’s throw from a Natura 2000 area and close to several agricultural operations.
Even more, residents are scared “History repeats itself in Échassières” And they don’t want a new mine in their house. Municipality “Still prone to heavy metal pollution as a result of exploitation of one of its former mining sites”Condemns the local branch of the FNE.
In addition to concerns about biodiversity, a much bigger problem arises: extracting lithium requires large amounts of water. Emeris ensures that 90% of the water used for its mines will be recycled, “That makes it one of the world’s least water-consuming lithium projects.” The project will still collect 1.2 million m3 per year, half of which will be taken from the Seoul River.
Gold “For four years, the municipality has had a series of drought orders”Patricia Lederich recalls. “Farmers are criticized for building basins, but Emerys will do the same! They will take water in winter and store it in reservoirs for use throughout the year. The spokesperson continues, denouncing the monopolization of resources.
French lithium production, therefore more ecological
The company counters that its project is as green as possible. In France, extraction conditions are more demanding than elsewhere in the world: the mine will be underground, the lithium will be transported by pipe, then by train to its conversion plant.
“We, in France, can produce lithium in significantly more efficient environmental conditions thanks to the advanced regulatory framework and if we take the trouble to carry out transparent consultations and listen to the concerns expressed by the most vulnerable populations. Affected by the project »Accepted Jean-Philippe Hermin, director of the Mobilites en Transition (IMT) Institute at Idri. “It is somehow moral for us to participate and show that we are able to implement at home what we want elsewhere. »
Note that this lithium “demand” Logically more expensive to produce. “We must be willing to assume the consequences, for example, to implement public policies to guarantee it a place in the market,” Jean-Philippe warns Hermine. “This may be through “EcoScore” type devices for vehicles placed on the market as a condition of eligibility for the ecological bonus implemented by the government this year”That explains.
Producing 700,000 electric cars per year?
Ultimately, the project has a form“French Ecology”, as Emmanuel Macron often mentions, that combines growth and technological solutions. A vision that, however, clashes with the idea of transition based on sobriety. For many ecological transition experts, mining resources are not renewable and therefore should not fuel competition for growth.
The Imris project promises to produce 34,000 tons of lithium hydroxide per year, which, according to the manufacturer, is enough to equip 700,000 electric vehicles per year, or a third of the country’s needs for its transition. “What does this figure of 700,000 vehicles per year calculated by Imerys correspond to? “, However, the association with specialization in energy efficiency NgW is surprising. ” Maybe a sedan, or even an SUV,” Condemns the Constitution, which calls for a reduction in usage.
However, according to a study produced by IMT and WWF, producing an SUV requires as much lithium as five small electric cars. “The ecological transition over the next fifteen years is necessarily accompanied by demand control. That means restraint in terms of use or vehicle size.”Jean-Philippe underlines Hermine. “Between a scenario of moderation supported by regulatory or financial instruments and a scenario following the current trend, we observe a 30% difference in the need for critical materials across France. »
In other words, the ecological transition does not involve ever-increasing and massive vehicle production. In this context, producing French lithium for “ecological” reasons requires more than environmental vigilance at the Échassières site. By maintaining a consumerist vision of the electric car, the project has so far missed a global and long-term understanding of the ecological transition.
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