My report on the ‘White Gold’ Rush: Demand for lithium to power the green energy transformation continues to grow. Much of this demand for what’s often referred to as ‘white gold’ is fuelled by the need for electric vehicle batteries, as well as grid energy storage. Lithium is a key component of such batteries. Much of the world’s lithium comes from South America and Australia. However, Europe wants its own supply, and is sitting on large deposits of the metal. But there are environmental concerns.

In northern Portugal a UK firm, Savannah, have permission to open a mine at a World Heritage site for farming practices, but locals continue to protest against it.

Czechia is a different case. In an established mining area, Cínovec sits on 3-5% of the world’s lithium, almost enough for 1m car batteries-worth of lithium a year.

Watch my report here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m00239rj/eorpa-series-32-7-the-white-gold-rushcabhag-an-oir-ghil

If you’re not in the UK you can watch a shorter version here: