News.com.cn reported on March 4 that the race to develop lithium extraction projects is accelerating globally, according to the website of the newspaper El Español. This raw material is considered a "strategic resource" for the development of renewable energy production, storage and consumption.

The geopolitical competition for its control is no longer centered on the three South American countries with the world's largest reserves, namely Argentina, Brazil and Chile. Now, the US state of California has declared its Salton region "rich in lithium", enough to produce more than 300 million electric car batteries.

Australia is a close second. The country is home to five of the world's major lithium mines, with total reserves of about 475 million tons.

And where is Europe? As part of the Critical Raw Materials Act, the EU aims that by 2030, at least 10% of its annual demand for critical raw materials such as lithium will be mined within the EU. With fewer mineral resources than other continents, Europe needs to redouble its efforts to give metals like lithium the strategic importance they deserve.

The EU aims to minimize its dependence on third countries (such as that which has developed in recent decades in resource areas such as oil, gas and coal).

Currently, while Europe's largest lithium reserves are in the Czech Republic (about 31% of total reserves), Serbia (27%) and Ukraine (15%), there are lithium extraction projects all over the continent. There are currently more than a dozen viable lithium extraction projects in the EU: three in Portugal, several in Spain (Cáceres province) and Germany, and some in the Czech Republic, Finland and Austria.

Only one of the lithium extraction projects in Portugal and Spain is currently operational.