As things stand today, global demand for cobalt and lithium for e-car batteries will increase almost 20-fold by 2050. By then, the development of a fossil-free power supply will require a lot of copper, aluminum and iron, and the respective demand is likely to roughly double. As things stand today, global demand for cobalt and lithium for e-car batteries will increase almost 20-fold by 2050. By then, the development of a fossil-free power supply will require a lot of copper, aluminum and iron, and the respective demand is likely to roughly double. Environment Phys.org – latest science and technology news stories