China and Lithium Geopolitics in a Changing Global Market

Abstract

The energy market is shifting from fossil fuels to renewables. This transition is creating new geopolitical dynamics. In the past, traditional energy geopolitics focused on the concentrated distribution of fossil fuel resources and the conflicts and dependencies that this created. In contrast, the ‘new’ renewable energy geopolitics emphasises the dispersed distribution or decentralisation of production capacity and the independence of states this generates. However, the market for lithium, which is essential to renewable energy storage through being a key component of lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries, does not entirely fit theoretical conceptions of the renewable energy market’s dynamics. By focusing on China as a critical case, this article shows that lithium geopolitics has potentially created new (inter)dependencies and opportunities for conflicts, while also paradoxically enhancing state interindependence in renewable technology energy production. Thus, this hybrid form of energy geopolitics necessitates revising conventional energy security explanations to match these new market conditions.