Rare earth exploration and development company, Pensana, working with Polestar, Route2 and the Universities of Leeds and Hull, has been awarded £316,643 by Innovate UK under its CLIMATES programme.
The partnership will work to develop a low carbon sustainable supply chain for rare earth magnets.
Pensana is currently in the process of developing a £150m rare earth metals processing plant at Saltend Chemicals Park, east of Hull.
Polestar is an electric performance car brand and Route2 is a consultancy providing sustainability advice to companies and investors. Polestar has embarked on its “Polestar 0” project, an ambitious goal of creating a truly climate-neutral production car by 2030. The £15m CLIMATES Project is backed by the UK Government and will use Pensana and Polestar’s low carbon and ESG engineering to review and measure impacts, and identify opportunities, to further reduce carbon in the rare earth products vital for the energy transition.
Nusrat Ghani, Minister of State at the Department for Business and Trade, said: “Rare earth elements underpin so much of what makes everyday life and work possible, from the cars we drive to the phones we use.
“It is essential that, in a rapidly changing world, we do all we can to ensure resilient supplies of these and other critical minerals.
“We are laser-focused on securing robust supply chains, for the growing, green industries that will deliver jobs and prosperity across the UK in the decades to come.”
Danny McNeice, Pensana’s sustainability manager, added: “We believe Polestar 0 will set the standard for the electric vehicle industry, while Route2 has developed market-leading socio-economic impact measurement software. “We are pleased to work with them and our academic partners at Leeds and Hull Universities to establish a UK-centric sustainable rare-earth supply chain from ‘mine to magnets’”.
“Source: The Business Desk”