<
https://electrek.co/2025/09/25/french-startup-promises-more-evs-fewer-mines-by-pulling-metals-from-daisies/>
"Government researchers in the US and abroad believe we could help decarbonize
and electrify the transportation sector with hardy, fast-growing plants that
collect the metals needed to manufacture electric vehicle batteries in their
roots, then harvest those metals later with a process that’s cleaner and
cheaper than traditional mineral mining.
Nickel is just one example of a critical element in the production of modern EV
batteries, but mining it is messy, expensive, and destructive. It used to be,
anyway – a new French biotech startup says it has a better idea: extracting
nickel from daisies.
Getting nickel and other useful metals from plants is made possible through a
process called phytomining. But, as you’ve probably guessed, everyday plants
don’t collect enough of these metals to make the extraction commercially
viable. That’s where a French biotech startup called “Genomines” comes in.
Genomine’s relies on biologically engineered plants it calls
“hyperaccumulators.” These plants naturally pull metals and minerals out from
the soil they’re planted in through their roots, and store it in their stems
and leaves, where Genomine can harvest it later.
“It’s important because we need a lot of metal, especially for the energy
transition in batteries in electric vehicles,” Fabien Koutchekian, co-founder
and CEO of Genomines, told
Fast Company. “Not only in batteries, but [nickel
is] widely used in stainless steel as part of infrastructure. The problem is
that with current traditional mining methods, we will not be able to produce
enough.”"
Via Susan ****
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
