Polestar is co-owned by Volvo and the Chinese automotive giant Geely Holding and is based in Gothenburg, where a marble block displaying its emissions targets sits outside its HQ. It is a hefty ambition given the thousands of components that go into a car, and will require expert partners and green infrastructure that may not have been built yet.
The UK has a large part to play in this mission. In Coventry, Polestar has assembled a team of engineers whose sole focus is zero emissions, and the UK mining company Pensana is a key partner. Its chairman, Paul Atherley, admits: “In our industry . . . we consume huge amounts of energy. So we’re very fortunate that our rare-earth metal mines in Africa can be run on hydroelectric power. And in the UK we have two things going for us: chemical parks and bad weather.” The chemical parks can be directly connected to the world’s biggest wind farms (powered by the “bad weather”).
Pensana plc (LON:PRE) explores and mines neodymium, praseodymium, and rare earth minerals. The Company’s flagship assets are the Saltend rare earth refinery project in the United Kingdom and Longonjo neodymium and praseodymium (NdPr) Project in Angola.
