Could Cornwall be in line for one of the UK s first gigafactories that would put it firmly at the centre of cutting edge green technology? This was the request made in the House of Commons earlier today, when Cornwall MP Steve Double asked for the Prime Minister s support in building a gigafactory here, to produce lithium batteries for electric cars on a large scale. Scientists analysing samples of rock for the presence of lithium in St Austell have already stated that Cornwall could potentially be capable of supplying one third of what the UK would need for an electric revolution by 2030.
British Lithium to open mine by 2026 after gov’t funding
British Lithium was the first company to drill for lithium in the UK in early 2019, and its fourth drilling campaign, the largest yet, started last month. (
British Lithium said on Wednesday the UK government’s Sustainable Innovation Fund has awarded the company a £2.9 million ($4m) grant, which will allow it to have a full-scale lithium mine in operations in South West England within five years.
The junior said it would use the funding to first build a pilot plant being developed by its Cornwall-based research arm. The facility aims to prove the sustainability and commercial benefits of British Lithium’s Li-Sep technology in the extraction of battery-grade lithium from micaceous granite.
The inquiry will be of interest to many regional conference and event venues which form key part of local hospitality and business travel infrastructure
Devon and Cornwall react to the Budget 2021 after Rishi Sunak s announcement - updates
The Chancellor has announced a number of policies
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Residents and business owners across Devon and Cornwall listened carefully to Rishi Sunak s Budget for 2021 and are reacting to his announcements.
The plans unveiled by the Chancellor include an extension to the furlough scheme and the 5% reduced rate of VAT for the tourism and hospitality sector which will continue for another six months to the end of September, with an interim rate of 12.5% for another six months after that.
Mr Sunak also confirmed that all alcohol duties will be frozen for the second year in a row and the planned increase in fuel duty has also been cancelled.
Ministers last night fine-tuned the border plan at a meeting of Boris Johnson’s key Cabinet Covid Operations Committee.
Travellers from most of Africa and South America, as well as Portugal, are expected to face supervised quarantine over virus variants identified in Brazil and South Africa.
She said Transport Secretary Grant Shapps was working closely with airport authorities on border measures. Answering a Commons urgent question yesterday, Ms Patel told MPs the restrictions will be kept under constant review.
She said: “The UK has a world-leading vaccination programme that we should all be proud of.
“It is therefore right that the Government continue to do everything we can to protect the roll-out from new strains of the virus. We keep all measures under review and will not hesitate to take further action to protect the public.”