The Urban Miner: Chairman Chen Wenxian's Green Energy Revolution

Author Wish

Published on 台灣新聞連播網

 September 3, 2024

In the modern city, there is a man known as the "miner" — he does not dig ore in the mountains, but searches for "treasure" in the urban landscape. This miner is Chairman Chen Wenxian of 處鋰科技; he developed a unique technology that turns discarded lithium batteries into useful items, thereby changing people's perception of waste.

Chairman Chen said that with the conveniences of modern life, batteries have become an indispensable part of our daily lives — whether in what we use, wear, hold, listen to, or watch, and even in transportation and power systems, batteries are everywhere. However, once these batteries are used up they become waste, and how to deal with that waste has become an important issue.

Chairman Chen believes that processing waste batteries is like mining in the city. The advantage of urban mining is that it can greatly reduce the consumption of water and electricity resources and lessen environmental impact; it is an environmentally friendly and green-energy enterprise. He converts this unwanted waste into raw materials needed across industries, and these raw materials have a carbon footprint far lower than traditional mining in forests.

Chairman Chen emphasized that differences in mining technologies affect the value of the raw materials produced. He recalled his early experiences researching mining in Jiufen and applied those experiences to the treatment of waste lithium batteries. He said that the processing technology for lithium batteries determines which metal elements can be extracted and their purity. Currently, mainstream global processing technologies mainly produce "black powder," which contains elements such as carbon, nickel, manganese, cobalt, aluminum, copper, iron, phosphorus, and lithium.