US seeks new lithium sources as demand for batteries grows

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

US seeks new lithium sources as demand for batteries grows

By PATRICK WHITTLE
March 28, 2022

NEWRY, Maine (AP) — The race is on to produce more lithium in the United States.

The U.S. will need far more lithium to achieve its clean energy goals — and the industry that mines, extracts and processes the chemical element is poised to grow. But it also faces a host of challenges from environmentalists, Indigenous groups and government regulators.

Although lithium reserves are distributed widely across the globe, the U.S. is home to just one active lithium mine, in Nevada. The element is critical to development of rechargeable lithium-ion batteries that are seen as key to reducing climate-changing carbon emissions created by cars and other forms of transportation.

Worldwide demand for lithium was about 350,000 tons (317,517 metric tons) in 2020, but industry estimates project demand will be up to six times greater by 2030. New and potential lithium mining and extracting projects are in various stages of development in states including Maine, North Carolina, California and Nevada.

-snip-

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/climate-technology-science-business-environment-a1382f938e201c14aec782322c9782f2


FILE - A dried up portion of the Salton Sea stretches out with a geothermal power plant in the distance in Niland, Calif., Thursday, July 15, 2021. Demand for electric vehicles has shifted investments into high gear to extract lithium from geothermal wastewater around the rapidly shrinking body of water. The ultralight metal is critical to rechargeable batteries. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)


FILE - The Montana Mountains loom over Thacker Pass in northern Nevada on July 14, 2021. The new lithium mining project closest to development is the one proposed for Thacker Pass by Lithium Americas. That northern Nevada mine would make millions of tons of lithium available, but Native American tribes have argued that it's located on sacred lands and should be stopped. (Jason Bean/The Reno Gazette-Journal via AP, File)

[Wicked Blue]

1. Is it possible to recycle the lithium in used batteries?

That would be a win-win

[Gore1FL]

3. It is recyclable. There are several ways, but all are complicated.

It's costly, but worth doing.

[Wicked Blue]

4. Thanks. Sounds interesting. nt

[NNadir]

2. It's rather telling that the article doesn't address the abuse of the word of "clean..."

...in this context.

Is it really the case that running mining machines out to the pictured landscape in Montana is likely to be "clean?" Will the earthmovers tearing this landscape to pieces be powered by wind power, as in the connected fantasy.

Whence is the water involved in the extraction to come? What will be the condition of the water after use?

Recently I've been "challenged" - it's kind of laughable - by "I'm not an anti-nuke" anti0nukes who complained - also laughable - about mining.

They aren't the brightest solar powered lightbulbs on the planet.

Lithium isn't even close to being the worst environmental problem connected with this unworkable environmentally destructive scheme.

Cobalt and Nickel are much worse; the nickel mines in Siberia are among the most tragic mining sites on the planet, and not just because Stalin worked slave labor to death building them initially.

I wrote about them in this space: Nickel oxide is literally green, which is good for your very "green" electric car that's saving...

We really are clueless, aren't we?