We had some big news from California this week. California officials have launched plans to ban the sale of new gasoline cars by 2035. The decision is expected to accelerate the global transition to electric vehicles.
This is because California is the largest auto market in the United States and has followed California in setting its own vehicle emission standards.
This is good news for the climate.But what about the environmental impact of all these electric vehicles? Better than cars that run on fossil fuelsthey have their own problems.
Today we will look at these issues with a focus on lithium, a key part of the batteries that power electric vehicles. A soft, white metal and its physical and chemical properties make lithium very good at storing energy.
Demand for this material, sometimes called “white petroleum,” is expected to grow faster than that of other key metals needed in car batteries. For example, the International Energy Agency predicts: Demand increased more than 40x By 2040, if countries around the world stick to the Paris Agreement goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions,
where does lithium come from
Most lithium today comes from one of two sources: rocks and brine. The extraction methods are quite different.
The first method is to mine an ore called spodumene, which usually contains high levels of lithium. Australia, the world’s largest lithium producer, is primarily dependent on this technology.
Spodumene is mined in open pits like gold and iron ore. And I have a lot of the same problems. There are significant environmental risks from both the land excavation and the processes used to extract the ore. Tasmanian mines, for example, have been leaking contaminated water for the past five years. Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
This type of pollution is a major concern for Native Americans. According to research by MSCI, a New York-based investment research firm, 79% of extractable lithium is found in the United States. Within 35 miles of a Native American reservation.
Another method involves mixing salt water with fresh water and leaving it in the pond for up to 18 months. The water will eventually evaporate, leaving behind the minerals. Then, with a little more processing, the lithium can be extracted and used in batteries. A colleague of mine, his Somini Sengupta, described the process and the scene in an article from Chile’s Atacama Desert. check it out. The photos are great.
As Somini pointed out, Atacama is in some ways perfect for lithium production. maximum solar radiation At terrestrial levels, water evaporates surprisingly quickly. However, being one of the driest places on earth, the brine method relies heavily on water.So the industry equalizes the region susceptible to droughtThe same is true in many other places where lithium is extracted from salt water, such as Argentina and Bolivia.
How to reduce damage
Responsible mining includes examining local biodiversity, water flows and local community concerns to find ways to mitigate harm, said Responsible Mining, a group that certifies large corporate mines. Aimee Boulanger, executive director of the Mining Assurance Initiative, said.
But that can be costly and can hurt your bottom line. As such, most companies only do what the law requires. Also, according to Boulanger, laws are often not strict enough to actually protect the environment.
“We don’t need a lot of new technology,” she told me. Rather, it only requires producers to invest in responsible practices.
Cleaner technology now Tested by Universities and StartupsMany of them involve what is known as direct extraction. This means drawing the lithium directly from the saltwater, rather than evaporating the water and using chemicals to remove the impurities. As of now, that process is not commercially viable.
Chong Liu, a scientist who studies lithium extraction technology at the University of Chicago, said much of the world’s lithium is practically unavailable unless more efficient extraction methods are developed.
Using current methods, only “probably a quarter” of the world’s known reserves can be accessed, she said.
How we get lithium and other inputs to electric vehicles will play a big role in determining whether the planet will face new environmental challenges in the not too distant future.
Boulanger of the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance often hears the argument that the urgency of the climate crisis means the world simply doesn’t have time to meticulously extract these metals.
“Perhaps if we had looked at the impact of oil and gas procurement, we wouldn’t be living in the climate-stressed world we live in now,” she said. We’re trying to solve it, so there’s no time for more confusion.”
Important news from The Times
Drought Hydrates China’s Coal Demand: The dry weather has put several hydroelectric dams out of action, forced the city into rolling blackouts, and increased the country’s coal use.
Hurricane Harvey’s unequal legacy: A study found that Latino neighborhoods were disproportionately damaged during a storm that hit the Houston area five years ago.
Crypto Shift: A planned upgrade to the most popular crypto platform, Ethereum, aims to make the system more sustainable. But it comes with risks.
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