COMMENTARY: Lithium is a key element in batteries for everything from cell phones to electric vehicles. Demand is high as we transition away from carbon-based energy, but there is an ecological price to pay, writes Frederick Hewett.
Redtail Hinkey, age 3, is held by his father during a protest by the Fort McDermitt Paiute Shoshone tribe against the proposed lithium mine in Thacker Pass, Northern Nevada, June 5, 2021.
Opponents of the Thacker Pass mine say its outsize water consumption — half a million gallons per ton of lithium produced — could spell disaster in an area already feeling the effects of a. And the project includes a processing plant that will generate airborne toxins and greenhouse gases. Ranchers in the area are worried about the mine’s impact on their herds.
Regardless of where it ultimately originates, lithium production is poised to grow exponentially over the next decade. Research and innovation have yielded advances in the extraction, processing, and applications of lithium resources. All market indicators show demand is surging. The only competing technology for powering zero-emission vehicles is the hydrogen fuel cell, which is lagging in adoption. The lithium boom appears to be unstoppable.
Rather than rethinking our automobile-centric society, we are creating new industries and technologies to maintain ever-rising levels of material consumption even as the economy struggles to decarbonize. As a gauge of the global approach to the climate crisis, the burgeoning lithium industry points to a disquieting continuation of business as usual.But there are bright spots.
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