57. Lithium Supply - Is It a Big Problem?
Lithium Supply - Is It a Big Problem? Lithium used to be known primarily as a drug with a calming effect. Today, it seems to be among the issues that provoke distress: “There won’t be enough! Mining will be so destructive!” It might be useful to try to analyze these fears in the context of the looming environmental challenges humanity faces. Such analysis assumes that lithium chemistries will remain the dominant ones used in electric vehicle (EV) batteries. At this point lithium batteries have the highest energy density, but there are many labs around the world working on alternatives that use less lithium and more of the more common minerals. Here we hope to achieve an appreciation of the environmental impact of mining lithium in comparison to extracting and using fossil fuels, because that’s the relevant comparison. We’ll start with the spoiler and hope you follow our findings that led to it. Here it is: In one year we extract more oil just to produce gasoline than we would extrac