The cost of Lithium for electric cars
There is a huge drive towards adopting electric vehicles. The current technology relies on Lithium a group two element that is used in the batteries that power electric cars.
While moving from Petrol / Diesel / Gasoline is great for reducing the emissions of $CO2$, $NOx)$ and oxides of Sulfur along with other dangerous chemicals. very little is being said about how this Lithium is produced.
As with most things, Lithium metal needs to be mined, unlike coal or elements such as Tin (Sn). Lithium requires huge holes to be dug in to the ground, the result is huge environmental damage in other ways.
Back in 2020, I had actually prepared a talk on this, which looked at the situation in Chile [3], where local land owners are losing ground water as this is needed for the process of extracting Lithium Carbonate from the ground. I didn't give the talk. but still have the materials.
Fast forward 2023, and the topic is being discussed on the Fediverse. the following two links highlight the issue at hand, and how people living on the land, are being affected. [1].[2].
I have also provided links to other resources [4].
I feel this issue needs to be discussed, as well as lithium having many other uses, it is still finite, and we need to find better or more ways to produce batteries or power sources for vehicles.
We do have alternatives, such as Hydrogen or Biofuels, which perhaps need to be considered as alternatives or complementary solutions.
References
1 The True Cost of Electric Vehicles 2 Lithium America's Thacker Pass clears a court hurdle, decision sent back to BLM | Kitco News 3. Lithium robs Chilean communities of water 4. Lithium Battery Data Sheeet