Lithium is a silvery-white metal known mainly for its use in battery production. It’s found in computers, cellphones and electric vehicles. Despite the fact that it powers green energy and reduces people’s reliance on fossil fuels, it’s not without its flaws, and we should be conscious of how much we use. Here’s why we shouldn’t become too dependent on lithium-ion batteries.
Obtaining lithium is a dirty process
Lithium is used to produce batteries that will reduce fossil-fuel usage, but its extraction can damage the soil and contaminate the air.
In South America, people extract lithium from huge salt flats and use a staggering 500,000 gallons of water to produce one ton of lithium. This extreme water usage has negative effects on human populations and local wildlife.
In China and Australia, people mine lithium in the form of a mineral called spodumene. They then process it at extremely high temperatures, which uses a lot of energy, and leach it with acid to extract the lithium.
Then it must be made into batteries. A full 77% of the world’s Li-ion batteries are produced in China, a process fueled by coal. This means creating Li-ion batteries is not an environmentally sustainable process.
Li-ion batteries are sensitive to temperature
One unfortunate property of Li-ion batteries is that they’re prone to combustion if they get too hot, and they contain all the necessary elements for self-sustaining a fire. It’s another reason why we shouldn’t become too dependent on Li-ion batteries.
They’re hard to recycle
It’s true that lithium-based batteries can be recycled, thereby reducing the dependency on mining, but it’s not easy to do. They’re designed with energy efficiency in mind, not their end-of-life processes, so people who work at recycling centers say they’re difficult to recycle. The internal components are welded together and hard to take apart.
Furthermore, many countries aren’t yet equipped to recycle batteries like this en masse, so a large percentage of the batteries ends up in landfills. This is set to become a huge problem as the popularity of EVs explodes.
With EVs becoming increasingly common, scientists need to figure out an efficient way to recycle Li-ion batteries to reclaim the metal from them. The alternative is to expand mining operations.
There might not be enough lithium
People are pouring money into battery factories to meet the high demand for batteries, but as lithium needs increase, it’s unclear whether there’s enough of the metal to go around. It’s difficult to extract and harms the environment in the process.
Therefore, people are concerned it might become too costly, both environmentally and economically, to justify mining enough of it to power every EV. Scientists should put more of their focus on extending the life of existing Li-ion batteries.
Lithium is expensive
Li-ion batteries are more expensive to produce than nickel-cadmium batteries, and the price of lithium has soared in recent years.
A big part of that is due to supply chain issues caused by the Covid pandemic, as well as the sudden increase in demand for EVs. Auto manufacturers are scrambling to produce more cars but simply can’t keep up.
Another reason for lithium’s high price is that it’s difficult to obtain, so the companies that mine it have to recoup the costs of the extraction process.
Reducing our dependence on Li-ion batteries
There are alternatives to Li-ion batteries, including those made of other types of metals. Battery technology is slowly improving so that lithium batteries can last longer and be recycled more efficiently.
But it’s also important to note that EVs with rechargeable batteries aren’t the end all, be all of sustainable transport — there’s always public transportation, bikes and good old-fashioned walking.
