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> I'm not sure it makes it worse. Lithium is a common, non-toxic element that is easily recycle-able. I think one of main constraints on battery cost is the pr
by elihu 7y ago
> I'm not sure it makes it worse. Lithium is a common, non-toxic element that is easily recycle-able.
I think one of main constraints on battery cost is the price of cobalt, which is a conflict mineral. Some chemistries (like lithium iron phosphate) don't need cobalt, but a lot of the high-performing batteries do.
- WorldMaker 7y agoCobalt is an off-product/"waste-product" of Nickel mines. Certainly, most of the world's Nickel mines are in questionably regulated locales such as Columbia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, but Nickel is likely to continue to be mined whether or not the Cobalt those mines produce also gets sold to battery companies. Cobalt is also presumed to be entirely recycle-able from most battery compositions, but is in such small quantities that it isn't today economically feasible (and so long as people are mining Nickel, unlikely to be).