According to [1], a standard 2 Ah 18650 Li-ion cell has something like 0.6 grams of lithium. (2.0 Ah * 4.2 V / 0.0006 kg of lithium) works out to 14 kWh/kg or 5

According to [1], a standard 2 Ah 18650 Li-ion cell has something like 0.6 grams of lithium. (2.0 Ah * 4.2 V / 0.0006 kg of lithium) works out to 14 kWh/kg or 560 TWh of capacity. That one battery chemistry alone would be enough to power the entire world for a week. Once you eliminate nonessential industrial power consumption - aka bring your own power storage or shut down machinery with the sun - the amount of lithium we'd need to store to make a transition to solar/wind feasible would be far smaller than global reserves. Edit: as noted by phillipkglass, this math is moot [1] https://batteryuniversity.com/learn/archive/is_lithium_ion_the_ideal_battery https://batteryuniversity.com/learn/archive/is_lithium_ion_t...