> If lithium battery technology in general proves to be unsustainable, we may as well pack up and go home, because decarbonization isn't going to happen. Exact

> If lithium battery technology in general proves to be unsustainable, we may as well pack up and go home, because decarbonization isn't going to happen. Exactly. Lithium is not that uncommon. It's just that the reserves that we have found (so far) where nature helpfully decided to concentrate it for us are not very common. If we don't use those, then it's expensive to extract (both in money and energy). That's another argument for expanding renewables. Put them to work to extract lithium from salt water. Oil had a very similar argument, but we keep finding reserves and devising ways to use previously uneconomical reserves. Now, once extracted, we recover most of it when it comes time for recycling. I bet older marine batteries would have plenty of uses as second-life energy storage for stationary applications. It may take decades until we even have to recycle them. > safety risks As for the safety risks... One of the main ways to contain a battery fire is to spray water on it. Is ocean water is too salty(therefore, conductive) for this application?