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> what planet we’re going to get the lithium and cobalt from to make billions of EV cars This one. Lithium and cobalt are slightly less abundant in the oceans
by akiselev 5y ago
> what planet we’re going to get the lithium and cobalt from to make billions of EV cars
This one. Lithium and cobalt are slightly less abundant in the oceans and Earth's crust than nitrogen and there's more of it than lead or boron, which are produced at much greater scale than lithium or cobalt [1].
The problem isn't the amount it's the concentration of the elements in economically extractable ore. That's rapidly changing as various extraction methods reach economies of scale.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abundance_of_elements_in_Earth%27s_crust https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abundance_of_elements_in_Earth...
- sk2020 5y agoYou seem to be expecting to get a waterfall out of a pond. That we will just push the ocean through a fantasy machine that gives you the minerals you want is Lysenkoism.
- akiselev 5y agoIf by fantasy machine you mean existing mining and evaporative extraction technology - like those used to produce boron in California and Turkey - then yes.
- sk2020 5y agoThat’s fascinating! Can you please share the name of one of those operations or the companies operating them? I can only find academic papers referencing pilot projects.
- akiselev 5y agoExamples are Searles Valley Minerals which extracts boron from the brine under Searles Lake, CA [1] and Rio Tinto's lithium extraction plant which uses waste rock from the Borox mines in Boron, CA [2]. It takes time to spin up production to 10 million tons per year - which is the scale of boron or silicon production according to the wiki - but now that lithium is worth something, it's just a matter of time and incentives. [1] http://www.svminerals.com http://www.svminerals.com [2] https://www.riotinto.com/en/news/releases/2021/Rio-Tinto-achieves-battery-grade-lithium-production-at-Boron-plant https://www.riotinto.com/en/news/releases/2021/Rio-Tinto-ach...