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And completely irrelevant since the core materials in them are mined overseas.
by skilning 5mo ago
And completely irrelevant since the core materials in them are mined overseas.
- SubiculumCode 5mo agoNearshoring as we speak..Venezuela will probably be contributing to that soon, I expect.
- usrnm 5mo agoGood old colonialism, sweet
- schlap 5mo agoi promise that venezuelan business leaders are more than happy to take USD
- haaz 5mo agoNo that's called trade you clown
- libertine 5mo agoEh, at this point that means nothing, let's see: If it's Russia, the biggest colonialist country in the world, using Neo Nazi "PMC", or trying to annex neighboring countries, it's not colonialism, it's "liberation from colonialists". If it's China doing mass acquisitions of state and private assets, it's not colonialism, it's "development". If it's a western country doing what ever, it's colonialism lol it's such a dumb propaganda trope. So the conclusion is that the new western colonialism is actually looking like a pretty good option, and shouldn't have such a bad connotation, perhaps it should be embraced in this new world order no?
- cleaning 5mo agoJust because it's easy to post doesn't mean you have to press submit on every thought that comes to your head. It's okay to admit you're working off of a very "self-taught" understanding.
- libertine 5mo agoHow does this comment contribute to the discussion?
- mschuster91 5mo ago> So the conclusion is that the new western colonialism is actually looking like a pretty good option, and shouldn't have such a bad connotation, perhaps it should be embraced in this new world order no? Or how about we finally go and accept that both Russia and China are imperialist projects too, just like the US are, and oppose all three?
- libertine 5mo agoI think just accepting that is more than enough, the US, and Western countries have been target of foreign propaganda and internal self flagellation for old and new imperialism, to the point where some former colonies are getting annoyed because it implies they don't have agency because they were former colonies! I think the first step is to start to expose the colonists and imperialists in disguise and start to address them for what they are.
- SubiculumCode 5mo agoI don't know about colonialism. I do not think that the mining companies changed. It's just that previously China exerted a lot of influence on where those minerals got processed, circumventing American markets, and enabling Chinese threats to restrict strategic minerals.in the ongoing trade disputes, etc. Generally, America should have been much more proactive and supporting of South America. Allowing Russia, Iran, and China to have inordinate influence there was a bad idea IMO.
- Legend2440 5mo agoWell, they've been trying to build a lithium mine in the desert in Nevada, but environmental groups have stalled it for years with lawsuits and protests. This is why you can't build anything in America anymore.
- epistasis 5mo agoSince batteries are highly recyclable, a core material imported once means we never need to import it again. Recycling is so effective that with the little that we're currently doing (not enough batteries to recycle yet), we get more battery out of the recycling process than what went in. Because the battery manufacturing is improving and getting more kWh out of the same input materials than when the battery was originally made, and the difference is bigger than anything lost to the recycling process. Batteries and renewable energy generation are not like building an economy on fossil fuels, which is a very fragile economy vulnerable to massive spikes in input costs. Batteries and renewable energy are fundamentally anti-inflation devices.
- skyyler 5mo agoHow long, in years, until we are mining landfills for lithium?
- WorldPeas 5mo agozero, it seems https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSSgAPylz60 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSSgAPylz60
- jackdoe 5mo agowe are closer to watering our farms with gatorade than mining landfills for lithium.
- senderista 5mo agowell we already had a UFC match at the WH so counting the days until the brawndo revolution
- ChrisClark 5mo agoShit, we're already mining landfills for lithium, does that mean most farmers have switched to gatorade already?
- epistasis 5mo ago
- cogman10 5mo agoNope. This is a misconception. Batteries don't have rare-earth materials in them. Lithium, nickel, and iron are very plentiful in the US. The "rarest" of materials that might be mined is Cobalt. That, however isn't because it's a hard to find. Rather, cobalt has basically no industrial applications outside of battery production. And, importantly, not all battery chemistries require cobalt, just the nickel manganese cobalt batteries. Idaho has a cobalt mine that's not currently in operation. The reason is because demand is super low and the artisanal mines in africa are cheaper than spinning up a full industrial mine.
- pfannkuchen 5mo ago> artisanal mines in africa Just want to say this is an entertaining euphemism. It isn’t that labor conditions are poor and work is done by hand, it’s “artisanal mining”.
- WarmWash 5mo agoThat's literally what they are called.
- readthenotes1 5mo agoBecause "death traps for children" might be perceived negatively by some
- deleted 5mo ago[deleted]
- quickthrowman 5mo ago> Rather, cobalt has basically no industrial applications outside of battery production. Cobalt is a part of high speed steel and all kinds of metal alloys that have specialized applications, almost 40% of cobalt is used for metallurgical purposes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cobalt#Applications https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cobalt#Applications
- while_true_ 5mo agoLarge lithium mine under construction in northwest Nevada at Thacker Pass, joint venture with GM. https://lithiumamericas.com/thacker-pass/overview/default.aspx https://lithiumamericas.com/thacker-pass/overview/default.as...
- mschuster91 5mo agoYou don't need that much of foreign mined materials. The continental US has a bunch of really large lithium reserves, with Thacker Pass being supposed to be able to deliver 25% of the world's output in the end [1], and new sodium based chemistries? All they need is table salt, available for effectively free from the brine of California's desalination plants. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thacker_Pass_lithium_mine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thacker_Pass_lithium_mine
- jeffbee 5mo agoCalifornia desalination is almost not practiced at all. Are you sure it's a significant source of sodium for industry?
- mschuster91 5mo ago> Are you sure it's a significant source of sodium for industry? There is not much demand for battery sodium at the moment, the technology is still under development. My point just was that the US is self-sufficient when it comes to sodium, even if the regular rock salt mines go out of order for whatever reason, the ocean offers an effectively endless supply of sodium - and the brine is also pretty toxic to local aquatic life, so desalination providers would be happy if you can help them to get rid of the waste.
- jeffbee 5mo agoPeople are waaaaaay overimagining the exotic metal content of batteries.