[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by Leondros

I'd like to see some peer reviewed sources on this. Please don't quote that T&E report, there were so many holes poked through that.

Unfortunately right now, the inputs for batteries are just as bad as O&G. Lets look at lithium production for example:

1) Lithium is energy intensive to produce and many areas do not the the electrical grid to support mining currently. They rely on coal to power their operations.
2) Most mining requires open pits which takes huge land acreage which impacts ecosystems.
3) From a social perspective a lot of mining is being conducted in places like the Congo which has been utilizing child slavery. Many of these mines have terrible human rights records.
4) Water usage. The brine which they extract lithium from underground aquifers.
5) The recycling process is not environmentally friendly. It releases toxins, and uses massive amounts of energy.

These are just the ones off the top of my head. I hope the technology can improve and I agree that the recycling rates are exciting and I hope that they can continue to become more efficient at reusing inputs. But to say the impact is not as bad as the O&G industry ignores the fact that the world runs on O&G. If lithium and other renewable energy intensive metals and minerals extraction are going to completely replace O&G, that footprint will dwarf O&G. The main reason most O&G is happening subsurface, not in open pits.

FYI, Canada to the rescue.

One company championing sustainable lithium development is Canadian lithium resource and technology specialist E3 Lithium. For over five years, E3 Lithium has focused its efforts on designing and delivering its own Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) technology with the aim of producing lithium with low carbon emissions, utilising very little land and consuming minimal freshwater. The DLE ion-exchange technology quickly and efficiently reduces large volumes of low-grade brine into a high-grade lithium concentrate in one step, simultaneously removing nearly all impurities. This produces a very clean product for the development of high purity lithium compounds used in lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries.

https://www.innovationnewsnetwork.co...raction/24600/