Sales of electric cars are booming, but there is a global shortage of lithium, which is needed to make batteries. How sustainable are mining methods and battery sales?
An electric car doesn't really need a lot of lithium. In a 300-kilogram battery (50 kWh) of a mid-range car, there is only about eight kilograms of lithium.
A big problem, however, is the global shortage of that metal. Electro-mobility is developing faster than many expected, and with it the demand for that silvery-white, lightweight metal for batteries. At the same time, it takes several years to develop projects for the extraction of lithium. All this is accompanied by protests, because the water supply may be threatened, and surface mines destroy nature.
According to the German Resources Agency (DERA), 2016 tons of lithium were produced worldwide in 43.000. Three times as much was produced in 2022 (130.000 tons), and by 2030 the volume of mining could quadruple, DERA estimates.
"How can we sustainably produce enough lithium for batteries to meet demand? The market is currently experiencing a dynamic that I have not seen in the raw materials industry in the last twelve years," lithium expert Michael Schmidt from the DERA agency told DW.
There is a lot of lithium in the earth's crust, but it is very finely distributed. Researchers estimate that there are about 200 billion tons of lithium in the world's oceans. Lithium deposits in rocks and salt lakes are estimated at about 98 million tons, of which about 26 million can be exploited in the coming decades.
About 47 percent of global demand for lithium in 2022 was met by hard rock mining in Australian mines, 35 percent was obtained from South American salt lakes, 15 percent from China and just under one percent from Zimbabwe, Portugal and North America.
Lithium from salt lakes
The world's largest deposits of lithium are found in the underground salt lakes of Bolivia, Argentina and Chile - an estimated 42 million tons. According to the US Geological Survey, about 2022 tons of lithium were mined there in 45.000.
The highly saline solution is pumped from the depths into large pools and evaporates in the sun within two years. The concentrated brine is then filtered and chemically used to produce lithium carbonate, a raw material for battery production. With such an extraction method, carbon dioxide emissions are relatively low - 50 to 100 kilograms of CO2 for one car battery, according to data from the Swedish Institute for Environmental Research.
This way of producing lithium can be a problem for drinking water. Pumping out the brine causes groundwater levels to drop, rivers and wetlands may dry up, and in some regions there may be water shortages for agriculture.
Lithium from solid rocks
The largest amount of lithium is currently obtained from solid rock (pegmatite) by surface mining in Australia. It is estimated that 2022 tons of lithium were produced there in 61.000. Australia's total lithium deposits are currently estimated at 6,2 million tonnes.
Lithium ore is extracted by drilling and blasting. The pieces are crushed with the help of crushing machines, after which the lithium is separated using chemical and metallurgical processes.
The lithium is then shipped to China, where it is refined and processed into battery cells. According to a study by the American Argonne National Laboratory (Argonne National Laboratory), the extraction of lithium from ore requires about six times more energy than extraction from salt lakes and is therefore more harmful to the environment.
According to an American study, when extracting lithium from ores, about twice as much fresh water is used as when extracting it from salt lakes. The Great Greenbushes Mine is located in southwestern Australia, in a region that is very humid. According to a sustainability report by the German Institute for Geology and Natural Resources (BGR), water consumption is therefore "relatively unproblematic". However, in the fairly dry mining region of the Pilbara, in northern Australia, water supply is a "bigger challenge".
Lithium with the help of geothermal energy
Meanwhile, lithium prices are very high, and to meet the rapidly growing demand for car batteries, several projects are now being launched in Europe as well. Mining projects exist in Finland, Ireland, Germany, the Czech Republic, Austria, Serbia, Spain and Portugal.
Similar to Australia, lithium there is supposed to be extracted from solid rock in open pits and underground mines. All projects are considered profitable.
On the other hand, projects for the extraction of lithium from thermal water are being developed in Great Britain, France and Germany. Geothermal systems pump water with a temperature of up to 200 degrees from a depth of up to 5.000 meters and use the heat to produce electricity and heat networks. The cooled water is then pumped back underground.
In some cases, the pumped water contains lithium, which can be directly separated using modern lithium extraction (DLE) technology. So far, there are no such extraction systems on a large industrial scale.
The German-Australian company "Vulcan Energie" wants to start commercial exploitation in southern Germany. In the first phase, from 2025, 4.000 tons of lithium should be produced there.
The advantage of this method of extraction is a smaller impact on the environment. The extraction process with the help of deep geothermal energy is climate neutral and the lithium thus obtained no longer has to be transported across the ocean for the needs of European battery production.
Saving lithium through recycling and sales
In a few decades, lithium could also be obtained as a by-product from water desalination plants, thus compensating for shortfalls in supply. Currently, that extraction method does not seem to be profitable.
The production of lithium from old batteries will also be important in the future. According to the assessment of the German Raw Materials Agency (DERA), recycling will cover part of the demand for lithium in the 2030s.
Experts on raw materials, such as Mihael Schmidt from DERA, as well as environmental organizations, call for the most efficient use of lithium and batteries: building heavy electric cars with the largest possible batteries is therefore not sustainable.
Instead, the priority should be lighter battery-powered vehicles and those vehicles should be used by as many people as possible. It is also important to expand offers for public transport and carpooling. This would reduce the number of people who need their own electric car, thus reducing the demand for the so-called "white gold".
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