Lithium-ion batteries have been transformative. They have made electric vehicles practical, pointing the way to a future using much less petroleum. They have revolutionized power tools, from drills to saws to log splitters to string trimmers, untethering many chores from gasoline cans or long cords.
But there is an elemental fly in the lithium-ion electric ointment. It’s lithium.
In a report in the journal Earth’s Future, a team of researchers point to a serious problem in Chile’s exceptionally-arid Atacama desert, the source of some 42% of the earth’s known reserves of lithium (number 3 on the Periodical Table of Elements after hydrogen and helium and the lightest metal). In the high, dry Chilean desert between the sea and the Andes, lithium is found in the form of “brine hosted in massive evaporite aquifers.
“The mining of these brines and associated freshwater use has raised concerns over the environmental responsibility of lithium extraction, yet large uncertainties remain regarding fundamental aspects of governing hydrological processes in these environments. The mining of these brines and associated freshwater use has raised concerns over the environmental responsibility of lithium extraction, yet large uncertainties remain regarding fundamental aspects of governing hydrological processes in these environments.”
A research team from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and the University of Alaska looked at the uncertainties related to the ground water lithium, as the Chilean desert is one of the driest places on the planet. Only some spots on the Antarctic continent are dryer.
So that means that the lithium-bearing water is ancient, relic groundwater. Because of the incomplete understanding of this water resource, the study (Relic Groundwater and Prolonged Drought Confound Interpretations of Water Sustainability and Lithium Extraction in Arid Lands) concludes, there are “misconceptions about what constitutes sustainable or renewable water use and therefore what justifies responsible allocation.”
Brendan Moran, UMass post-doc researcher and lead author, told BusinessWest.com, “To understand the environmental effect of lithium mining, we need to understand the hydrology in the region the lithium is found. That hydrology is much more complex than previous researchers have given it credit for.” He added, “Because these regions are so dry, and the groundwater so old, the overall hydrological system responds very slowly to changes in climate, hydrology, and water usage.”
Because the groundwater moves slowly within the basin, Moran said that “the effects of water overuse may still be making their way through the system and need to be closely monitored. Potential impacts could last decades into the future.”
–Kennedy Maize
Twitter (@kennedymaize)