Could Lithium Shortages Impede Future Electric Car Deployment?

Lithium pellets covered in white lithium hydroxide. Public domain.

O Lithium, Where Art Thou?

Lithium is a soft alkali metal with a silver-white color, it is the lightest metal and the least dense solid element. Most treehuggers and electronics-geeks will be familiar with it as one of the key chemical components of lithium-ion batteries, using in portable electronics and the most recent generation of electric vehicles.


Lithium ingots with a thin layer of black oxide tarnish. CC license.

First, the crystal ball:



Silver Linings



Another thing to consider is that it would be very surprising if 20-30 years form now the energy storage that we use is anything like what it is today. Technological innovation builds on technological innovation, and by most measures the pace of change is acceleration. We've seen a lot of movement in the past 30 years, and we'll probably see even more in the next 30. Maybe by then hydrogen will be a viable storage medium, maybe hypercapacitors designed on the nanoscale will totally replace chemical batteries. Maybe ferrous batteries will replace lithium-ion... Who knows?

In short: A lithium shortage is very possible, but it might not be as catastrophic as some people think. We can't know in advance exactly how it will turn out, but some good might actually come of it.

Via Earth2Tech

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