andrewducker | Interesting Links for 18-07-2021

Crossposts: https://andrewducker.livejournal.com/4062696.html

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That's a big increase in lithium production compared to current demand but I think a drop in the ocean (sorry, I'm so, so, so sorry) compared to future global demand I think.

We currently require lithium for 100% of smart phone and laptop batteries, about 1% of automotive transport and 1% of electricity storage. By 2030 that going to look more like 200% of smart phones etc, 10% of automotive transport and 5%* of electricity storage and growing.

I think the CTC scheme uses the same technology as the lithium mines in Cornwall - but bigger and with a better resource. So that's extracting water laden with salts from fissures in the rock, stripping out minerals and the heat and re-injecting the water rather than processing the surface water from the Salton Sea - which would be like the seawater extraction methods you linked to not so long ago.

Looking at the CTC website they look like they are gearing up for quite a large geo-thermal energy scheme in the end. Ironically this may reduce demand for the lithium slightly by reducing overall energy storage requirements or maybe not. I don't understand California's winter to summer electricity demand changes that well.

*totes guessing on this but given that lithium-ion batteries are not great for bulk storage of electricity I think we'll see alternative batteries used more and more use of hydro-schemes and CAES and more use of Costa Rica as a storage system. Therefore less lithium-ion batteries in use on the grid than current activity might suggest.

Oh yes, if Vanadium Flow batteries, or some other energy storage, isn't going to take over for bulk storage then we're going to need a hell of a lot more lithium. As it is you're right, we're going to need a lot more.

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Interesting Links for 18-07-2021

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