Do you ever think of Lithium? By Julie Peller Ph.D.

Green Junction

Lithium is one of nature’s smallest elements and the 33^rd most abundant element in the Earth’s crust. In 1970, the United States joined other countries in approving lithium compounds (mostly as lithium carbonate) in the treatment of depression and bipolar disorder. Lithium is now a necessary part of our advanced technology world.

Lithium is found in rechargeable batteries for cell phones, computers, digital cameras, electric vehicles, and more. Since nearly all batteries in electric vehicles contain lithium, it is considered an essential element in the transition to clean energy. Currently, most lithium comes from Australia, Chile, and China. Like other minerals, lithium is mined from the earth’s resources, and mining operations are disruptive and polluting. A newly approved lithium mine in California’s “Lithium Valley” was strongly contested by environmentalists concerned about the impact on water resources and air quality.

Researchers at the Colorado School of Mines recently studied traditional mineral mining operations, which target only specific materials, such as iron. They found that many of these mining processes could be recovering other important minerals. According to their research findings, in one year’s worth of U.S. mine waste, enough lithium is available to power 10 million electric vehicles. Manganese was another valuable element present in abundance in the mine waste.  The research suggests that current mining operations have a greater supply of lithium than the current demand. Further, devising more effective mining operations can reduce energy, pollution and the need for imports, according to the researchers, possibly to the point of zero waste.

An alternative to new massive mining operations is to recover valuable minerals from used materials, such as old batteries. Currently, only about 5% of lithium is recycled from used batteries. Meanwhile, a team of Department of Energy scientists has developed a sustainable, lithium recycling process that requires only water and carbon dioxide. It represents one of the numerous government-funded science findings that may assist in reaching society’s cleaner energy needs. All of this begs the question of the necessity of new mining operations that are disruptive to the natural environment.

From Father Cristóbal Fones: “the Pope invites us to reflect on how our actions affect nature, God’s work, and to seek ways of living that foster the restoration and natural balance and harmony between human beings and the environment.”

Julie Peller, Ph.D., is an environmental chemist (Professor of Chemistry at Valparaiso University). She has been writing a weekly column called The Green Junction for the past seven years and is helping to move the call of Laudato Si to action forward. Her research interests include advanced oxidation for aqueous solutions, water quality analyses, emerging contaminants, air quality analyses, challenges along the Lake Michigan shoreline (such as Cladophora, water, and sediment contaminants), and student and citizen participation in environmental work.