Riddle me this: Where do most of the raw materials for modern rechargeable batteries come from?
South America, it seems, and there may not be enough (available) lithium to meet future demands. Better make nice with Evo…
From Brad Plumer of The New Republic:
…plug-in hybrids and electric cars still look like the cleanest, surest way to end our dependence on oil, though lest anyone think that’s entirely cost-free from a sustainability standpoint, the BBC had a recent piece on analysts who are fretting about whether there’s enough lithium in the world to make all those advanced car batteries.
Chile, for one, has been dubbed the Saudi Arabia of lithium—a light metal that’s most easily harvested from the brine under salt flats—but the world’s largest reserves may be in Bolivia. Yet Bolivia’s president, Evo Morales, isn’t terribly keen on welcoming in foreign mining companies to exploit the area, which could become a bone of contention for electric-car makers trying to keep battery prices down. Never a dull moment in the resource wars…
