Not to be taken 'Li'ghtly
Out of Syllabus
LITHIUM
What you know (if you paid attention during Chemistry class)
- Symbol: Li
- Atomic number = 3
- Atomic mass = 6.491
- Valency = +1
- Colour: Silvery-white
- Low melting point
- Lowest density of all metals (can be cut with a knife)
- Lightest metal
- Highly reactive alkali metal
What lithium has got to do with you
Lithium is used in ceramics and glass. It is mixed with aluminium to form light-weight alloys called lithium-aluminium (Li-Al) alloys. Lithium salts are also used as medicines to treat depression.
But by far, the most important use of Li is in batteries. The electronic device (mobile phone, tablet or laptop) you're reading this through has Li in it.
There is more for lithium in this brave new world seeking to reduce carbon emissions. Electric vehicles (EVs) are seen in rising popularity and they employ lithium-ion batteries (LIBs).
Lithium is now being dubbed as white gold since LIBs have proved themselves in green transportation. In fact, Li production has increased by 200% since 2010.
Where lithium is found in nature
Lithium being highly reactive is not found in metallic form in nature.
- It occurs in hard crystalline rock forms that are hosted in Pegmatites {a kind of igneous rock (formed by the cooling and solidification of magma/lava) with a very coarse texture}.
- Brine deposits contain Li in the form of salts like lithium chloride and lithium carbonate in interior saline drainage basins.
- Seawater too contains lithium salts but only in concentrations of 0.1 ppm. Extraction of lithium from seawater is currently not possible.
Where lithium is found (by country)
It is estimated that there are 62 million tons of Li in the Earth's crust (don't you think it is collectively selfish of humankind to do such estimates - all of that Li is not for us to extract, right?)
More than 50% of the world's Li deposits are located in:
- Chile
- Bolivia
- Argentina.
The above three countries host what is known as the Lithium Triangle.
- Australia
- United States of America
- China
too produce lithium.
How lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) work
LIBs are being used extensively because they are smaller owing to Li being light-weight and less dense but high on energy density and power density. They give the highest number of charge and discharge cycles.
There are four main parts in LIBs:
- Cathode
- Anode
- Electrolyte
- Separator
Isn't that cool! Li is surely winning the fight against Carbon emissions - maybe not
This green energy heavyweight player is not the best option for Earth. Where lithium is found in rocks, it is mined. Now, mining has never been a 'green word'. Li mining mars the landscape just like any other kind of mining. After extraction comes processing and this is a highly water-intensive process for Li - the production of 1 ton of Li requires 1.9 million litres of water.
In the coming months, more mines in Australia, Argentina, Canada, Chile, U.S., and Mexico are expected to add to global capacity and double production.
Mining not only causes environmental pollution but also threatens the livelihoods of people living in the area. According to Daranda Hinkey, a member of a tribe in Nevada where a lithium mine has been proposed, mining would cause cases of "Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIW)".
Last month saw a spike in EV sales globally. At the same time in Europe, Serbians were up in arms against Li mining projects.
The famous Lithium Triangle narrates a different version of the same story. Indigenous communities that have lived in the Andeas region of Argentina, Bolivia and Chile for centuries are having to compete with miners for access to communal land and water. Li mines have resulted in the consumption of 65% of Salar de Atacama's water, which is already a desert region.
In Bolivia too, water pollution due to Li mining has put people, livestock and crops in danger while mining companies claim that all their activities are "in Bolivia, by Bolivia and for Bolivia".
Sonya Ramos, an indigenous leader in Chile told The Guardian, "If the countries that buy the lithium could understand the harm they are doing, they will understand they are completely destroying a place far more valuable than all the lithium they could extract."
A lithium battery expert from the University of Chile, Guillermo Gonzalez said in 2009, "Like any mining process, it is invasive, it scars the landscape, it destroys the water table and pollutes the earth and the local wells. This is not a green solution - it's not a solution at all."
The story isn't very different closer home (India) either. "Here's a thoroughly modern riddle," writes Amit Katwala on WIRED, "What links the battery in your smartphone with a dead yak floating down a Tibetian river? The answer is lithium".
India is the third largest importer of lithium hydroxide. The Department of Atomic Energy in a press release exactly a year ago claimed that according to preliminary surveys, Karnataka's Mandya district hosts lithium deposits. While this Li cache isn't very huge, only time will let us know what will be of it.
Things don't end here. Afghanistan has large deposits of Li and in November 2021, the Taliban regime granted China (the current leader in EV production) the green light to tap its Li resources. Now, the U.S., which imports 80% of its rare-earth metals from China wants to "protect America from the threat of rare-earth element supply disruptions by creating a 'strategic reserve' by 2025, and reduce dependence on China". Sounds familiar?
What can be done
Li being used in most electronic devices, ranging from smartphones to electric cars, ends up as e-waste. The lifetime of lithium-ion batteries is not exactly known today. But the end-of-life recycling-rate is less than 1%. No recycling process using current technologies can product Li pure enough to be used for the second time in batteries.
But here's a good news, really new and good. Researchers at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute have come up with a recycling technique for LIBs that actually makes the recycled product function better than the new one! Can't tell you now how that works as I don't have access to the research paper.
India, being a lithium-deficient country with increasing carbon emissions, must start proper recycling of e-waste. This will help us form a circular economy for Li and other metals, help us become self-sufficient and also let Li be in the place where it belongs.
Takeaway
The next time you meet Li in your textbook or anywhere else, try to recall how heavily we are dependent on the lightest metal and why this cannot be the ultimate solution to the climate crisis.
References
- UNCTAD, (2020). Commodities at a Glance: Special issue on strategic battery raw materials.
- Rest have been hyperlinked.
