MEXICO CITY/LA PAZ (Reuters) - Hopes of an electric car boom are spurring companies to seek new lithium sources, but new finds may be lower quality and costlier to develop than established deposits able to meet demand for years to come.
via www.reuters.com
Recent articles in Forbes and Time suggest that factors affecting the supply of lithium for rechargeable batteries will keep electric vehicles from having meaningful marketshare.
However, there are many who disagree. The bulk of the 13 million tonnes of known lithium reserves are found in countries along the Andes, mostly in Bolivia (USGS). But, China, the US, Australia and several other countries have sufficient supply to avoid an OPEC-like cartel. Global production of Lithium carbonate was 98,000 tonnes in 2008 (Market Oracle). In addition, unlike oil, Lithium can, and often is, recycled.
In a typical electric car, lithium accounts for 1.8% of the cost of the battery (eco geek). It is a cheap commodity, trading at around $3/lb in 2009 (Commodity Online). Some research analysts suggest that this means that the price can increase, but this will only make alternative extraction methods more economically viable, preventing further upward price increases.
As in the case of any mining operation, there is a significant concern of ecological damage, in addition to the health of miners. Lawmakers, if not the Automakers themselves, need to ensure that production of these 'cleaner' electric vehicles, including the extraction of the raw materials, have as little environmental impact as possible.
Correction:
In a recent Reuters report widely circulated I am quoted as saying that lithium reserves in Chile and Argentina are sufficient for billions of years.
The sentence should have read that the reserves in the two countries are adequate for batteries for billions of motor vehicles.
Posted by: Keith Evans | 02/15/2010 at 08:39 PM