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Lithium in Arkansas

November 28, 2024 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Lithium is the critical raw material in the batteries that power electric cars as well as cell phones, computers, and other gadgets. The stuff has been nicknamed “white gold” for good reason. Chile and Australia are the world’s largest producers of the metal, which is mostly extracted from brine in evaporation ponds. The majority of it is then processed in China. The energy industry has been increasingly working to produce the raw materials needed to produce lithium-ion batteries in the United States and process those materials domestically. There are multiple projects at various stages across the country.

Researchers at the US Geological Survey and the Arkansas state government recently announced that they have discovered a vast trove of lithium in an underground brine reservoir in Arkansas.

With a combination of water testing and machine learning, the researchers determined that there could be 5 to as much as 19 million tons of lithium in the geological area called the Smackover Formation. This is more than enough to meet all the world’s demand for it.

Several companies – including Exxon Mobil, which is covering its bets on the future of oil as an energy source – are developing projects in Arkansas to produce lithium. If these companies can develop and scale up economical new ways to extract lithium from salty water, the region in Arkansas could become the lithium capital of the world.

Energy and mining companies have produced oil, gas, and other natural resources in the Smackover Formation, which extends from Texas to Florida. The same brines have long been the source of other valuable substances.

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Arkansas May Have Vast Lithium Reserves, Researchers Say

Photo, posted May 22, 2020, courtesy of the European Space Agency via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Air pollution in India

February 19, 2024 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

India is one of the world’s most polluted countries. In fact, of the 30 cities with the worst air pollution around the globe, 21 of them can be found in India.

India’s capital city, New Delhi, is the most polluted city in the world. Concentrations of fine particulate matter (known as PM2.5) in Delhi, which is the name of the larger city that includes the capital New Delhi, are nearly 10 times greater than the World Health Organization guidelines.

To reduce air pollution in Delhi, officials have focused on measures within the city limits, including boosting public transportation and regulating pollution from industry.

But according to a review carried out by the University of Surrey and regional government officials in Delhi, the city will also need the help of its neighbors to tackle its killer smog problem. Some of the pollution plaguing Delhi comes from rural areas in the region – from things like crop burning, wood stoves, and power plants. The review, which was part of a paper recently published in the journal Sustainable Horizons, also recommends drafting regional air quality plans, producing smog forecasts, and creating airshed councils to help improve coordination.

Exposure to air pollution can cause all sorts of major health problems, including asthma, respiratory inflammation, as well as jeopardize lung function, and even promote cancer. Long-term exposure to PM2.5 is linked to premature death. In fact, air pollution causes an estimated 670,000 deaths every year in India.

Since air pollution doesn’t respect boundaries or borders, solutions require collaboration and the need to focus efforts more broadly in order to achieve emissions reduction goals.

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Delhi smog: India’s cities must look beyond their limits to clean up air pollution

Photo, posted December 27, 2019, courtesy of Ninara via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Are Companies Really Reducing Emissions? | Earth Wise

December 21, 2022 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Many companies around the world are declaring tremendous progress in reducing their greenhouse gas emissions. Sometimes these claims are the result of actions that really do reduce emissions but other times they are the result of something called “market-based accounting”. Businesses buy credits from clean energy providers that allows them to say they are running on green power when they actually are not.

The market analysis firm Bloomberg Green analyzed almost 6,000 climate reports filed by corporations last year and found that over 1,300 of them employed market-based accounting to erase over 120 million tons of emissions from their records.

Some clean energy contracts do have major climate benefits. For example, companies like Amazon, Nestle, and Target have signed long-term power purchase agreements that ultimately help renewable developers finance new energy projects.

On the other hand, renewable energy credits are often short-term transactions with existing facilities and do little to stimulate investment or otherwise lead to greater use of green power. They simply shift around ownership of existing renewable energy without doing anything new for the climate.

Some companies have made meaningful cuts to their pollution by putting solar panels on their roofs, upgrading their lighting and air conditioning equipment, and so on. But many are reluctant to spend their capital in this way, even if it eventually saves money through lower electric bills.

Customers and shareholders want to see corporations do their part in reducing emissions. But too many are making grandiose claims enabled by market-based accounting while doing far too little to help the environment. Dubious claims of climate progress are not harmless; it is essential for the world’s companies to really do their share.

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What Really Happens When Emissions Vanish

Photo, posted July 16, 2014, courtesy of Mike Mozart via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

A Car-Free Zone In Berlin | Earth Wise

February 22, 2022 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

The regional parliament in Berlin is considering the creation of a car-free zone in the German capital as a result of a petition from a local advocacy group. The group – called the People’s Decision for Auto-Free Berlin – collected 50,000 signatures, which was enough to require the Berlin Senate to take up the issue.

The city ban would apply to the space ringed by the S-Bahn train line, which circles the city center. Known as the Ringbahn, the area enclosed was already established as a low-emission zone in 2008. It is 34 square miles in area, larger than Manhattan. The ban would restrict vehicle use to trucks, taxis, emergency vehicles, and limited car-sharing programs.

In Berlin, a combination of regular trains, ample bike lanes, and a robust network of public buses makes getting around without a car more practical than in many other major cities. In fact, automobiles account for only 17% of trips inside of the Ringbahn.

Even so, there is still a lot of car traffic in the city center. Advocates for the plan believe it would lead to a city with cleaner air and more livable spaces for its citizens.

If the Berlin Senate rejects the measure, the advocacy group will seek to collect 175,000 signatures, which would force the Senate to consider the matter for a second time. If it is rejected again, it would automatically go to a referendum in 2023.

In Europe, it appears that the revolution in transportation may not just be one about electric vehicles, but in some places may be toward the removal of vehicles in general.

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