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Mining Metals From Water | Earth Wise

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Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Washington are working with industry to develop a method of extracting valuable materials from various sources of water.  The technique is the 21st-century equivalent of panning for gold in rivers and streams.

The patent-pending technology makes use of magnetic nanoparticles that are surrounded by an absorbent shell that latches on to specific materials of interest that are found in certain water sources.  These sources could include water in geothermal power plants (known as geothermal brines), water pulled from the subsurface during oil or gas production, or possibly effluents from desalination plants.  Extracting valuable materials from geothermal brines could greatly enhance the economics of geothermal power plants.

The initial focus of the development is on lithium, which is an essential element in many high-technology applications, especially in the batteries that power cell phones, computers, and electric cars.  The global market for lithium is projected to reach over $8 billion a year by 2028 and very little of it is currently produced in the United States.

The tiny particles are added to the water and any lithium is drawn out of the water and is bound to them.  Using magnets, the nanoparticles can be readily collected.  Once the particles are no longer suspended in liquid, the lithium can easily be extracted, and the nanoparticles can be reused.

PNNL is developing the technology in partnership with a company called Moselle Technology as well as with other commercial partners.  This new technology offers the promise of extracting critical materials in a quick, cost-effective manner.

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Tri-Cities Scientists “Magically” Mining Metals From Water

Photo, posted June 4, 2012, courtesy of Tom Shockey via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

An Iron-Air Battery Plant | Earth Wise

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Lithium-ion batteries are the standard energy source for electric vehicles, and they are also the dominant technology for storing energy in the electric grid.  However, they are not the only game in town.  There are other battery technologies that have various potential advantages over lithium-ion and some of them are getting the chance to show what they can do.

One is the iron-air battery.  Unlike lithium-ion batteries that require expensive and strategically challenging materials like lithium, cobalt, nickel, and graphite, iron-air batteries make use of one of the most common elements in the earth’s crust.

Iron-air batteries operate on a principle known as “reversible rusting”.  When discharging, the battery takes in oxygen from the air and converts iron into rust.  While charging, electrical current converts rust back into iron and the battery releases oxygen.  Batteries consist of a slab of iron, a water-based electrolyte, and a membrane that feeds a controlled stream of air into the battery. 

A Massachusetts-based company called Form Energy is building a $760 million iron-air battery storage facility in the city of Weirton in West Virginia.  Investment financing along with a $290 million government incentive package is paying for the facility. 

The facility is designed to address the need for long-duration energy storage and will be capable of storing electricity for 100 hours at competitive prices.  The battery modules will be about the size of a side-by-side washer/dryer and will contain a stack of 50 3-foot-tall cells.  Such batteries are too big and heavy for use in cars but will be cheaper and higher-capacity than equivalent lithium-ion battery systems.

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Form Energy selects West Virginia for its first iron-air battery plant

Photo credit: Form Energy

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

The Race For EV Batteries | Earth Wise

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Lithium-ion batteries have been the power source for electric vehicles since 2008, when the Tesla Roadster was introduced.  They took over for nickel-metal hydride batteries that powered most hybrid electric cars such as the Prius.  Lithium-ion batteries store much more energy for a battery of a given weight, which leads to greater driving range.

But lithium-ion is not an ideal solution.  The batteries depend on critical materials that are obtained by hacking into mountains, utilizing scarce desert groundwater, and in some cases, making use of child labor. Many materials depend on countries with whom economic ties have complicated geopolitical consequences.

State and federal mandates and incentives are pushing auto companies to prioritize electric vehicles in their future plans.  The Inflation Reduction Act in particular provides credits and other incentives for both consumers and manufacturers to electrify. So, sources for EV batteries are a key issue.

The Department of Energy is funding 20 different companies with $2.8 billion to bolster the production and processing of critical minerals in the U.S.  The goal is to bring the electric vehicle supply chain onshore to the greatest extent possible.  Some of the work involves redesigning lithium-ion batteries to reduce or eliminate problematic materials such as cobalt.  Other efforts seek to find domestic sources of critical materials such as lithium without causing serious environmental problems.

Given all this, it is no surprise that academic and industrial researchers are also exploring a wide variety of alternative battery technologies. 

The future of transportation is electrification and the race for EV batteries is on.

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For U.S. Companies, the Race for the New EV Battery Is On

Photo, posted August 27, 2021, courtesy of Ron Frazier via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Lithium Mining And Andes Ecosystems | Earth Wise

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A remote region in the high Andes straddling the borders between Argentina, Bolivia, and Chile has become known as the Lithium Triangle.   The area has become the focus of a global rush for lithium to make batteries for electric cars.  The global demand for lithium is expected to quadruple by 2030 to 2.6 million tons a year.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, more than half of the world’s lithium reserves are dissolved in ancient underground water within the Lithium Triangle.  The cheapest way to extract the lithium is to pump the underground water to the surface and evaporate it in the sun to concentrate the lithium carbonate contained in it.

Every ton of lithium carbonate extracted using this cheap, low-tech method dissipates into the air about half a million gallons of water that is vital to the arid high Andes.  The process lowers water tables and has the potential to dry up lakes, wetlands, springs, and rivers.  Hydrologists and conservationists say the lithium rush in Argentina is likely to turn the region’s delicate ecosystems to deserts.

The global drive for green vehicles to fight climate change has the potential to be an ecological disaster in this remote region of South America and for the indigenous people who live there.

The environmental impacts are not an inevitable price for the transition to electric vehicles.  First of all, there are alternatives to lithium.  Both zinc and nickel are potential substitutes in rechargeable batteries.  But, there are also ways of obtaining lithium that are less destructive than evaporating the metal from saline ecosystems.  It is up to battery manufacturers, automakers, and financiers to start demanding lithium from sources that are less environmentally destructive.

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Why the Rush to Mine Lithium Could Dry Up the High Andes

Photo, posted September 25, 2015, courtesy of Nuno Luciano via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Lithium-Sulfur Batteries | Earth Wise

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The growing use of electric vehicles as well as energy storage systems has created a major focus on the batteries for these applications.  Lithium-ion batteries dominate these applications and the demand for the materials needed to manufacture them continues to grow.

The raw materials for these batteries include not only lithium, but also can include nickel, manganese, and cobalt. 

Sulfur has been a desirable alternative for use in lithium-based batteries for quite a while because it is an abundant element and can be extracted in ways that are safe and environmentally friendly.  However, previous attempts to create lithium batteries that combine sulfur cathodes and the standard carbonate electrolytes used in lithium-ion batteries have not been successful because of irreversible chemical reactions between intermediate sulfur products and the electrolytes.

A group of chemical engineers at Drexel University has now found a way to introduce sulfur into lithium-ion batteries that solves the stability problem and also has major performance advantages.  The new batteries have three times the capacity of conventional lithium-ion batteries, and last more than 4,000 recharges, which is also a substantial improvement.

The new battery technology involves creating a stable form of sulfur called monoclinic gamma sulfur by depositing the sulfur on carbon nanofibers.   Previously, this sulfur phase was only observed at high temperatures and was only stable for 20 or 30 minutes.  This chemical phase of sulfur does not react with carbonate electrolytes and therefore produces a battery that is chemically stable over time.

 Incorporating this sulfur into battery cathodes results in a better battery that doesn’t need any cobalt, nickel, or manganese.  It could be the next big thing in electric vehicle batteries.

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Breakthrough in Cathode Chemistry Clears Path for Lithium-Sulfur Batteries’ Commercial Viability

Photo, posted April 5, 2022, courtesy of Oregon Department of Transportation via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

The Race For American Lithium Mining | Earth Wise

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The auto industry is making a massive transition from gas-powered cars to electric cars.  The exploding electric vehicle market has set off what some call a global battery arms race.  Battery manufacturers are urgently trying to source the raw materials needed to make batteries, which presently include cobalt, nickel, graphite, and lithium.  There is encouraging progress in reducing and even eliminating cobalt and nickel from electric car batteries, but so far lithium seems to be essential.

The International Energy Agency has named lithium as the mineral for which there is the fastest growing demand in the world.  Estimates are that if the world is to meet the global climate targets set by the Paris Agreement, at least 40 times more lithium will be needed in 2040 compared with today.

According to the US Geological Survey, the US has about 9 million tons of lithium, which puts it in the top 5 most lithium-rich countries in the world.  Despite this, our country mines and processes only 1% of global lithium output.  Most of the rest comes from China, Chile, and Australia.  Being dependent upon these foreign sources is a serious concern for national security.

There is only one operational lithium mine in the US at present.  Multiple companies are pressing to get more mining projects in operation, including sites in North Carolina and Nevada.  But there are serious environmental problems associated with lithium mining and there is considerable local opposition to establishing the mines.

The US wants to be a leader in the global race to build the batteries that will power the green transition but it is a complicated situation that combines both undeniably important benefits as well as very real dangers.

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Powering electric cars: the race to mine lithium in America’s backyard

Photo, posted January 18, 2022, courtesy of Ivan Radic via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Iron Flow Batteries | Earth Wise

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Lithium-ion batteries power computers, cell phones, and increasingly, automobiles.  They started out being rather expensive but have become dramatically cheaper over the last decade, with prices dropping about 90%.  Batteries are needed to store clean power from wind and solar generation and lithium-ion batteries are increasingly being used for that purpose as well.

Utility-scale energy storage requires substantial battery installations and battery cost is still very much an inhibiting factor in the widespread adoption of the technology.  Lithium-ion battery costs continue to drop but because they require expensive materials like lithium and cobalt, there are limits to how low their prices are likely to get.

As a result, researchers have continued to seek ways to produce batteries made out of cheaper materials.  Among the more promising technologies are flow batteries, which are rechargeable batteries in which electrolyte flows through electrochemical cells from tanks. 

Flow batteries are much larger than lithium-ion batteries and include physical pumps to move electrolytes.  They typically are sold inside shipping containers.  Clearly, such batteries are not suitable for use in vehicles, much less in consumer electronics.  Nevertheless, they represent a practical option for grid storage.

A company called ESS has developed an iron flow battery suitable for utility energy storage.  Clean energy firm CSB Energy plans to install iron flow batteries at several solar projects across the U.S. that will store enough energy to provide power 50,000 homes for a day.  According to ESS, the iron-based batteries should sell for about half the price of lithium-ion batteries by 2025 and be able to store energy for longer periods.

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New Iron-Based Batteries Offer an Alternative to Lithium

Photo, posted March 21, 2021, courtesy of Nenad Stojkovic via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Busting Electric Vehicle Myths | Earth Wise

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From the early days of hybrid vehicles right on through the current booming market for electric cars, there has been the contention by some people that these cars are responsible for comparable or even greater amounts of greenhouse gas emissions over their product lifetimes.  The arguments generally centered around the carbon costs of creating batteries for the cars as well as the emissions associated with generating the electricity used to charge them.

A new study published by the International Council for Clean Transportation reports a life cycle assessment (or LCA) that considers every source of carbon generated from the cradle to the grave of the vehicle.

Included in the assessment are the mining costs of the lithium to make batteries, the transportation of batteries across the world by container ship, the end-of-life burden, the mix of energy generation in various places around the world, and so on.

The results of the analysis are that even in India and China, which are the biggest burners of coal and oil on earth, it still results in lower emissions to drive an EV instead of an internal combustion vehicle.

Lifetime emissions of today’s average medium-size EVs are lower than comparable gasoline cars by 66-69% in Europe, 60-68% in the US, 37-45% in China, and 19-34% in India.  As electricity generation continues to further decarbonize, all these numbers will only get better.  While it is somewhat more carbon-intensive to manufacture an EV, it doesn’t take very long in the car’s life to come out ahead owning one.

Early skeptics of EVs and hybrids had more legitimate concerns a decade or so ago, but the advantages of these vehicles are now unambiguous.

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One of the Biggest Myths About EVs is Busted in New Study

Photo, posted December 30, 2020, courtesy of Chris Yarzab via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Minerals And Metals For A Low-Carbon Future | Earth Wise

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For the past century, economies and geopolitics have largely been driven by our insatiable appetite for oil and fossil fuels in general.  As we gradually make the transition to a low-carbon energy future, the focus on oil will shift to sustainable supplies of essential minerals and elements.

The use of solar panels, batteries, electric vehicle motors, wind turbines, and fuel cells is growing rapidly around the world.  These technologies make use of cobalt, copper, lithium, cadmium, and various rare earth elements.  The need for any one of these things may diminish if alternatives are found, but there will continue to be a growing reliance on multiple substances whose physical and chemical properties are essential to the function of modern devices and technologies.

In some cases, global supplies of particular minerals and elements are dominated by a particular country, are facing social and environmental conflicts, or face other market issues.  Shortages of any of them could create economic problems and derail progress much as the oil-related energy crises of the past have.

The world faces challenges in managing the demand for low-carbon technology minerals as well as limiting the environmental and public health damage that might be associated with their extraction and processing.  Expanded use of recycling and reuse of rare minerals will be essential.

As the relatively easy sources of these materials become exhausted, other resources will become more attractive.  These include various valuable ecosystems, oceanic deposits, and even space-based reserves.

Ushering in the low-carbon future is not a simple matter and will require responsible actions by the world’s governments and industries. In undoing the damage from the oil age, we must avoid new damage from the low-carbon age.

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Sustainable supply of minerals and metals key to a low-carbon energy future

Photo, posted March 13, 2015, courtesy of Joyce Cory via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

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