How Elizabeth Warren answered a hard question about lithium-ion batteries
1Reported today on The Verge
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Reported today in The Verge.
How Elizabeth Warren answered a hard question about lithium-ion batteries
The controversial sourcing of lithium-ion batteries briefly took center stage at the Democratic presidential debate in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Wednesday night in a question directed at Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA).
"The tension here in this state is between people who want renewable energy and people who want conservation on public lands," said moderator Jon Ralston. He pointed out that Warren had pledged to sign an executive order to stop drilling on public lands on her first day in office. "You've got to have lithium, you've got to have copper for renewable energy. How do you do that?" he asked Warren.
Switching to electric-powered vehicles and solar energy will be a big piece of the puzzle when it comes to the US weaning itself off planet-heating fossil fuels. That technology requires lithium-ion batteries, and Nevada has a huge reserve of lithium on public land.
Thacker Pass in Humboldt County, Nevada, is one of those potential sources of lithium. A Canadian company, Lithium Americas has been planning to develop the site, which the company estimates is the largest deposit of lithium in the United States.
Lithium Americas' proposal to mine the Thacker Pass deposit is currently under review by the US Bureau of Land Management. The company hopes to retrieve between 30,000 to 60,000 tons of battery-grade lithium carbonate at the location every year for about 40 years, starting in 2022. It says it could supply "most or all" of the US's demand for lithium.
Although the company says the operation would bring jobs on top of supplying the transition to more renewable energy, some Nevada residents are concerned about having an open-pit mine essentially in their backyards.