The lure of lithium gets serious
Power demand means we need new sources.
Credit: MF3d / Getty Images
Scientists and engineers seeking to power the alternative-energy future are scrambling to find new sources of lithium for rechargeable batteries.
The overall demand, a panel of researchers said today at the virtual meeting of the American Geophysical Union, is expected to double in the next five years, and increase tenfold by 2030.
Much will be driven by the increasing use of electric vehicles, says Michael Whittaker, a director of the Lithium Resource Research and Innovation Center at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) in California. “To power our electric trucks, we’re going to need as much lithium as we can get,” he says.