THE BALANCING ACT TOWARD A Green Energy Future with Lithium
Obtaining resources for sustainable lithium-based electric car batteries to power a “green energy” future does not come without cost. A feature article in Time magazine explores how lithium extraction in sensitive desert regions of Argentina (which accounts for 21 percent of world lithium reserves) could present a new gold rush—or yet another environmental disaster.
Remote regions across several countries within the South American high Andes would seem to be empty and sparse of anything worthwhile, but in these highand-dry environs, companies have found lithium, an element now essential for a green energy future. Extracting this mineral, however, involves pumping and using signicant quantities of precious groundwater from one of the driest places on Earth. Some companies, like Lilac Solutions, claim to have developed technologies to extract lithium without otherwise unnecessarily disrupting or contaminating underground water supplies in this sensitive desert region. But have they? Other companies making such claims have le Indigenous Andean villages in ruins. e Time article describes it as “neocolonialism dressed up as a green revolution.” While we all may wish for net carbon neutrality, may we consider the not-so-pretty costs of reaching this goal.