Unlike petroleum products (which are also in limited supply and have questionable sources), battery ingredients are eminently recyclable. So while it’s all problematic to get out of the ground, once it’s in a battery it can be used over and over and over again.
Everything is better than fossil fuels :)
But yes and no. Batteries are not trivial to recycle plus there is more and more demand. Also a lot of rare earths are concentrated mainly in a single country (i.e. China).
LFPs and new technologies to the rescue such as sodium.
We don’t have mass lithium ion battery recycling yet because there hasn’t been enough Li+ batteries to begin recycling. As more massive batteries reach end of life it will develop. You know, since a Li+ battery has lithium concentrations several order of magnitude higher than any lithium ore you will find in any mine.
Unlike petroleum products (which are also in limited supply and have questionable sources), battery ingredients are eminently recyclable. So while it’s all problematic to get out of the ground, once it’s in a battery it can be used over and over and over again.
Everything is better than fossil fuels :) But yes and no. Batteries are not trivial to recycle plus there is more and more demand. Also a lot of rare earths are concentrated mainly in a single country (i.e. China). LFPs and new technologies to the rescue such as sodium.
We don’t have mass lithium ion battery recycling yet because there hasn’t been enough Li+ batteries to begin recycling. As more massive batteries reach end of life it will develop. You know, since a Li+ battery has lithium concentrations several order of magnitude higher than any lithium ore you will find in any mine.
Spot-on!
Alas, I’ve written my last comment before I read yours.
Do you think it’s easier to
?
Where do you think will be the higher concentration of lithium?