One of the main problems of the production of electric cars are that the batteries require precious metals that require a method of extracting that can harm the environment. Lithium is one of those metals that is “essential to our battery-fuelled world” (Draper, 2019) as the batteries produced with lithium tend to have a much higher energy density than other battery technologies (Agusdinata, 2018). Lithium is extracted from either Lithium chloride salts found in brine lakes and as a mineral from igneous rocks (Eason, 2010). So far, the most popular method is extracting from lithium chloride salts as it is the most cost-effective route to obtaining Lithium. Lithium chloride salts are extracted from salt brine lakes by channelling some of the brine into a large pool where it can be removed of all it’s water by evaporating under the sun, the left-over white residue is the lithium chloride salts. The brine lakes with the more lucrative lithium tend to be underground (Draper, 2019) where machines pump the liquid to the surface for extraction. The largest salt flat in Chile, the Salar de Atacama, was a victim to lithium mining and as a result the ground water table has been lowered which caused nearby rivers to dry up. Livo (n.d.) and Knepper (n.d.) can agree that the Salar de Atacama has been a salt plain for a very long time and, the reason for being a salt plain wasn’t because of Lithium extraction, but in one of the “driest place on Earth” (Livo, n.d.)(Knepper, n.d.) some water does exist and it plays an important role to those using it. An example of this is the communities that are close to the salt flats which rely on water from nearby reservoirs for drinking, washing, industries and other necessities. By having firms pumping brine from the ground, as much as 95% of the water content of said brine would be wasted as evaporation dries out the solution (Heubl, 2019). As a consequence, nearby aquifers also dry out which is a problem for those who depend on it for the above said reasons (Heubl, 2019). Heubl (2019), Livo (n.d.) and Knepper (n.d.) shows research that indicate the lack of water being reintroduced into that region compared to the vast amounts of water being evaporated for lithium extraction. The locals aren’t the only ones affected, the huge water consumption is also drying out the soil in that area, which is already comparatively dry in the first place. “Wenjuan Liu and her research colleagues at the School of Sustainability at Arizona State University found that lithium mining in the area bore strong negative correlations with the vegetation and soil moisture – meaning, the more mining, the rarer plants and water become in the soil” (Ben, 2019). In a research paper by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2020) there are links shown between the increased risk of desertification and global warming. With the lack of moisture in the soil, which contributes to the lack of vegetation, the greenhouse gases will see an increase which furthermore causes global warming. If lithium mines continue to evaporate the water of that area, it won’t be environmentally sustainable for the local communities, wildlife and vegetation. As demand for lithium continues to rise and no change is seen in the way lithium mines currently manages the natural resources, this problem would only continue to negatively impact the environment and the local communities if no action is taken. Lithium, however, is only one of many natural resources used in EV batteries, let alone the entire rest of the car, so if any of those resources are used irresponsibly, the environmental impact of the EVs will only increase in severity.
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