Submitted by PorkyPigDid911 t3_10ogkyl in Futurology
Reply to comment by PorkyPigDid911 in Scientists lower price of lithium's best competition - flow batteries - by 20%. Makes the battery effectively equal to or cheaper than lithium ion when spread over 30 years (flow battery lifetimes are effectively infinite with light repowering efforts). by PorkyPigDid911
I am concerned about billions of dead lithium batteries and what we’re going to do with them, the (so I’m told) very finite resource that is lithium, and the horrors of the cobalt mining necessary for lithium battery function. Am I out of the loop in thinking these are still legitimate concerns for the future of lithium-driven sustainability? Genuinely asking, not trying to be a dick
Batteries like this don't use cobalt, as well many cars don't use it anymore either. As well, it is very well known that we do in fact have more than enough resources - lithium in particular to meet our needs.
Lastly, already, almost every single car battery in the USA is being recycled because of the value of them and simply that it isn't allowed in many places to throw them into the dump.
From energy.gov :
“Cobalt is considered the highest material supply chain risk for electric vehicles (EVs) in the short and medium term. EV batteries can have up to 20 kg of Co in each 100 kilowatt-hour (kWh) pack. Right now, Co can make up to 20% of the weight of the cathode in lithium ion EV batteries.”
This article is from 2021, so I wonder if it’s maybe outmoded.
I do know that batteries are recyclable, but from what I understand, it’s a difficult, risky, and costly process. Has this changed or have there been any advancements on the recycling process?
Why are you able to find contrary articles, but not the answers to your basic questions?
Or are you just concern trolling?
It's reddit
Sheer laziness
It is outmoded. In the past 2 years companies have started moving away from cobalt. It won't be long before it isn't used at all.
That’s excellent
The lithium article says something I already knew, that it is recyclable, but that process is extremely difficult and costly. Are there any advancements on this front? And it’s not the recycling of cobalt so much as the horrendous conditions present at the cobalt mines that I speak of. Cobalt mining will have to continue even though we can recycle a lot of what was already mined.
You really think it will be costlier to extract those metals from the used batteries than from Earth? Lithium, for example, is 7% of battery's weight. Guess the Lithium concentration in the brine they extract it from? They are lucky to get 1%.
The metals in lithium ion are infinitely recyclable and easier and more cost effective to do so.
Not like plastic where you can recycle it, but it’s expensive and a pain in the ass
Recycled plastic is also not as good as first use plastic. Not so with battery elements.
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