All you ever wanted to know about lithium but were afraid to ask.
21 Replies to “We Don’t Need No Flaming Sparky Cars”
I suspect that one of the largest uses of lithium in the past was the heavy production of M-113 armored personnel carriers(APC)s that were made from aluminum-lithium alloys. I know the tonnage marker they carried (the number in the yellow circle painted on the side or front) was somewhere between 15 and 30.
Always interesting things on your site. Thanks.
Musk has it right. Electrical energy storage is a key technology both for now and in the future.
It’s very likely that battery technology will change and improve over time. I’d encourage you to do a summary of the research being done. Some that I have read about seem promising but then it may be like fusion power….. break through is always just over the horizon.
I remain forever skeptical of electric vehicles. I used to be a fan but not now, the economics aren’t there. The hydrocarbon ICE is just too practical. BTW Another handy use of Lithium is in Fusion weapons 🙂
The French govt is banning petrol fueled cars so that muslims will have a harder time setting them alight in the future.
Afghanistan and Bolivia both have massive undeveloped lithium deposits along with massively incompetent governments.
China will “be there to provide help” if China ever feels the need to control the market even more strictly than they do now.
I used to be a fan but not now, the economics aren’t there.
Same here.
A few days ago, Tesla had two of its cars on display at the shopping centre close to where I live. I explained to the young moonbat SJW rep about that and all she could do was spout the lines she had been programmed to speak.
Economics mean nothing to these people. To them, electric vehicles are a holy crusade to save Mommy Gaia, regardless of cost. Logic and reason won’t work with them.
That’s not unlike the thinking in the Soviet Union: sacrifice yourself for the future glory of the people’s revolution.
Just minutes ago (mid Tuesday morning) there was a report on the Business News Network on the building bottle-neck in Cobalt. The guest suggested that there was not enough Cobalt production to meet the needs of even just Tesla for their projected battery production.
Very good read & discusion
NO RECYCLING of lithium… That is a game changer for those that spout sustainability principles.. Of course nothing in the Universe is sustainable, but that would interrupt/slow the human march to extinction…
The Math experts don’t seem to calculate ALL the “Conversion” Losses.
can I keep my brand new L-ion cordless drill if I figure out a way to glom it onto my 10 speed?
I’m going to corner the market on common sense. what’s left of it. THAT is the REAL scarce resource. doesn’t seem to be much demand however . . . . .
@ Phillip, this kind of knocks the idea of a circualr economy on its head. Though I imagine one day someone will figure out how to do it economically. 10 fold rise in the price of Li might help. I think the root of the problem is that Li is compunded as a polymer in the battery.
@ David, I agree that electricity storage is destined to become big business whether you agree with the underlying policies or not. I’m not sure that major breakthroughs in battery technology have happened since Li-ion. Tesla, I believe, get 350 miles out of their top of the range Model S by cramming more batteries in. And they’ll charge you another $50,000 for that benfit. The clever thing Tesla have done is to build the battery into the chassis – which may turn out to be a plague when it comes to recycling.
It might be noted that the lead from auto batteries is nearly 100% recycled. Also, it would be informative to include gasoline on those energy-density charts. And the carbon and hydrogen in gasoline get recycled, too.
Peak Lithium, citizens. Peak Lithium is just a few Sunday’s drives from here.
Not to worry, though. We have plenty of oil, gas, and coal to turn to when Gang Green comes to it’s senses, or gets locked up in peels.
I’m betting on locked up.
Here is the latest fear mongering about AGW that I’ve read today. http://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/world/mysterious-craters-blowing-out-of-russia-could-mean-trouble-for-the-whole-planet/ar-AAp8jkG?li=AAggNb9&OCID=ansmsnnews11
Craters(later in the article they call them “sinkholes”) in Siberia, the Russia north.
The one in the photo looks awfully man-made alright. Machine bored in my opinion. First “sinkhole that I’ve ever seen that is “hilled” around the rim like you would get by pulling a big-ass auger out of the hole after the dump trucks had already carried the rest of the fill away and then sent the trucks away to do something useful.(or maybe they were sent to the next drill sight ahead of the big-ass auger rig)
now we all know that stupid is all there is left on this planet, why would one expect any rational thought from anyone. lithium, take two and call me in the morning, unless of course you brighten up.
My 25yo electric hedge trimmer (cord) died this summer. The bar was bent, thrashed, and stopped working. So I ended up replacing it with: http://www.sears.com/black-decker-20v-max-lithium-hedge-trimmer/p-07149779000P?plpSellerId=Sears&prdNo=4&blockNo=4&blockType=G4
OMG! Bless you Lithium strip-miners !! This thing simply kicks ass! It has cut (ha ha) my hedge clipping time in half. I even bought (a very expensive) reserve battery that will power this thing full tilt for 5-hours !! But make no mistake, I will NOT be driving this thing across the bay to visit my son in Silicon Valley. My kid doesn’t want me hanging around for 7-hours recharging my electric car for the journey home … praying that I won’t get stuck in a traffic jam.
But I wholeheartedly support all the Lithium strip miners … because lithim mining-GOOD … tar sands-BAD. You DID get that memo from the eco-Cabal ?
I had exactly this idea about lithium when everyone was talking peak oil and we were paying north of 120 a barrel for oil. I figured lithium would be a good investment so I found a company called Canadian Lithium with a mine and processing facility under construction in Quebec. They somehow managed to go bankrupt and I lost my investment. Was I too early or is this just a scam?
Euan,
Maybe you have it backward. A 10 fold increase in lithium demand will lead to an increase in prices. A 10 fold increase in price never happens before the increase in production.
There is a lot of lithium. There is much cobalt.
Dagnabit Euan. I should never be forced to watch World of Dance at gunpoint.
A 10 fold increase in price never happens before the increase in “demand”.
Ayn Rand would be annoyed (possibly with both of us).
I suspect that one of the largest uses of lithium in the past was the heavy production of M-113 armored personnel carriers(APC)s that were made from aluminum-lithium alloys. I know the tonnage marker they carried (the number in the yellow circle painted on the side or front) was somewhere between 15 and 30.
Always interesting things on your site. Thanks.
Musk has it right. Electrical energy storage is a key technology both for now and in the future.
It’s very likely that battery technology will change and improve over time. I’d encourage you to do a summary of the research being done. Some that I have read about seem promising but then it may be like fusion power….. break through is always just over the horizon.
I remain forever skeptical of electric vehicles. I used to be a fan but not now, the economics aren’t there. The hydrocarbon ICE is just too practical. BTW Another handy use of Lithium is in Fusion weapons 🙂
The French govt is banning petrol fueled cars so that muslims will have a harder time setting them alight in the future.
Afghanistan and Bolivia both have massive undeveloped lithium deposits along with massively incompetent governments.
China will “be there to provide help” if China ever feels the need to control the market even more strictly than they do now.
I used to be a fan but not now, the economics aren’t there.
Same here.
A few days ago, Tesla had two of its cars on display at the shopping centre close to where I live. I explained to the young moonbat SJW rep about that and all she could do was spout the lines she had been programmed to speak.
Economics mean nothing to these people. To them, electric vehicles are a holy crusade to save Mommy Gaia, regardless of cost. Logic and reason won’t work with them.
That’s not unlike the thinking in the Soviet Union: sacrifice yourself for the future glory of the people’s revolution.
Just minutes ago (mid Tuesday morning) there was a report on the Business News Network on the building bottle-neck in Cobalt. The guest suggested that there was not enough Cobalt production to meet the needs of even just Tesla for their projected battery production.
Very good read & discusion
NO RECYCLING of lithium… That is a game changer for those that spout sustainability principles.. Of course nothing in the Universe is sustainable, but that would interrupt/slow the human march to extinction…
The Math experts don’t seem to calculate ALL the “Conversion” Losses.
can I keep my brand new L-ion cordless drill if I figure out a way to glom it onto my 10 speed?
I’m going to corner the market on common sense. what’s left of it. THAT is the REAL scarce resource. doesn’t seem to be much demand however . . . . .
@ Phillip, this kind of knocks the idea of a circualr economy on its head. Though I imagine one day someone will figure out how to do it economically. 10 fold rise in the price of Li might help. I think the root of the problem is that Li is compunded as a polymer in the battery.
@ David, I agree that electricity storage is destined to become big business whether you agree with the underlying policies or not. I’m not sure that major breakthroughs in battery technology have happened since Li-ion. Tesla, I believe, get 350 miles out of their top of the range Model S by cramming more batteries in. And they’ll charge you another $50,000 for that benfit. The clever thing Tesla have done is to build the battery into the chassis – which may turn out to be a plague when it comes to recycling.
It might be noted that the lead from auto batteries is nearly 100% recycled. Also, it would be informative to include gasoline on those energy-density charts. And the carbon and hydrogen in gasoline get recycled, too.
Peak Lithium, citizens. Peak Lithium is just a few Sunday’s drives from here.
Not to worry, though. We have plenty of oil, gas, and coal to turn to when Gang Green comes to it’s senses, or gets locked up in peels.
I’m betting on locked up.
Here is the latest fear mongering about AGW that I’ve read today.
http://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/world/mysterious-craters-blowing-out-of-russia-could-mean-trouble-for-the-whole-planet/ar-AAp8jkG?li=AAggNb9&OCID=ansmsnnews11
Craters(later in the article they call them “sinkholes”) in Siberia, the Russia north.
The one in the photo looks awfully man-made alright. Machine bored in my opinion. First “sinkhole that I’ve ever seen that is “hilled” around the rim like you would get by pulling a big-ass auger out of the hole after the dump trucks had already carried the rest of the fill away and then sent the trucks away to do something useful.(or maybe they were sent to the next drill sight ahead of the big-ass auger rig)
now we all know that stupid is all there is left on this planet, why would one expect any rational thought from anyone. lithium, take two and call me in the morning, unless of course you brighten up.
My 25yo electric hedge trimmer (cord) died this summer. The bar was bent, thrashed, and stopped working. So I ended up replacing it with: http://www.sears.com/black-decker-20v-max-lithium-hedge-trimmer/p-07149779000P?plpSellerId=Sears&prdNo=4&blockNo=4&blockType=G4
OMG! Bless you Lithium strip-miners !! This thing simply kicks ass! It has cut (ha ha) my hedge clipping time in half. I even bought (a very expensive) reserve battery that will power this thing full tilt for 5-hours !! But make no mistake, I will NOT be driving this thing across the bay to visit my son in Silicon Valley. My kid doesn’t want me hanging around for 7-hours recharging my electric car for the journey home … praying that I won’t get stuck in a traffic jam.
But I wholeheartedly support all the Lithium strip miners … because lithim mining-GOOD … tar sands-BAD. You DID get that memo from the eco-Cabal ?
I had exactly this idea about lithium when everyone was talking peak oil and we were paying north of 120 a barrel for oil. I figured lithium would be a good investment so I found a company called Canadian Lithium with a mine and processing facility under construction in Quebec. They somehow managed to go bankrupt and I lost my investment. Was I too early or is this just a scam?
Euan,
Maybe you have it backward. A 10 fold increase in lithium demand will lead to an increase in prices. A 10 fold increase in price never happens before the increase in production.
There is a lot of lithium. There is much cobalt.
Dagnabit Euan. I should never be forced to watch World of Dance at gunpoint.
A 10 fold increase in price never happens before the increase in “demand”.
Ayn Rand would be annoyed (possibly with both of us).
You invested in Quebec, did you? I wouldn’t. Most corrupt province in Canada.
Did you ever hear about Bre-X?
Canadian stock exchange laws ain’t all that. Nobody ever went to jail for Bre-X.
http://www.businessinsider.com/bre-x-6-billion-gold-fraud-indonesia-2012-7/#michael-de-guzmana-filipino-geologist-was-struggling-to-get-recognition-from-his-employer-so-he-devised-a-plan-to-get-rich-1
I thought we hit “peak lithium” with Kurt Cobain…