LITHIUM mining for electric vehicles is incredibly destructive to the environment and about as far from “green” as you can imagine

LITHIUM mining for electric vehicles is incredibly destructive to the environment and about as far from “green” as you can imagine

https://www.windtaskforce.org/profiles/blogs/lithium-mining-for-ele...

From NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT

By Paul Homewood

There’s nothing new here, but it acts as a good reminder of just how bad lithium mining is for the environment:


Electric vehicles are promoted as the “clean” solution for combating “climate change.”

Governments are currently subsidizing the production of electric vehicles, while punishing investments the fossil fuel industry.

However, lithium mining for electric vehicles is incredibly destructive to the environment, and is about as far from “green”as one could imagine.

Not to mention, most of the lithium-ion batteries produced today come from China with its minimal environment requirements.

The batteries require water-intensive mining operations that ravage natural environments throughout Australia, Argentina and Chile.

The process depletes ground water, and leaves behind toxic wastewater that contaminates fields and harms wildlife.

The mining process is not CO2-free, either. The mining process releases 15,000 kilograms of CO2, for every 2000 lbs of lithium that is extracted.

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There are serious environmental risks to extracting lithium for the production of lithium-ion batteries

When lithium is extracted from salt mines, the miners must drill into the salt flats and pump out a salty, mineral-rich brine.

The brine is placed in large pools, so the water can evaporate from the toxic mixture 

When the brine evaporates, it leaves behind a sludge of potassium, manganese, borax and lithium salts that must be filtered out further.

The process pollutes nearby aquifers and lowers the water table, interfering with water sources needed for agriculture 

The lithium extraction process takes several months, displaces valuable water resources, and leaves behind a toxic trail of wastewater in the local environment.

It takes approximately 500,000 gallons of water to produce 2000 lbs of unrefined, raw, lithium.

When mining companies head into countries like Chile, they use up a majority of the region’s water, unjustly affecting small farming communities.

According to the Institute of Energy Research, Chile’s Salar de Atacama is one of the driest places on Earth, yet the mining companies are allowed to use up 65% of the region’s water.

After the brine is removed from the salt flats, the water table automatically falls, disrupting the natural flow of water that is needed for wells and agriculture.

These large-scale disruptions can always be blamed on “climate change” as the lithium mining industry plunges ahead, with no regard for the environmental damage wrought in its wake.

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Water quality, wildlife populations, and crops all adversely affected by lithium mining

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The toxic chemicals, used to extract the brine, are ultimately discarded into the local environment, where they contaminate streams, crops, wildlife and local ecosystems.

The toxic chemicals, which include hydrochloric acid, leak from the evaporation pools and pollute the nearby water supply.

Additionally, the large open pit mines displace arsenic into the nearby streams and rivers, where it will eventually deposit into agricultural land and be taken up by the crops.

This downstream pollution is dangerous to wildlife, too.

For example, in May of 2016, the Liqi River was polluted by the Gangizhou Rongda Lithium mine. The river turned up with dead fish, yak and cows.

The lithium mining operation in Salar de Atacama displaces more than 1,700 liters of lithium-rich brine every second of operation.

This causes the lakes to shrink, killing off local flamingo populations that depend on the basin to eat and breed.

In Argentina, lithium mining caused noticeable contamination of nearby streams that were used to feed livestock and irrigate crops.

The residents of Salar de Hombre Muerto noticed that the groundwater flow had changed, causing water resources to disappear.

They also noticed freshwater was contaminated with salty brine, destabilizing the local ecosystems and negatively affecting bird migration and llama populations — which the indigenous communities depend upon for economic survival.

“Like any mining process, it is invasive, it scars the landscape, it destroys the water table, and it pollutes the earth and the local wells,” said Guillermo Gonzales, who spoke about the issues with lithium from the University of Chile back in 2009. “This isn’t a green solution – it’s not a solution at all.”

https://www.naturalnews.com/2022-09-21-lithium-mining-for-electric-...

It is one of the great mysteries why the green movement in general is not actively campaigning against this.

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Comment by Dan McKay on October 16, 2022 at 6:26am

Freshman chemistry lesson: Lithium combined with water + disaster

 

Maine as Third World Country:

CMP Transmission Rate Skyrockets 19.6% Due to Wind Power

 

Click here to read how the Maine ratepayer has been sold down the river by the Angus King cabal.

Maine Center For Public Interest Reporting – Three Part Series: A CRITICAL LOOK AT MAINE’S WIND ACT

******** IF LINKS BELOW DON'T WORK, GOOGLE THEM*********

(excerpts) From Part 1 – On Maine’s Wind Law “Once the committee passed the wind energy bill on to the full House and Senate, lawmakers there didn’t even debate it. They passed it unanimously and with no discussion. House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, a Democrat from North Haven, says legislators probably didn’t know how many turbines would be constructed in Maine if the law’s goals were met." . – Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting, August 2010 https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/wind-power-bandwagon-hits-bumps-in-the-road-3/From Part 2 – On Wind and Oil Yet using wind energy doesn’t lower dependence on imported foreign oil. That’s because the majority of imported oil in Maine is used for heating and transportation. And switching our dependence from foreign oil to Maine-produced electricity isn’t likely to happen very soon, says Bartlett. “Right now, people can’t switch to electric cars and heating – if they did, we’d be in trouble.” So was one of the fundamental premises of the task force false, or at least misleading?" https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/wind-swept-task-force-set-the-rules/From Part 3 – On Wind-Required New Transmission Lines Finally, the building of enormous, high-voltage transmission lines that the regional electricity system operator says are required to move substantial amounts of wind power to markets south of Maine was never even discussed by the task force – an omission that Mills said will come to haunt the state.“If you try to put 2,500 or 3,000 megawatts in northern or eastern Maine – oh, my god, try to build the transmission!” said Mills. “It’s not just the towers, it’s the lines – that’s when I begin to think that the goal is a little farfetched.” https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/flaws-in-bill-like-skating-with-dull-skates/

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Hannah Pingree on the Maine expedited wind law

Hannah Pingree - Director of Maine's Office of Innovation and the Future

"Once the committee passed the wind energy bill on to the full House and Senate, lawmakers there didn’t even debate it. They passed it unanimously and with no discussion. House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, a Democrat from North Haven, says legislators probably didn’t know how many turbines would be constructed in Maine."

https://pinetreewatch.org/wind-power-bandwagon-hits-bumps-in-the-road-3/

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