Posted on 08/10/2022 10:56:42 AM PDT by rktman
HUMBOLDT COUNTY, Nevada—Deep below the tangled roots of the old-growth sagebrush of Thacker Pass, in an extinct super-volcano, lies one of the world’s largest deposits of lithium—a key element for the transition to clean energy. But above ground, a cluster of tents has risen in the Northern Nevada desert where, for eight months, environmental and tribal activists are protesting plans to mine it for “green” technologies.
“We are not leaving until this project is canceled,” said Max Wilbert, of the Protect Thacker Pass campaign. “If need be, this will come down to direct action. We mean to put ourselves in between the machines and this place.”
Plans to dig for the element known as “white gold” have encountered a surge of resistance from tribes, ranchers, residents and activists who say they believe the repercussions of the mine will outweigh the lithium’s contributions to the nation’s transition to less-polluting energy sources than fossil fuels.
(Excerpt) Read more at insideclimatenews.org ...
How much fossil fuel does it take to operate a strip mine? Those huge dump trucks don’t run on water.
How much fossil fuel does it take to operate a strip mine? Those huge dump trucks don’t run on water.
Elon Musk’s former consigliere, J. B. Straubel, left Tesla to start a battery recycling operation in Nevada.
Redwood Materials
I’m thinking there will be some serious govt gravy dished out to these outfits in a few years as the aged out battery packs start piling up.
One thing that seems do-able is repurpose of the used EV batteries for non-EV use. For example, when I was buying the components for my home solar system, I considered buying used EV batteries to use for my home solar storage. If the EV use is vamped up as much as the Dims want it to be, then 10 years from now there will be way more used EV batteries that can be used for other purposes like I just suggested. But if EV demand in the near future is like it is in the recent past, then maybe 10 years from now the used EV batteries can mostly be put to other uses in a practical manner to at least get more use out of them (before eventually disposing them as the horrible waste hazards they are). That doesn't remove them from eventually being a disposable hazard. It just means we get more use out of them before doing it (perhaps making the waste worth it).
Oh how rich. Like so many libs, poor children in Asia, Africa, and other 3rd world countries will have to mine for pennies a week to make their 80k cars. But its NIMBY once it is suggested to mine it ourselves.
Liberals are a walking contradiction - circular contradictions spiraling in on themselves
Uh, make fire starters from the scraps? 🌋.
Dinosaur. Taste like chicken.
Brought to you by the same folks that don’t want us to use our own oil, but it’s OK to pay terrorists for their much dirtier oil.
Ironic that basically the same people that want everyone driving electric cars are the same people that don’t want to mine for the necessary lithium. Hypocrites much?
Actually most of those people don’t want you driving ANYTHING. They want you crowded into large cities and using public transportation.
...and further, it is out in the desert with near zero population.
Sounds like the perfect setting for bringing in a crew of braceros...
They don’t want peons like you and me driving gas/diesel cars.
They don’t want peons like you and me driving electric cars.
It’s pretty obvious what they do want ...
Sounds like an opportunity.
Cobalt is largely a by-product from large copper-nickel mines and mined by very large shovels and trucks. I know it is fun to pretend, but it destroys credibility.
What happens to the Lithium over the lifetime of the battery?
Is the Li in crystalline form? Is the crystal damaged over time resulting in high resistivity?
Can the Li then be melted and regrown into new crystalline material?
Old growth sagebrush is like 15 years.
Think “RED” at Virginia and Plum. Live here, buy here, die here.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.