America Just Hit the Lithium Jackpot – The Atlantic

Source: America Just Hit the Lithium Jackpot – The Atlantic

…

On our planet, humanity has lived through a succession of metal ages: copper, bronze, iron. We are now living in a lithium age. The mineral goes into the batteries that power smartphones and electric vehicles, and much more of it will be needed for the futuristic batteries that will store renewable energy after humanity transitions away from fossil fuels. Now that we have learned how to derive electricity from light that beams down from the sun, and wind that rushes over Earth’s surface, and water that flows through rivers, we need somewhere to store it, and nothing stores electricity quite like lithium.

If current technological trends continue apace, lithium could one day be as important to a nation’s economy as steel was during the 20th century. China seems to have foreseen this coming surge in demand well before America’s energy companies or policy makers did. Chinese companies have discovered large lithium deposits in the arid Qinghai province, northeast of Tibet, while mineral processors are buying up lithium ore from mines in Australia, Chile, and Bolivia. The new deposit in Nevada could eventually shift that balance of power, but it won’t be out of the ground and inside batteries manufactured in America for a long time.