Hybrid Electric Vehicles

[Kirkhill]

Meanwhile, there's a new gold rush in California....

'Lithium Valley' may provide California with its next gold rush​

The auto industry is introducing fleets of electric vehicles that will be powered by lithium-ion batteries and while the U.S. has massive quantities of lithium locked underground, companies have been slow to invest in mining and extraction.

That's about to change. Lithium operations powered by clean energy are being developed in California, near the Salton Sea. Just like California's 1849 Gold Rush, companies are racing to strike it rich in a region some are now calling Lithium Valley.

Eric Spomer is president and CEO of EnergySource Minerals, a company focused on recovering lithium from the region's geothermal brine.

"When you hear estimates of how big this resource could be, it's usually measured on annual tons produced. And we're confident that this is in excess of 300,000 tons a year," said Spomer. "Right now, that's way more than half of the world supply of lithium."

EnergySource Minerals is steaming ahead with plans to build a lithium facility, which Spomer said could be ready for commercial use by 2025.

'Lithium Valley' may provide California with its next gold rush

As demand for electric vehicles grows, companies are racing to develop what's being called Lithium Valley in California, with plans to extract the metal to power batteries.

www.cbsnews.com

And they complained about us moving some oily dirt about....

But they will allow holes like this to be dug?

Or this?

Looks like a coal mine to me.

 

[daftandbarmy]

And they complained about us moving some oily dirt about....

But they will allow holes like this to be dug?

Or this?

Looks like a coal mine to me.

They won't have to dig holes as they're using a chemical extraction process, it seems...


Traditionally, lithium extraction involves either open-pit mining or evaporation ponds, which work by pumping lithium-containing brine to the surface and waiting for the water to dry up. Both of these methods have huge land footprints, are often very water intensive and can create a lot of contamination and waste.

But at the Salton Sea, three companies are developing chemical processes to extract lithium in a much cleaner way, taking advantage of the Salton Sea’s rich geothermal resources. Near the lake, there are already 11 operating geothermal power plants, 10 of which are owned by Berkshire Hathaway’s renewable energy division, BHE Renewables.

The Salton Sea could produce the world's greenest lithium, if new extraction technologies work

Amid the shrinking, toxic Salton Sea, there's enough lithium to meet the United States' entire projected demand and fuel the electric-vehicle revolution.

www.cnbc.com

 

[FSTO]

Here is a pretty good video explaining the problems with EV fires.

Why Tesla Fires are Impossible to Put Out ​

And this one looks at some of the issues that our politicians/car manufactures/environmentalists are brushing aside.

EVs' Serious Problems That Carmakers Are Hiding​

EV’s, this generation’s Ford Pintos?

 

[OldSolduer]

They won't have to dig holes as they're using a chemical extraction process, it seems...


Traditionally, lithium extraction involves either open-pit mining or evaporation ponds, which work by pumping lithium-containing brine to the surface and waiting for the water to dry up. Both of these methods have huge land footprints, are often very water intensive and can create a lot of contamination and waste.

But at the Salton Sea, three companies are developing chemical processes to extract lithium in a much cleaner way, taking advantage of the Salton Sea’s rich geothermal resources. Near the lake, there are already 11 operating geothermal power plants, 10 of which are owned by Berkshire Hathaway’s renewable energy division, BHE Renewables.

The Salton Sea could produce the world's greenest lithium, if new extraction technologies work

Amid the shrinking, toxic Salton Sea, there's enough lithium to meet the United States' entire projected demand and fuel the electric-vehicle revolution.

www.cnbc.com

Good synopsis - are the enviro weenies on board with this? They objected to fracking - which has merit - but not to this?

 

[Navy_Pete]

Good synopsis - are the enviro weenies on board with this? They objected to fracking - which has merit - but not to this?

Don't forget EV cars are still heavily reliant on petrochemicals, they just don't burn gas. Even if you get rid of all the ICEs, you still need oil for the vehicles and infrastructure.

Some interesting things happening with turning genetically modified bacteria into making the base chemicals though, so you could 'grow' oil instead of extracting it, but not sure if it would have the same mix for things like tar (which is a by product from refining into lighter oils).

 

[Brad Sallows]

Next up, mutant intelligent sludge oozing out of the crevices into your body and colonizing your mind.

 

[daftandbarmy]

Meanwhile, in Texas....

Elon Musk and Tesla break ground on massive Texas lithium refinery​

SAN FRANCISCO, May 8 (Reuters) - Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) on Monday broke ground on a Texas lithium refinery that CEO Elon Musk said should produce enough of the battery metal to build about 1 million electric vehicles (EVs) by 2025, making it the largest North American processor of the material.

The facility will push Tesla outside its core focus of building automobiles and into the complex area of lithium refining and processing, a step Musk said was necessary if the auto giant was to meet its ambitious EV sales targets.

"As we look ahead a few years, a fundamental choke point in the advancement of electric vehicles is the availability of battery grade lithium," Musk said at the ground-breaking ceremony on Monday, with dozers and other earth-moving equipment operating in the background.

Musk said Tesla aimed to finish construction of the factory next year and then reach full production about a year later.

The move will make Tesla the only major automaker in North America that will refine its own lithium. Currently, China dominates the processing of many critical minerals, including lithium.

Elon Musk and Tesla break ground on massive Texas lithium refinery

Tesla Inc on Monday broke ground on a Texas lithium refinery that CEO Elon Musk said should produce enough of the battery metal to build about 1 million electric vehicles (EVs) by 2025, making it the largest North American processor of the material.

www.reuters.com

 

[Fishbone Jones]

Good synopsis - are the enviro weenies on board with this? They objected to fracking - which has merit - but not to this?

It supports their no fossil fuel agenda, so it really doesn't matter how much damage new mining projects cause. Saving mother nature is just something they talk about. It is not a real or serious part of their platform. Shutting down an industry is.

 

[SeaKingTacco]

Well, well, well.

Warren Buffett, again.

Isn’t that convenient

 

[OldSolduer]

Next up, mutant intelligent sludge oozing out of the crevices into your body and colonizing your mind.

Judging by some of the stupidity I’ve seen in this world it’s been around a while

 

[Navy_Pete]

Judging by some of the stupidity I’ve seen in this world it’s been around a while

Maybe it should be a standard joke, similar to a spinal cord removal with certain promotions?

I would like to think an intelligent mutant ooze frozen under polar ice would take a look around and head back down. SImilarly UFO sightings have dropped off because humanity is a bit of a self destructive dumpster fire with enough destructive power to turn the planet into a nuclear wasteland many times over. Life would survive, we wouldn't, but if I was in a space ship I'd keep a safe standoff distance.