Lithium critical to the energy transition is coming at the expense of water
Lithium needed for batteries that power electric vehicles and store electricity from renewable energy projects is likely to deplete—and in some cases, contaminate—local water supplies, according to a new paper published this week. … And at the Salton Sea in California, often referred to as Lithium Valley due to its potential to provide enough of the mineral by itself to support the nation’s energy transition, local community groups and environmentalists have sued to try to stop a [Direct Lithium Extraction] site on the verge of beginning operation. They claim county officials conducted an inadequate study of the project’s impacts on the area’s freshwater supply. Much of what is needed for the project will come from the declining Colorado River.
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