What On Earth: As EV batteries consume more lithium, report warns against increased mining of it – by Jason Vermes (CBC Radio – February 25, 2023)

https://www.cbc.ca/radio/whatonearth/

Reducing reliance on personal vehicles, more public transit can cut emissions faster: author

The growing need for lithium — a mined metal used in batteries to power electric vehicles (EVs) — could have significant international environmental and social impacts if the U.S. doesn’t reimagine its transportation policy, according to a recent report.

Lithium, listed as a “critical mineral” by several governments and agencies, is an integral part of the transition away from fossil fuels. While demand is exploding because of EVs, it’s also used in batteries for energy storage systems, and smaller products like smartphone and e-bike batteries.

Targets in the U.S. call for half of all new vehicles sold to be electric by 2030. Canada’s plan is even more ambitious, with 60 per cent electrified sales of new vehicles by 2030 — and 100 per cent fully-electric by 2035.

Efforts to replace fuel-powered cars with electrified versions, without reimagining public and active transport infrastructure programs, however, would require three times the current global production of lithium for the U.S. alone, says Thea Riofrancos.

For the rest of this article: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/whatonearth/lithium-mining-report-transit-1.6755418