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Time line: You will have 2 weeks to complete the on-line discussion as a team. Use this blog to capture your thoughts, perspectives, ideas, and revisions as you work together on this problem. This activity is discussion-based, meaning you will participate through a collaborative exchange and critique of each other’s ideas and work. The goal is to challenge and support one another as a team to tap your collective resources and experiences to dig more deeply into the issue(s) raised in the scenario. Since the idea is that everyone in the discussion will refine his/her ideas through the discussion that develops, you should try to respond well before the activity ends so that the discussion has time to mature. It is important to make your initial posts and subsequent responses in a timely manner. You are expected to make multiple posts during each stage of this on-going discussion. The timeline below suggests how to pace your discussion. This is just a suggestion. Feel free to pace the discussion as you see fit.
Tuesday Week 1 Initial Posts: All participants post initial responses to these instructions (see below) and the scenario.
Thursday Week 1 Response Posts: Participants respond by tying together information and perspectives on important points and possible approaches. Participants identify gaps in information and seek to fill those gaps.
Tuesday Week 2 Refine Posts: Participants work toward agreement on what is most important, determine what they still need to find out, & evaluate one or more approaches from the previous week’s discussion.
Thursday Week 2 Polish Final Posts: Participants come to an agreement on what is most important, and propose one or more approaches to address the issue/s.
Discussion Instructions
Imagine that you are a team of engineers working together for a company or organization to address the issue raised in the scenario. Discuss what your team would need to take into consideration to begin to address the issue. You do not need to suggest specific technical solutions, but identify the most important factors and suggest one or more viable approaches.
Suggestions for discussion topics
• Identify the primary and secondary problems raised in the scenario.
• Who are the major stakeholders and what are their perspectives?
• What outside resources (people, literature/references, and technologies) could be engaged in developing viable approaches?
• Identify related contemporary issues.
• Brainstorm a number of feasible approaches to address the issue.
• Consider the following contexts: economic, environmental, cultural/societal, and global. What impacts would the approaches you brainstormed have on these contexts?
• Come to agreement on one or more viable approaches and state the rationale.
Lithium mining for lithium-ion electrical vehicle batteries
The US government is investing heavily in sustainable resource research and development in order to decrease national oil consumption, and automotive industries around the world are competing in a global race for “sustainable mobility”. There were about 52 million total vehicles produced in the world in 2009, and replacing a significant amount of them with highly electrified vehicles poses a major challenge. The state of California is targeting 1 million electric vehicles (EVs) on its streets by 2020. By that same date, Nissan forecasts that EVs will become 10% of all global sales.
Battery technology is currently the major bottleneck in EV design. In 2009, President Obama announced $2.4 billion in grants to accelerate the manufacturing and deployment of next generation batteries and EVs. Lithium-ion batteries are the first choice for the emerging EV generation, (the Chevy Volt, the Volvo C30, the Nissan Leaf), because they feature high power density, manageable operating temperatures, and are relatively easy to recharge on the grid.
In spite of its potential, lithium may not be the answer to the EV battery challenge. Lithium, which is recovered from lithium carbonate (Li2CO3), is not an unlimited resource. Lithium-based batteries are already used in almost all portable computers, cell phones and small appliances. Utility-scale lithium-based energy storage devices are in the works for smart grid applications, such as balancing energy supply-demand fluctuations. Lithium is also extensively used in a number of processes we take for granted: the manufacturing of glass, grits, greases and aluminum, among others. This makes accurate estimations of future demand in relation to resource availability almost impossible.
According to Meridian International Research, an independent renewable-energy think tank, there is insufficient recoverable lithium in the earth's crust to sustain electric vehicle manufacture based on Li-ion batteries in the volumes required by the mass market. Lithium depletion rates would exceed current oil depletion rates, potentially switching dependency from one diminishing resource to another. The United States Geological Survey reports that the Salar de Uyuni salt pans of Bolivia contain the largest untapped reserve of lithium in the world – an estimated 5.4 million metric tons or almost 50% of the global lithium reserve base. Other estimates put the Bolivian resource as high as 9 million metric tons. Bolivian president, Evo Morales, has consistently rejected bids by Mitsubishi and Toyota to mine lithium in his country and has announced plans to develop a state-controlled lithium mining operation. Prices of lithium carbonate (Li2CO3) have more than doubled since 2004. Lithium batteries are costly, too; battery packs for vehicles cost upwards of $20,000 alone, driving up the overall cost.
Lithium CAN be recycled, but there is little existing infrastructure. In 2009, a California company, Toxco Waste Management, received $9.5 million in grants from the US Department of Energy to help build the first US-based facility for recycling lithium batteries in anticipation of demand.
How much lithium is needed to power an electric vehicle?
Energy requirements………………………..16 kilowatt hours (specified for Chevy Volt)
Lithium estimates per kWh……………….0.431 kg (US Department of Transportation estimate)
Total lithium for one Chevy Volt……….6.86 kg
Total Li2CO3 for one Chevy Volt ......... 36.5 kg
Total Li2CO3 one million PHEVs ..........36,500 metric tons
Sources
Lithium Dreams: Can Bolivia Become the Saudi Arabia of the Electric-Car Era? (March 22, 2010). The New Yorker.
Lithium Largesse? (August 2009). American Ceramic Society Bulletin.
US Department of Energy, Press Release. (August 5, 2009)
Bolivia’s Lithium Mining Dilemma. (September 8, 2008) BBC News.
The Trouble with Lithium: Implications of Future PHEV Production for Lithium Demand. (2007). Meridian International Research.
Lithium-ion batteries seem to be the best choice for powering our cars more 'cleanly' in the future. Car manufacturers around the world are beginning to put out vehicles that rely on lithium-ion batteries for fuel. Traditional fossil fuels are slowly becoming a fuel of the past. But there are some important questions to consider, like "are lithium-ion batteries actually sustainable?", and "what other fuels can we use instead of fossil fuels in cars?". These and other important questions will need to be addressed in order for us to move towards a solution to this on-going issue. I guess the first thing that needs to be done is to define and understand the problem. In my opinion the biggest issue is determining if lithium is actually a sustainable source of energy for cars (as well as manufacturing, etc). And if it is, can it be recycled better? can it be disposed of cleanly? I guess this is a good place to start. More research needs to be done in order to begin to understand the full scope of this topic, but I thought I would try and get the ball rolling.
ReplyDeleteLithium batteries have a design life of roughly 8-10 years before they wear out. This provides an upcoming opportunity for a battery recycling industry to step forward to process the increasing quantity of battery waste as the batteries in older hybrid cars reach the end of their design life. Toxco is a battery recycling company in Trail, British Columbia. They process all types of batteries including Lithium types. However, industrial safety concerns arise when dealing with hazardous chemicals such as lithium, which reacts violently with water at room temperature. This video is of a lithium fire at the Toxco Facility in British Columbia (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfQwYKqmfk4). As this industry is fairly new, it is possible that we do not fully understand all of the safety risks. It is practice that lithium fires are not doused with water, as explosions can result. A short article on the fire can be found here (http://www.impomag.com/scripts/ShowPR.asp?PUBCODE=032&ACCT=0000100&ISSUE=1001&RELTYPE=PR&PRODCODE=0000&PRODLETT=BW&CommonCount=0). This industry has growing potential to make lots of money as the recycling of lithium and other hazardous materials from batters will grow with supply in the near future. However, if safety practices are not set up and followed, it will cost the company money in government fines as well as possibly permanently affect the local environment.
ReplyDeleteI believe Lithium is just a bandaid until we can come up with a more efficient way of powering our vehicles. It's just like fossil fuel, it was another resource we used until another method was made which is now lithium batteries. Lithium batteries will slowly fade away like fossil fuel did. We will need to come up with another way before fossil fuel and lithium is completely depleted or form a recycling plant that will take lithium and somehow break it down to some other form of energy. For example, breaking them down into small rechargeable AA or AAA batteries. The life span of these lithium batteries is around 10 years so we have ten years to come up with a plan to recycle these lithium before we start mining these lithium batteries. It will save us a dollar now but it will hurt us in the long run. A more efficient public transportation should be developed rather than making more trash in the future and be stuck coming up with a solution.
ReplyDeleteI would have to agree with Jared regarding the situation with recycling industry. If the industry maintains high safety practices it has the potential to make a considerable amount of money. Toxco has an established and patented process of recycling Lithium batteries, by cooling the batteries to -325 F they render the Lithium inert. They then shear off materials, form stable compounds of electrolytes, convert lithium components to lithium carbonate to resell, and recycle any additional metals and plastics. Operations are all done remotely to protect their employees.
ReplyDeleteThese measures are certainly the steps needed in other Lithium recycling plants built to handle the large number of aging electric cars and subsequent batteries.
All of these measures necessary to convert our gas addicted society to lithium ion powered electric vehicles will not be as worthwhile if lithium carbonate is as limited as some believe. If Bolivia really does contain the 5,400,000 or greater tons of lithium(50% of the estimated global lithium reserve base) and also controls the dispersion of it as they are looking to do, mass market opportunities will be reduced even more. As mentioned above, the depletion rates of Lithium would be greater than depletion rates of oil, and Meridian International Research believes a rate of 1 million tons of Lithium carbonate a year could be needed to support future demands. This amount would total a little under 2% of the lithium carbonate global reserve base per year. The thought of depleting the entire reserve in 50 years bolsters my initial belief that lithium isn't acting as anything more than a buffer for a sustainable technology to be developed.
Let's just re-iterate some of the issues discussed thus far with Lithium:
ReplyDelete- Li reacts violently with water, or even the air itself, and needs to be rendered inert before it can be handled safely.
- Meridian International Research claims that there isn't enough Li in the Earth's crust to meet the demands required by the mass market.
- Nearly half of the world's Li supply is in Bolivia, and President Morales is refusing multiple bids to mine in his country.
- The rate at which Li would need to be mined would outstrip the depletion rate of oil, and we'd only switch from one non-renewable source to another.
Each one of these issues only seems to add to the price tag of Li-ion batteries. President Morales' decision to restrict half of the world Lithium supply may deal a crippling blow to the cost of production, but when we also factor in the yearly requirements (as Dan pointed out, Meridian estimates 1 million metric tons of Li2CO3 per year is needed), the prospect is considerably less attractive than at first glance.
Another problem with Lithium is that it does not shift the United State's dependence on foreign energy sources. One of the positives to electric vehicles is that the united states makes lots of electricity locally, whether by burning coal in the east or hydro-electric dams in the west. If we have to buy Lithium on a competitive market, the future will not be cheap. China's economy is growing by the day, and is predicted to catch up to the United States sometime in the next generation. To compete for resources will not be good for the united states. Also, the Bolivian government will control Lithium pricing, probably similar to how OPEC controls oil. Lithium does not seem to have a lot of things going for it in the long run.
ReplyDeleteI think in the end, everything is driven by money. But what is money when all of the world's resources are gone. President Morales is smart of refusing the bids from those car companies. We need to come up with solutions with what we are dealing with the current Lithium batteries we have. A huge research project needs to be assembles so we can start "recycling" lithium. Maybe we need to increase public transportation rather than "depend" on President Morales' lithium. No matter what the price is, our country is known to get what we want.
ReplyDeleteI think that we can all agree that Lithium seems to be the best choice for powering electric cars at this point, but it is certainly not a permanent solution to the overall energy issue. We should continue funding Lithium battery research in both the automobile and recycling areas. It appears that for now the next generation of cars will utilize existing Lithium technology, I just hope that its not at the expense of the "average Joe" who just needs to get to work every day. We should focus on advancing the technology before we attempt to mass replace cars that run on gas with Lithium powered cars. Otherwise, we run the risk of making the transition difficult and expensive which is not another "speed bump" that our economy, or the world's economy needs at the moment.
ReplyDeleteI agree that funding research into making a more efficient lithium battery is important. The energy density of a lithium battery needs to be optimized to most efficiently use the available lithium. For example, research at Stanford has produced advancements in Li-ion battery construction (http://news.stanford.edu/news/2008/january9/nanowire-010908.html). It is necessary to advance the current technologies and to research other methods to cope with the evolving need for greater energy usage as the fossil fuel supplies dwindle.
ReplyDeleteI guess my first comment never posted due to lenght maybe. I'll try again.
ReplyDeleteInitial thought when looking at the numbers.
ReplyDeleteThe amount of EVs that can be produced only based off the Bolivian estimates is 147.9 to 246.6 million cars. The US alone produces 52 million cars a year. So if the US switched strictly to making EVs the lithium would last 2.8 to 4.7 years. That is not long at all meaning we would have to go back to gasoline powered cars in no time. I do understand that it’s not possible to make such a drastic change in the ways cars are produced as well as is very limited on the amount of lithium that can be supplied per year. Also keep in mind this is only based on the US and does not factor in other countries that might be producing EVs. Continuing on though, if the US produced a quarter of the 52 million cars as EV, meaning 13 million cars, than the lithium would last 11 to 19 years. This is a bit longer but still we are never getting away from gasoline powered cars and we have consumed the estimated 50% of the lithium in the world assuming that it all went to EV production.
The costs along is quite interesting to look at. Based off of the $20,000 per car for batteries means that it would cost 3 to 4.9 trillion dollars in batteries alone to produce the 147.9 to 246.6 million cars as mention above. That is a lot of money and assumes that the price stays constant for lithium which won’t be the case as well. The cost of lithium goes much like the cost of gasoline where the majority of the amount available is controlled by a small group or country for example. Since lithium can’t be mined just anywhere I’m sure Bolivia is going to guard the amount it controls and also at the same time control the supply and demand of lithium thus allowing them to control the price and drive it up as pleased. Battery costs alone could be driving up so high that nobody can afford an EV. That leaves us back to gasoline as our only choice for car production.
ReplyDeleteBy only making EV, this has the benefit of reducing our demand for oil which in turn can help bring down the cost of oil, which is a positive, but also at the same time increases our demand for lithium which is already costly to produce batteries for the EV. What has to be found is a balance between the cost of lithium batteries and gasoline while managing our resources.
ReplyDeleteHere is the direction I think the US should go. Hybrid cars seem to offer the best of both worlds. Gasoline engines have become more efficient than ever and when coupled to charging batteries and using electric motors seems to yield the highest gas mileage and provide the range of driving we’ve come accustom to. EVs have the problem of using more batteries and so far provide a much smaller range than the gasoline engines along with longer times to charge them back up. By using hybrids we can use smaller battery packages per car which increase the amount of cars that can produce while also keeping our demand lower for lithium. With battery power first being used before turning on the gasoline engine to charge the batteries we also reduce our consumption of gasoline and our demand as well. This helps provide us with a balance between the two resources being consumed rather than only relying on one.
Second Post
ReplyDeleteI think it’s safe to say that for the amount of people that are in this world and the amount of Lithium the earth can provide we’ll never have 100% electric cars on the road. We’d have to use well over 50% of the earth supply of Lithium just to have the US have all electric cars, which doesn’t include other countries. I think before you know it when there is a sudden huge demand for Lithium, like the amount needed to produce cars, the price will sky rocket and would never be cost effective.
Lithium and 100% electric cars in my opinion will never be the answer. There is just not enough resource to go around meeting the demand. Sure more research needs to be done and more optimization of lithium batteries energy output should be done as well but you’ll still never reach the demand. You’d have to figure out a way to cut the amount of Lithium to make 1 electric car by more than half.
Like I’ve said before I think hybrids are the way to go for reasons stated above and my other posts. To continue on with that though I think more needs to be done on just increasing the overall effectiveness of a car itself. Aerodynamics and weight is what was kills a cars performance. A gasoline engine spends most of its power output just to get your 4,000 pound vehicle going while at cruising speeds need far less horsepower to maintain 60 mph. So with that said why are with throwing more and more weight into a car in the form of batteries? With more modern computer controls on cars that do things such as cylinder cut off to reduce fuel at cruising speed is a positive step in the right direction. What I would like to see is the use of composite materials along with hybrid cars to start reducing the weight of cars which correlates to less power needed over all. I think that is the direction we need to go.
ReplyDelete