Lithium has become one of the hottest sectors in the Australian stock market. Pilbara Minerals, Core Lithium, Mineral Resources – these are some of the companies that have captured the imagination of investors. And it’s not hard to understand why – lithium is a key mineral for our renewable energy transition. Based on our current battery technology, if you want to store electricity you want to use a lithium-ion battery. Storing renewable energy, charging an electric vehicle, building an electric bike or scooter, powering an electric appliance – you need lithium.
And Australia has become the world’s biggest lithium producer. In fact, Australia produces more lithium than the next three countries combined (Chile, China and Argentina). This article from the BBC looks at how Australia became the world’s major lithium supplier.
The article also explores a key question at the heart of our renewable energy transition – how can we mine lithium sustainably? And compares two different ways the world mines lithium – from hard rock like in Australia and from brine pits like in China and Argentina.
By 2040, the International Energy Agency expects demand for lithium to grow more than 40 times if the world is to meet its Paris Climate Agreement goals. So the world is going to need to grapple with the sustainability of lithium mining as it quickly scales lithium production around the world.
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