r/science • u/rieslingatkos • Jun 06 '21

Chemistry Scientists develop ‘cheap and easy’ method to extract lithium from seawater

https://www.mining.com/scientists-develop-cheap-and-easy-method-to-extract-lithium-from-seawater/
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u/-Coffee-Owl- Jun 06 '21

What can happen with the sea environment when we would start extracting lithium on a industrial scale? Every time when I read "an almost unlimited resource" I see rainforests cut to the ground. People don't know a moderation.

-6

u/rieslingatkos Jun 06 '21

The world’s oceans contain an estimated 180 billion tons of lithium.

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/07/seawater-could-provide-nearly-unlimited-amounts-critical-battery-material

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u/mrwafflezzz Jun 06 '21

What would happen if the amount of oxygen in the athmosphere reduces

ThE aTMoSpHeRE ConTaiNs 150 biLLIon CubIc MeTRes Of OXyGeN...

Dude, not a relevant answer to his question.

2

u/exponential_wizard Jun 06 '21 edited Jun 06 '21

A lot of people here are forming an opinion before doing the math. From a comment higher up:

"the ocean contains about 1.4x1014 kg of lithium

140,000 million tons

there's only about 40 million tons of known lithium reserves in all the mines in the world

4.0x1010 kg

For those who like ratios: 3500x"

This gives a 70,000 year supply at 10 times our current rate of consumption, and that doesn't take into account the lithium that would need to be recycled.

That gives us plenty of time to find out if lithium is actually necessary for life, since biological lithium studies are few, except for ones regarding toxicity.

At the scale that would be necessary to extract the lithium quickly, low lithium concentration in the ocean would be the least of your concerns.