Economics and politics finally have a nuclear bond.

[oil pan 4]

Not likely to be a problem as there are lithium and cobalt shortages making less than a million electric cars.
So even of build back broke succeed and they sell say 3x or 5x as many electric cars, like what countries are we going to invade to take their lithium and cobalt.

[Piotrsko]

There's more lithium in Nevada alone than all the projected world needs for the next 20 years. We even have a town named for the ore sitting on a mountain supposedly full of it. Byproduct of being a great salt ocean that dried up but it may be lower grade than the easy to extract stuff up in the north desert.

What there is not: a refining capacity to take that ore and make batteries. We sold our souls to the chinese for cheap 3rd world processing and eco whiners in Cali won't allow new smelter operations to start, not that I disagree with their concerns of post processing pollution.

[freebeard]

Story about obstructionism: Lithium found inside a US volcano -- Sky News Australia


news.slashdot.org/story/21/11/27/215246/will-a-lithium-rush-from-californias-salton-sea-fund-its-environmental-remediation

There's a polluted 343-square-mile lake known as "the Salton Sea," about 150 miles southeast of Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Times calls it California's "largest and most troubled lake," after a recent visit with biogeochemist Timothy Lyons.
[snip]
Now, large corporations investing in proposals to suck lithium out of the brine produced by local geothermal operations have revived hopes of jobs and revenue from land leases, with lithium recovery projects potentially supporting internships, education programs and environmental restoration projects for years to come.

[Piotrsko]

Forgot about the Salton Sea, but that just about doubles our lithium. So basically anywhere there has been a brine covered desert, you have lithium oxides.

Since the Salton Sea is basically an irrigation mistake, why is everyone so concerned about preserving it?

[freebeard]

It's a metaphor for CA as a whole?

The heavy metal dust gets air-lofted all over.

[aerohead]

I heard that it was:
Boutique, artisanal, all-natural, 100%-certified organic heavy metal!
Like their Fukushima Dai-ichi radioactive-laced wines.

[JSH]

Originally Posted by Piotrsko

Forgot about the Salton Sea, but that just about doubles our lithium. So basically anywhere there has been a brine covered desert, you have lithium oxides.

Since the Salton Sea is basically an irrigation mistake, why is everyone so concerned about preserving it?

Two basic reasons:

1. California has destroyed a lot of their other wetlands so the Salton Sea is important for migratory birds
2. If you let it dry up the surrounding area and beyond get hit with toxic dust storms.

[rmay635703]

Originally Posted by JSH

Two basic reasons:

1. California has destroyed a lot of their other wetlands so the Salton Sea is important for migratory birds
2. If you let it dry up the surrounding area and beyond get hit with toxic dust storms.

The ease of digging an aqueduct from the ocean to the below sea level Salton is far more simplistic than the dyke system in Louisiana,

Even though it’s simple in Engineering terms lots of rich not in my back yard individuals live within driving distance and would block and sue

Diverting ocean water there would have a multitude of environmental benefits and like the Dead Sea Would concentrate various valuable materials that could then be extracted.

Too bad you can’t immenint domain rich people, could save the area at much lower cost and effort than most engineering projects let alone the cost of a superfund sight.

[freebeard]

I've thought the same thing about Death Valley. But for impounding ponds of seawater to grow algae for biofuel.

Sounds like a job for the Boring Company.

[JSH]

Originally Posted by rmay635703

The ease of digging an aqueduct from the ocean to the below sea level Salton is far more simplistic than the dyke system in Louisiana,

Even though it’s simple in Engineering terms lots of rich not in my back yard individuals live within driving distance and would block and sue

Diverting ocean water there would have a multitude of environmental benefits and like the Dead Sea Would concentrate various valuable materials that could then be extracted.

Too bad you can’t immenint domain rich people, could save the area at much lower cost and effort than most engineering projects let alone the cost of a superfund sight.

Yes, simple technically - not simple politically or economically.

The best route is from the Gulf of California. That is 160 miles and 360 feet of elevation gain. But of course you need Mexico's OK.

Keeping the pipeline or aqueduct in the USA and running to the Pacific is 100 miles with 3600 feet of elevation gain.

Either way you need to move twice the amount of water carried by the Colorado River aqueduct.

Projected price is $50 Billion.