Elon Musk sends Powerwalls to Puerto Rico

[jakobnev]

You over draw the batteries once and they are finished, or their capacity is severely damaged.

So don't do that.

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by oil pan 4

Supposedly lithium batteries are largely not recycled, since they are non toxic and the raw materials are much cheaper than recycling.

Or perhaps there just aren't enough worn-out lithium batteries yet to make recycling viable? Especially when you consider that most to date are small ones used in phones & laptops, which either get tossed, given away, or sit on a shelf when replaced with a newer model. Whereas just about every car has a big lead-acid battery that a) lasts maybe 4-5 years, and b) in many places, has an automatic exchange & core value when you replace it.

[oil pan 4]

Not likely.
The non toxic and abundant nature of lithium might mean no need to recycle.
If it takes more energy, costs more money and produces more CO2 than mining new lithium, why bother?

[BLSTIC]

Wait, aren't the pro-coal-roll people saying that lithium batteries are really... bad... to make?

I would like to be educated on this topic

[JockoT]

There is only 63 kg of Lithium in a 453 kg Tesla battery (14%).

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by BLSTIC

Wait, aren't the pro-coal-roll people saying that lithium batteries are really... bad... to make?

I'm favorable to Diesel engines, and sometimes critic of what I see as unrealistic emission regulations, but I don't advocate for coal-rolling. When it comes to batteries, even though lithium does have a higher energy density, which is desirable for a hybrid or an electric car, it may not be a top-tier priority in a stationary application like the one that's been the subject of this thread.

[oil pan 4]

It depends on the type of lithium battery.
If the battery is doped with rare earth elements then yeah they are pretty bad for the environment. The way these elements are mined uses and produces a lot of really nasty chemical wastes and of every pound of rare earth elements brought to the surface at least a pound of useless radio active elements are brought up too.
Now batteries may or may not use these elements but solar panels do.

[JockoT]

Chile has the worlds confirmed biggest reserves of Lithium, estimated at 7.5 million tons. It is in brines, below the surface of salt flats. It is not expensive to extract.
The global production of lithium is to triple this decade, from 200,000 tons in the year 2000 to over 600,000 tons in 2020. Mining lithium metal is not expensive, especially at high mountain plateaus, where lithium is collected from brine ponds evaporated by the sun. Brine excavation is probably the only lithium extraction technology widely used today, as actual mining of lithium ores is much more expensive and has been priced out of the market.
Identified lithium resources total 5.5 million tons in the United States and approximately 34 million tons in other countries, so lithium is not, in fact, a rare commodity. Identified lithium resources for Bolivia and Chile are 9 million tons and in excess of 7.5 million tons, respectively. Identified lithium resources for Argentina, China, and Australia are 6.5 million tons, 5.4 million tons, and 1.7 million tons, respectively. Canada, Congo (Kinshasa), Russia, and Serbia have resources of approximately 1 million tons each. Identified lithium resources for Brazil total 180,000 tons.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by JockoT

Identified lithium resources for Brazil total 180,000 tons.

I had no clue about lithium reserves in Brazil, but I remind having seen some mineral waters with a lithium content.

[freebeard]

I had an upstairs neighbor who was a little odd when he was off his Lithium.

Scott Adams suggests making Puerto Rico the coolest state. The last time we had such an opportunity was when the proposed building site for an Antonio Gaudi hotel was cleared in New York city. But we built an anti-pyramid instead.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_NgYu2fI1o