ISSUES BEHIND LITHIUM MINING IN SOUTH AMERICA

In 2023, World Energy Outlook proposed to triple the clean energy use by 2030. That means there will be 10 times more electric vehicles worldwide and more electricity generated from solar panel power plants (“The Energy World”, 2023). All these energy shift plans, from fossil fuels to electricity, are amplifying the demand for batteries. According to a report by statista.com, the demand for lithium batteries will escalate nearly sevenfold in seven years between 2022-2030 (“Lithium-ion Batteries”, 2024). As the demand for lithium-ion batteries rapidly grows up, the need for lithium also expands fast. However, just like oil and natural gas, lithium that is now known as white oil and has become essential for the energy shifting plan to achieve renewable and clean energy in the future, is categorized as a non-renewable mineral. As a matter of fact, there are some problematic issues related to the water shortage and socio-cultural aspect behind the process to extract this valuable mineral from the ground.

Lithium is a rare highly reactive metal that can be extracted from rocks and brines. As stated by Climate Portal on the MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) website, nowadays, there are two sources where lithium can be mined ("How is Lithium Mined?”, 2024) First, lithium can be extracted from a lithium aluminum silicate mineral called spodumene. The miner will use the traditional method by blasting the rocks contained of spodumene ore in the open pit mine and then through a long process they extract the pure lithium carbonate. The other source of lithium is what is called the lithium brine, a concentrated salt solution that consists of a high level of lithium, that can be found in underground reservoirs. This brine needs to be pumped out from the underground reservoir and distributed into a sequence of evaporation ponds. Almost all the lithium mining in Chile, Bolivia, and Argentina, are using evaporation method to transform lithium brine into lithium salt. Even though the last method now is widely used, there is a consequence that comes along with it.

Maeve Campbell, in the article published in euronews.com, says that any type of resource extraction is environmentally unfriendly. His report shows that lithium extraction fields in northern Chile harm the environment because that mining uses, pollutes, and draws scarce water resources away from local communities (Campbell, 2022). What makes water become a big problem in that mining process is the fact that the places where lithium brines are found are located in arid regions. In that area, due to extremely low levels of rainfall, water becomes essential for the local biodiversity and because of that vulnerable to mining activities. Lithium extraction using evaporation methods consumes immense amounts of water. As an illustration, the lithium evaporation process uses around 5.5 million gallons of water a day. That is equivalent to the amount of water an average household in U.S. consume for 77 years. Excessive water consumption for mining activities, mostly in arid regions, threatens not only local biodiversity but also communities.

Lithium mining in South America is not only harm the environment by causes water shortages but also affects the indigenous community's life. That fact triggers several protests to the mining companies and the government like what happened in Buenos Aries, Argentina. On December 16, 2023, a group of indigenous activists from Jujuy province to hold a protest because the local government had allowed mining companies extract lithium from their community’s land (Lima, 2023). Jujuy province is located in what is called Lithium Triangle. Lithium triangle refers to an area with world’s largest lithium reserves in the Andes Mountain region which covers parts of Argentina, Bolivia, and Chile. In that area indigenous people are depends on insufficient water supply for traditional farming and herding. Their cultural traditions are also connected to the land they try to protect and preserve as their ancestral land. The existence of lithium mines in those regions obviously not only disrupts the life of these local communities dependent on natural resources but also undermines their cultural heritage.

In conclusion, lithium mining in arid regions in South America emphasizes the environmental and socio-cultural challenges of mineral extraction. Excessive water consumption amplifies water scarcity, threatening not only local biodiversity but also the livelihoods of surrounding indigenous communities. Tragically, behind the race to extract lithium, which is promised as a source for green energy, there is a grim reality where the environment and human life must be sacrificed.



Reference

Campbell, M. (2022, February 1). In Pictures: South America’s “Lithium Fields” Reveal The Dark Side of Our Electric Future. Euronews. Retrieved November 20, 2024, from https://www.euronews.com/green/2022/02/01/south-america-s-lithium-fields-reveal-the-dark-side-of-our-electric-future.

The Energy World is set to change significantly by 2030, based on today’s policy settings alone. iea 50. (2023, October 24). https://www.iea.org/news/the-energy-world-is-set-to-change-significantly-by-2030-based-on-today-s-policy-settings-alone

How is lithium mined?. Climate Portal. (2024, February 12). https://climate.mit.edu/ask-mit/how-lithium-mined

Lima, E. C. (2024, January 22). In south america’s “Lithium triangle,” indigenous people defend sacred sites. Earthbeat. Retrieved November 23, 2024, from https://www.ncronline.org/earthbeat/justice/south-americas-lithium-triangle-indigenous-people-defend-sacred-sites.

Lithium-Ion Batteries - Statistics & Facts | statista. statista. (2024, November 26). https://www.statista.com/topics/2049/lithium-ion-battery-industry/