Lithium from clay: Assessing the environmental impacts of extraction

IF 10.9 1区环境科学与生态学 Q1 ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES

Sustainable Production and Consumption Pub Date : 2024-11-09 DOI:10.1016/j.spc.2024.11.008

Venkat Roy , Mariappan Parans Paranthaman , Fu Zhao

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Abstract

The burgeoning electric vehicle (EV) sector in the United States (US) is expected to drive up the demand for lithium, a critical element for EV batteries. Lithium-rich clays in the Nevada desert emerge as a prospective US-based domestic source. This study employs Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to examine the environmental aspects of extracting lithium from this source. Among the two evaluated routes, acid leaching was more energy-efficient (35 MJ/kg LCE (Lithium Carbonate Equivalent) than roasting (200 MJ/kg LCE), based on pilot plant data. When compared to conventional methods like spodumene-based extraction, acid leaching shows reductions across almost every category, with notable decreases in high-magnitude impacts like Global Warming (48 %), Freshwater Ecotoxicity (15 %), and Smog (69 %). Water consumption is the only category that increases, rising by 79 %. Insights from this study on upstream impacts of lithium from clay could help inform sourcing decisions downstream, in the battery and EV sector.

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从粘土中提取锂：评估开采对环境的影响

美国蓬勃发展的电动汽车（EV）行业预计将推动对锂的需求增长，而锂是电动汽车电池的关键元素。内华达沙漠中的富锂粘土有望成为美国国内的锂资源。本研究采用了生命周期评估（LCA）方法来研究从这一资源中提取锂的环境问题。根据试验工厂的数据，在两种评估方法中，酸浸出比焙烧（200 兆焦耳/千克 LCE）更节能（35 兆焦耳/千克 LCE（碳酸锂当量））。与基于沸石的萃取等传统方法相比，酸浸法几乎减少了所有类别的影响，其中全球变暖（48%）、淡水生态毒性（15%）和烟雾（69%）等高影响显著减少。耗水量是唯一增加的类别，增加了 79%。本研究对粘土锂上游影响的见解有助于为下游电池和电动汽车行业的采购决策提供参考。

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来源期刊

Sustainable Production and Consumption Environmental Science-Environmental Engineering

CiteScore

17.40

自引率

7.40%

发文量

389

审稿时长

13 days

期刊介绍： Sustainable production and consumption refers to the production and utilization of goods and services in a way that benefits society, is economically viable, and has minimal environmental impact throughout its entire lifespan. Our journal is dedicated to publishing top-notch interdisciplinary research and practical studies in this emerging field. We take a distinctive approach by examining the interplay between technology, consumption patterns, and policy to identify sustainable solutions for both production and consumption systems.