Is a Proposed Lithium Mine in Nevada the Future of Renewable Energy?

Do you think driving a Tesla or plugging-in to solar power are environmentally-conscious choices? Then you should know it’s almost certain the batteries in those systems traveled around the world two or three times before they were ever installed. That’s not very “green,” is it?

Lithium-ion batteries, found in laptops, mobile phones and many other things we use every day, often have a rather costly carbon footprint. But a tiny town in the American West called Orovada could play a big role in making green energy more green.

Northern Nevada could soon explode into America’s “Lithium Valley,” playing an even more critical role in our country’s future than Silicon Valley did with technology. Tesla built the highest-volume battery plant in the world outside Reno, but it has to import the lithium it uses from as far away as Western Australia or South America. That could soon change with a discovery that’s just a couple hours north of Tesla’s Gigafactory. A Canadian mining company identified what is one of the world’s largest lithium deposits inside the footprint of an ancient volcano. Tesla did not respond to requests for comment for this story.

“I like using my iPhone. If I ever get a car, it’ll be an electric car, and I’d like to know the materials used in those devices come from as environmentally responsible a place as possible,” said Dr. Thomas Benson. Benson, who works for LithiumAmericas, is the volcanologist who confirmed the massive lithium deposit, sitting right on the Earth’s surface, near the Nevada-Oregon border.

Read more: https://www.nbcwashington.com/lx/is-a-proposed-lithium-mine-in-nevada-the-future-of-renewable-energy/2281875/