Researchers used AI to design a new material that they used to build a working battery – it requires up to 70 percent less lithium than some competing designs.
[Edit: Maybe it's cobalt I was thinking of. But one problem I'm sure about is that lithium demand is predicted to be greater than the supply of lithium batteries continue to grow in popularity.
I work in a lithium mine, we make big rocks into little rocks the same as any other. What's the problem? Unless you're against mining in general, hard rock lithium should be fine
Yes do look into it. There are MANY ways to harvest lithium and most are better than what the oil and gas companies does when fracking or drilling on land.
Being better than one of the most destructive industries ever is not a high bar. But the most effective way to harvest lithium remains an open pit mine, which are arguably worse than literally anything else.
which are arguably worse than literally anything else.
Going to argue it isn't as bad as shale / oil sands projects. Also the battery is mostly aluminum, copper and nickel in the anode and cathode, all that has to be mined as well.
The products of the Oil industry are also consumed and can't be recycled, something like 90% of a battery can be recycled and reused.
Making an improvement for something that can be recycled and thus should REDUCE over time is a a MASSIVE improvement over doing nothing and bitching about it.