Microwave technique recovers 87% of batteries' #lithium in 15 minutes

By Michael Franco
July 30, 2024

Excerpt: "Normally a compound needs to be heated in order to force metals to precipitate out and in the case of lithium-containing compounds, an oil bath usually provides that heat source. But the process takes a fair bit of time during which the lithium compounds can begin to degrade.

"To speed things up, the Rice team decided to give microwaves a try, knowing that the choline chloride that leads to the isolation of the lithium is very good at absorbing microwave radiation.

"The speed boost was impressive. The researchers were able to precipitate out the lithium almost 100 times faster than an oil bath. In fact, it took them just 15 minutes to get back 87% of the lithium – a process that would take 12 hours using an oil bath.

" 'This allowed us to leach lithium selectively over other metals,' said Sohini Bhattacharyya, one of the other lead authors and a postdoctoral fellow in the Nanomaterials Laboratory. 'Using microwave radiation for this process is akin to how a kitchen microwave heats food quickly. The energy is transferred directly to the molecules, making the reaction occur much faster than conventional heating methods.'

"The researchers say the method can also be tailored to target other elements by tuning the DES composition, so it could have the ability to recover other metals like cobalt or nickel from batteries. The team also highlights the eco-friendly benefits of its approach.

" 'This method not only enhances the recovery rate but also minimizes environmental impact, which makes it a promising step toward deploying DES-based recycling systems at scale for selective metal recovery,' said Pulickel Ajayan, the corresponding author on the study and department chair of materials science and nanoengineering."

Read more:
https://newatlas.com/energy/microwave-lithium-recycling/

#SolarPunkSunday #LithiumRecycling #NoLithiumMining #Recycling #Reuse

#SodiumIonBatteries offer an alternative to tricky #lithium

Oct 26th 2023

Excerpt: "Fortunately, lithium is not the only game in town. As we report this week, a clutch of firms are making batteries based on sodium, lithium’s elemental cousin. Since sodium’s chemical properties are very similar to those of lithium, it too makes for good batteries. And sodium, which is found in the salt in #seawater, is thousands of times more abundant on Earth than lithium and cheaper to get at. Most of the companies using sodium to make batteries today are also Chinese. But pursuing the technology in the West might be a surer route to energy security than relying heavily on lithium.

"Besides its abundance, sodium has other advantages. The best lithium batteries use #cobalt and #nickel in their electrodes. Nickel, like lithium, is in short supply. #Mining it on land is #EnvironmentallyDestructive. Proposals to grab it from the #seabed instead have caused rows. A good deal of the world’s cobalt, meanwhile, is extracted from small mines in the #DemocraticRepublicOfCongo, where #ChildLabour is common and working conditions are dire. Sodium batteries, by contrast, can use #electrodes built from #iron and #manganese [and wood #lignin], which are plentiful and uncontroversial. Since the chemical components are cheap, a scaled-up industry should be able to produce batteries that cost less than their lithium counterparts.

"Sodium is not a perfect replacement for lithium. It is heavier, meaning sodium batteries will weigh more than lithium ones of an equivalent capacity. That is likely to rule them out in some cases where lightness is paramount. But for other applications, such as #GridStorage or #HomeBatteries, weight is irrelevant. Several Chinese carmakers are even beginning to put sodium batteries in #ElectricVehicles."

Read more:
https://www.economist.com/leaders/2023/10/26/sodium-batteries-offer-an-alternative-to-tricky-lithium

Archived version:
https://archive.ph/7x6JX

#SolarPunkSunday #EnergyStorage #SodiumIon #NewTechnology #GiantLeap #Reuse #WasteReuse #NoLithiumMining #NoMining

#Navajos Warn of Secretive Tribal Government Reform

Dine' Grassroots coalition, "spoke of the #bribes, backdoor deals and tribal government #corruption involved in the tribe's deals with #EnergyCompanies."

By #BrendaNorrell, #CensoredNews, Jan. 27, 2026

"Navajos warned of a secretive Navajo government reform that is underway that would change #Diné life, and silence the voices of the people for generations to come.

"#ChiliYazzie, former #Shiprock Council Delegate and Chapter President, said proposing the government reform as a 'yes or no' question for the Dine' voters on the ballot in 2026 is 'an abuse of our people.' "

Read more:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2026/01/navajos-warn-of-secretive-tribal.htm

#USPol #NativeAmericanNews #ReaderSupportedNews #NavajoNation #CulturalSurvival #MotherEarth #NoUraniumMining #NoMiningWithoutConsent #NoLithiumMining #RespectMotherEarth #RememberKleeBenally #CorporateColonialism #BuuNygren

Boo hiss! #Colonialism at work!

US government takes equity stake in one of the world’s largest #LithiumMines

The #Trump administration is now a significant stakeholder in the controversial mine at #ThackerPass.

by Justine Calma
Oct 1, 2025

"Donald Trump’s administration is taking a 5 percent equity ownership of mining company Lithium Americas, on top of another 5 percent stake in the company’s joint mining project with GM in Nevada, the #DepartmentOfEnergy announced yesterday. The mine at Thacker Pass is expected to become the largest producer of lithium in the Western Hemisphere once it opens in 2028.

"Lithium is a crucial component in batteries used for electric vehicles, wind and solar energy storage, and rechargeable devices of all kinds. Both the Biden and Trump administrations have sought to wean the US off foreign imports of lithium. This announcement is the latest step President Trump has taken to assert more control over domestic supply chains for key materials.

"The latest step President Trump has taken to assert more control over domestic supply chains for key materials

"The Thacker Pass mine is supposed to produce around 40,000 metric tons of #LithiumCarbonate annually for batteries once it’s fully operational. US production of lithium is currently under 5,000 metric tons. For comparison, China — the third-biggest lithium producer after Australia and Chile — already produces 40,000 metric tons annually.

"The mine has been under construction since 2023, following fierce opposition from nearby Native American tribes. Human Rights Watch and the American Civil Liberties Union found that the federal government’s permitting of the mine violated Indigenous peoples’ rights in a February 2025 report, alleging it failed to obtain 'free, prior, and #InformedConsent' from affected tribes. Ranchers and environmental groups concerned about the mine’s impact on local #water sources and endangered species have also opposed the project."

Read more:
https://www.theverge.com/news/790057/lithium-mine-us-trump-us-government-stake-thacker-pass

#WaterIsLife #USPol #LithiumMining #Extortion #TrumpSucks #CorporateColonialism #Corporatocracy #LithiumAmericas #ThackerPassDefenders #ProtectPeeHeeMuhuh
#DefendTheSacred #NoLithiumMining
#StopThackerPass
#LithiumAmericasCanada #NoMiningWithoutConsent #ProtectTheSacred #LithiumGoldRush #JusticeForMyronDewey #PoliceState
#SecretSurveillance #ACAB
#IndigenousLand #IndigenousNews

Carrying Prayers with #HorseMedicine, on the #SacredWater #UnityWalk

Walking for the water, with thanks

Censored News, Sept. 7, 2025

"From #Hualapai's sacred water in Arizona, to the #Paiute Massacre Site in Nevada, Hualapai, Paiute and #Shoshone are walking for the water. #LithiumMining is devastating their sacred places."

https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2025/09/carrying-prayers-with-horse-medicine-on.html

#PrayerRide #WaterIsLife #ProtectTheSacred #NoLithiumMining #NoMiningWithoutConsent #ProtectHaKamwe #WaterProtectors #CensoredNews #ReaderSupportedNews

In pictures: #SouthAmerica's 'LithiumFields' reveal the dark side of our electric future

By Maeve Campbell
Published on 01/02/2022

"Lithium extraction fields in South America have been captured by an aerial photographer in stunning high definition.

"But while the images may be breathtaking to look at, they represent the dark side of our swiftly electrifying world.

"Lithium represents a route out of our reliance on #FossilFuel production. As the lightest known metal on the planet, it is now widely used in electric devices from mobile phones and laptops, to cars and aircraft.

"#LithiumIon batteries are most famous for powering electric vehicles, which are set to account for up to 60 per cent of new car sales by 2030. The battery of a #Tesla Model S, for example, uses around 12 kg of lithium.

"These batteries are the key to lightweight, rechargeable power. As it stands, demand for lithium is unprecedented and many say it is crucial in order to transition to #renewables.

"However, this doesn't come without a cost - mining the chemical element can be harmful to the environment.

"German aerial photographer Tom Hegen specialises in documenting the traces we leave on the earth's surface. His work provides an overview of places where we extract, refine and consume resources with his latest series exposing the '#LithiumTriangle.'

"This region rich with natural deposits can be found where the borders of Chile, Argentina and Bolivia meet. And roughly a quarter is stored in the Salar de Atacama salt flats in northern Chile."

https://www.euronews.com/green/2022/02/01/south-america-s-lithium-fields-reveal-the-dark-side-of-our-electric-future

#EVs #LithiumAlternatives #RecycleLithium #NoLithiumMining #NoMiningWithoutConsent #LithiumProcessing #WaterIsLife #NatureIsLife #HydrogenFuelCells #SodiumIonBatteries

#LawEnforcement's #SecretSurveillance of Defenders at #ThackerPass, Peehee Mu'huh

#LithiumAmericas of Canada plans huge man camp in Winnemucca

By @bsnorrell.blogspot.com , #CensoredNews, Updated Aug. 12, 2025

"The #BIA and #BLM were part of 10 agencies in a joint #terrorism task force stalking defenders of Peehee Mu-huh, Thacker Pass, new documents reveal. The surveillance intensified when #MyronDewey supported. The Nevada Sheriff said there could be 'another #StandingRock,' and called in a 'spin master' to discredit #WaterProtectors, as he had done at Standing Rock.

"#ProPublica and #NevadaIndependent expose the surveillance. Censored News tracks back on the timeline. Interior Sec. #DebHaaland's BIA was part of the joint terrorism task force targeting the defenders of Peehee Mu-huh."

Original story:
THACKER PASS, Nevada -- "While descendants of the survivors of the massacre of Paiutes at #PeeheeMuhuh struggled to protect the sacred remains from the digging of a lithium mine, owned by Lithium Americas on Canada -- law enforcement had a spider web of surveillance. The law enforcement surveillance of defenders of Peehee Mu'huh, Thacker Pass, began before
Myron Dewey was killed, and continued afterwards.

"ProPublica and Nevada Independent expose the spy trail of law enforcement and private security of Lithium Americas. The surveillance web of 10 agencies included the BIA, and a counter-terrorism task force.

"During a meeting in April of 2021, the sheriff met with a spinmaster who linked the resistance to Standing Rock. This was six months before Myron Dewey was killed when a truck driven by a mining
engineer [an employee of #LithiumAmericas] hit Myron head on.

"Myron was well known for his reporting and drone coverage at Standing Rock 2016--2017. Myron was livestreaming the day before he was killed near his home in #YombaNevada, Sept. 26, 2021. Myron was fighting the #USMilitary's expansion of the bombing range on his #Paiute homeland."

Read more:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2025/07/law-enforcements-secret-surveillance-of.html

#JusticeForMyronDewey #PoliceState
#SecretSurveillance #ACAB
#IndigenousLand #IndigenousNews
#LandDefenders #StandWithStandingRock
#ProtectPeeHeeMuhuh
#DefendTheSacred #NoLithiumMining
#StopThackerPass #LithiumAmericas
#LithiumAmericasCanada
#LithiumMining #NoMiningWithoutConsent #ReaderSupportedNews

Law Enforcement's Secret Surveillance of Defenders at #ThackerPass, #PeeheeMuhuh, Exposed by #ProPublica and #NevadaIndependent

#LithiumAmerica of Canada plans huge #ManCamp in #Winnemucca

By #BrendaNorrell, #CensoredNews, Updated July 31, 2025

THACKER PASS, #Nevada -- "While descendants of the survivors of the massacre of #Paiutes at Peehee Mu'huh struggled to protect the sacred remains from the digging of a #LithiumMine, owned by Lithium Americas on Canada -- law enforcement had a spider web of surveillance.

"The law enforcement surveillance of defenders of Peehee Mu'huh, Thacker Pass, began before #MyronDewey was killed, and continued afterwards.

"ProPublica and Nevada Independent expose the spy trail of law enforcement and private security of Lithium Americas. The surveillance web of 10 agencies included the #BIA, and a #CounterTerrorism task force.

"During a meeting in April of 2021, the sheriff met with a spinmaster who linked the resistance to #StandingRock. This was six months before Myron Dewey was killed when a truck driven by a mining
engineer hit Myron head on.

"Myron was well known for his #reporting and #drone coverage at Standing Rock 2016--2017. Myron was livestreaming the day before he was killed near his home in #YombaNevada, Sept. 26, 2021. Myron was fighting the U.S. military's expansion of the bombing range on his #Paiute homeland. The Nevada legislators were pushing hard for the expansion, which Biden signed into law. Myron had also been delivering supplies to Thacker Pass in the months before he was killed."

Read more:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2025/07/law-enforcements-secret-surveillance-of.html

#PoliceState #SecretSurveillance #ACAB #IndigenousLand #IndigenousNews #LandDefenders #JusticeForMyronDewey #StandWithStandingRock #ProtectPeeHeeMuhuh #DefendTheSacred #NoLithiumMining #StopThackerPass #LithiumAmericas #LithiumAmericasCanada #LithiumMining #NoMiningWithoutConsent #ReaderSupportedNews

#SodiumBatteries offer an alternative to tricky #lithium

Lithium is relatively scarce and mostly refined in China. Sodium is neither

Oct 26th 2023

Excerpt: "Fortunately, lithium is not the only game in town. As we report this week, a clutch of firms are making batteries based on sodium, lithium’s elemental cousin. Since sodium’s chemical properties are very similar to those of lithium, it too makes for good batteries. And sodium, which is found in the salt in seawater, is thousands of times more abundant on Earth than lithium and cheaper to get at. Most of the companies using sodium to make batteries today are also Chinese. But pursuing the technology in the West might be a surer route to energy security than relying heavily on lithium.

"Besides its abundance, sodium has other advantages. The best lithium batteries use #cobalt and 3nickel in their electrodes. Nickel, like lithium, is in short supply. #Mining it on land is #environmentally destructive. Proposals to grab it from the #seabed instead have caused rows. A good deal of the world’s cobalt, meanwhile, is extracted from small mines in the Democratic Republic of #Congo, where child labour is common and working conditions are dire. Sodium batteries, by contrast, can use electrodes built from iron and manganese, which are plentiful and uncontroversial. Since the chemical components are cheap, a scaled-up industry should be able to produce batteries that cost less than their lithium counterparts.

"Sodium is not a perfect replacement for lithium. It is heavier, meaning sodium batteries will weigh more than lithium ones of an equivalent capacity. That is likely to rule them out in some cases where lightness is paramount. But for other applications, such as grid storage or home batteries, weight is irrelevant. Several Chinese carmakers are even beginning to put sodium batteries in electric vehicles.

"Perhaps the biggest disadvantage of sodium batteries is their late start. #LithiumIon batteries were first commercialised in the 1990s and have benefited from decades of investment. But the rest of the world is behind China on both fronts anyway. America and the European Union have announced enormous programmes of green industrial subsidies. If they are determined to bankroll batteries, some of the pot should go to sodium."

Read more:
https://www.economist.com/leaders/2023/10/26/sodium-batteries-offer-an-alternative-to-tricky-lithium

Archived version:
https://archive.ph/7x6JX#

#SolarPunkSunday #DeepSeaMining #NoLithiumMining #LeaveItInTheOcean #LeaveItInTheOcean #LithiumAlternatives #SodiumBatteries #RenewablesNow