{"id":51384,"date":"2019-12-01T20:02:38","date_gmt":"2019-12-01T19:02:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/edu.danwatch.dk\/?post_type=undersgelse&p=51384"},"modified":"2019-12-01T14:16:47","modified_gmt":"2019-12-01T13:16:47","slug":"our-demand-for-electric-cars-and-smartphones-is-drying-up-the-most-arid-place-in-the-world","status":"publish","type":"undersgelse","link":"https:\/\/edu.danwatch.dk\/en\/undersoegelse\/our-demand-for-electric-cars-and-smartphones-is-drying-up-the-most-arid-place-in-the-world\/","title":{"rendered":"Our demand for electric cars and smartphones is drying up the most arid place in the world"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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A Danwatch investigation<\/h6>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Our demand for electric cars and smartphones is drying up the most arid place in the world<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Most parts of the Atacama are covered by sand, salt crust and lava rock from the desert’s many volcanos.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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When you arrive in Chile\u2019s Atacama Desert, it seems immediately obvious why space researchers use the region to simulate Mars. The endless red-brown and white plains of sand, rubble and salt that are surrounded by massive mountain ranges and volcanic craters make it easy to imagine you are on a different planet.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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About the investigation<\/h2>\n

Danwatch has been to Chile to investigate the country\u2019s growing lithium extraction industry. In the process, we have interviewed numerous scientists, companies, politicians and the people who live closest to the extraction sites.<\/p>\n

We have reviewed the mining companies\u2019 impact studies as well as the few independent research papers on the topic. We especially base our investigation on a 2019 study on lithium mining in Chile by researchers from Arizona State University’s School of Sustainability.<\/p>\n

The investigation was supported by the EU-funded project Make ICT Fair and published in collaboration with Setem.<\/p>\n

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According to the astronomy obsessed Chilean movie director Patricio Guzm\u00e1n, the Atacama is \u201cthe only brown dot without any humidity\u201d when you observe Earth from space. Averaging only 15 millimetres of rain each year, the desert is considered the driest place on the globe.<\/p>\n

Driving from the Pacific coast into the mainland, a few landmarks in the desolate landscape remind you that you are still on the human planet \u2013 ghost towns from bygone mining industries that used to extract once-valuable minerals like saltpetre, now stand abandoned in the sand.<\/p>\n

There are more signs of life toward the eastern part of the desert. The rare Andean flamingo nests near the saltwater wetlands, and goats graze at the scattered oases that indigenous communities have inhabited for hundreds or thousands of years.<\/p>\n

It is also in this part of the desert that humans, driven by a novel global demand, are starting to leave a new mark on the landscape.<\/p>\n

Beneath the Atacama and the adjoining salt flats, Chile is estimated to possess more than half of the global reserve of lithium<\/a>. The light metal is an essential ingredient for making the batteries in our telephones and computers, as well as the electric vehicles (EVs) that are often seen as essential for a green energy transition. As the EV industry soars, the global demand for lithium is expected to increase to almost 10 times its current market size by 2030<\/a>, leading to a \u201cwhite gold rush\u201d in Chile and its neighbouring countries.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Danwatch sent a drone 500 meters into the air to capture the lithium mining from above. The ponds on these shots are only a small share of the total extraction area which covers around 80 square kilometres of the desert’s surface. The tiny black spot on the road a bit left of the bottom centre is the otherwise large SUV we were driving.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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background<\/h1>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

Is there any such thing as \u2018green mining\u2019? <\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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In 2019 the Nobel Prize in Chemistry was handed to John Goodenough, Stanley Whittingham and Akira Yoshino for the development of the lithium-ion battery - amongst other things, because it enables electric vehicles and mega batteries <\/a>that can \u201cstore significant amounts of energy from solar and wind power, making possible a fossil fuel-free society.\u201d<\/p>

Such a transition to low-carbon technologies however fuels new demands for particular minerals used in for example solar panels, wind turbines and batteries.<\/p>

Many scientists say that more mineral extraction for renewables is without a doubt preferable<\/a> to a continued dependence on fossil fuels.<\/p>

Nevertheless, the costs of extracting new groups of minerals for renewables become more evident as global demands rise.<\/p>

Lithium is mined in various ways around the world, each with appertaining risks and drawbacks. Out of the top five lithium producing companies, all five have human rights allegations against them<\/a> according to the Business and Human Rights Resource Center.<\/p>

In Australia and North America, lithium is extracted from rock but requires the use of chemicals which have led to pollution of water resources<\/a> in the US. In Tibet, a Chinese lithium mine has caused environmental pollution resulting in fish dying in nearby rivers<\/a>.<\/p>

In Chile, Argentina and Bolivia, lithium is extracted from subterranean brine deposits. The main environmental problem in this regard is the massive use of water resources from arid areas.<\/p>

While scientists are optimistic about finding alternatives to other harmful components of lithium-ion batteries, such as cobalt, alternatives to lithium seem to have long prospects<\/a>. A lot of research is however currently done on the potential reuse of lithium-ion batteries. Only very few rechargeable batteries are being recycled today.<\/p>

Sources: Nobelprize.org, Business and Human Rights Resource Center, The Verge, Washington Post, Wired, Friends of the Earth, Danwatch<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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But extracting Atacama\u2019s lithium requires massive amounts of the scarce water resources that indigenous peoples and animals have relied on to survive for thousands of years in this harsh environment. And according to researchers, it is already causing lasting damage to the fragile ecosystem in the driest place in the world.<\/p>

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Coyo is one of dozens of indigenous Likananta\u00ed communities that have existed in the small oases of the Atacama for centuries. The community members take turns to tap the San Pedro River water and after waiting for two weeks, it is finally Hugo D\u00edaz\u2019 time to water his crops. Just like his ancestors used to, the 58-year-old farmer directs water through small canals in a simple irrigation system that distributes the stream to the local residents. But while Hugo D\u00edaz\u2019 parents and grandparents used to grow enough alfalfa plants and grass to feed cattle in their hundreds throughout the winter, such things are far from possible today, he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday, very few farmers can make a living. We don\u2019t even have 20 percent of the water we need\u201d, the farmer notes and points to markings in the irrigation canal above the water\u2019s surface that bears witness to the higher water levels in the past.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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The irrigation canal that leads to Hugo D\u00edaz\u2019 crops. \"It is ironic that I am showing you the water scarcity with light coming from the lithium battery in my telephone\", he says.<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Many of the Atacama\u2019s indigenous residents recognise that climate change is accelerating the water scarcity in the desert, but they say the change started with the arrival of lithium and copper extraction in the area.<\/p>\n

\u201cBefore the mining companies arrived here, there was plenty of water\u201d, Hugo D\u00edaz says.<\/p>\n

The Saudi Arabia of Lithium<\/h4>\n

With incomparable reserves of lithium, whose crucial importance to the energy sector continues to grow, Chile has occasionally been labelled \u2018The Saudi Arabia of Lithium<\/a>\u2019. Almost 40 percent of the global supply has come from Chile over the past 20 years and, as Danwatch can reveal<\/a>, it ends up in some of the most popular electronics and electric cars.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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The Lithium Triangle<\/h2>\n