“America’s biggest saltwater lake may hold a key to the country’s energy future,” reports the Wall Street Journal, providing the lithium needed for things like electric car batteries:
This summer, a California startup plans to start construction on a project to suck up water from the Great Salt Lake to extract one of its many valuable minerals: lithium, a critical ingredient in the rechargeable batteries used in electric vehicles. The water will then be reinjected back into the lake, which Lilac Solutions says addresses concerns about the damaging effects of mineral extraction. At its peak, Lilac says it will use a series of pipes to suck up 80,000 gallons of water a minute to harvest the mineral. The company plans to eventually produce up to 20,000 tons of battery-grade lithium a year at its site in northern Utah, located among fields of cattle and pickleweed.
The effort is one of dozens of projects across the U.S. racing to build up a domestic supply of lithium and other battery minerals, with adoption of electric vehicles expected to boom as part of the country’s transition to cleaner energy….The challenge: finding ways to efficiently extract the mineral from rocks and water while minimizing environmental damage.
One common extraction method pumps briny underground water into vast man-made ponds, where evaporation separates lithium from other elements over 18 months or more. Mining companies in Chile and elsewhere have used the approach, which drains scarce water resources and can leave deposits of toxic residues.
Lilac says its technology is much faster, taking a matter of hours from the time of extraction, while preserving water levels. Its method deploys reusable ceramic “beads” that attach to lithium atoms to separate them from the brine. Snydacker says the company has spent more than 500,000 hours testing the technology on more than 70 brine samples around the world.
Lilac’s method for lithium extraction has received a positive response from local regulators. Briny water is among the most promising resources for lithium in the U.S.<
Exxon Mobil is drilling for lithium-laden brines deep underground in Arkansas’s Smackover region. Other companies are working to extract lithium from brines in California’s Salton Sea.
At the Great Salt Lake, mineral extraction is nothing new. The lake has been shrinking for decades because of agricultural, industrial and other diversions of its feed waters. Extraction of minerals accounts for about 13% of its water diversion, according to a 2019 study. Meanwhile, the lake has become a concentrated soup of minerals, since it doesn’t have an outlet that lets it discharge the ones that flow into it.
Artificial intelligence has discovered a new material that could reduce lithium use in batteries and our dependence on China.
Right now, 60% of lithium is processed in China. The U.S. accounts for just one percent of global lithium production. Lithium mining typically has a significant environmental impact.
Artificial intelligence also is developing highly-effective antibodies to fight disease. Doctors overseas are using artificial intelligence to detect cases of breast cancer more effectively. Artificial intelligence may help you control some of your dreams.
Robots with artificial intelligence are spreading on Japanese farms. In the U.S., farming robots now use artificial intelligence to kill 100,000 weeds per hour. Drones with artificial intelligence will make farming easier.
Scientists have developed tiny robots made of human cells to repair damaged cells. Nanorobots are also being used to fight cancer. “In a major advancement in nanomedicine, Arizona State University scientists…have successfully programmed nanorobots to shrink tumors by cutting off their blood supply,” reported Next Big Future.
Doctors recently used a surgical robot to carry out incredibly complicated spinal surgery. Doctors also recently did the first robotic liver transplant in America.
Robot waiters are increasingly being used in South Korean restaurants, which are facing a labor shortage. A U.S. restaurant chain is using robots to speed up food preparation. The world’s first humanoid robot factory is opening.
