Will We Run Out Of Lithium?

I’m always amazed by David’s raw intellectual horsepower. I could analyze this video as a template for numerous other business analysis scenarios. Bravo David and the Cool Worlds team. You’ve done it again as always.

I don't find a lot of thoughtful, rational, information analysis-based videos that actually engender hope for civilization's future. This one did. Thank you for that. It matters more than you know.

This is your most "grounded" video to date and I wasn't sure at first if I would like the absence of astrophysics as a primary subject. However, you're really good at this and I want more pure science, no matter whether it is tethered to issues here on Earth. Keep this up and you will give Veritasium a run for his money!

You are not just an astro-physicist. You are a very good data scientist :) I enjoy your comprehensive videos very much. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Absolutely love your way of storytelling. I’m not sure how you script them, but I know your delivery is flawless.. and a huge inspiration for me. Keep it up mate🙏

I remember reading a novel where the modern day protagonist awoke in the future and was surprised at how fast humanity ran out of iron. That's sadly the harsh reality of all non renewable resources on Earth. We are literally on a race against time to gain the ability to mine the stars (more realistically, asteroids and other planets) versus the limited resources of Earth. If we're fast enough to develop space travel in the solar system, we will have access to a near infinite amount of resources, if we are too slow, we will be stuck on this tiny floating ball for eternity. But to relate to the video, yeah we will ran out of Lithium way before we can get this alloy elsewhere at which point will it be really worth it to start using it again.

What i got from this video is ,invest in lithium stocks

I was really impressed about this release as it was different to what you normally do, and would be happy to see more of this!

Another thing to be addressed next to the lithium supply, is the fact that today's power grids are unsuitable for all those cars to be charged simultaneously.

I think this is a great argument for why ewe can't just switch all cars to electric, but that we need actively push to (re)develop our cities so that cars are not necessary for every day life.

This is a very good and informative documentary. Thank you David for the hard work of producing it.

You are to science education as Philip Glass is to music. You inspire me and cause me to relate to science in an emotionally rich as well as critically analytical way. If I decide to pursue a graduate degree, you will have greatly influenced that choice, and it will most definitely be in astrophysics. Thank you for your contributions to science and the improvement of the average persons understanding of it.

Great video! I have been looking at some adjacent stuff, and something to keep in mind is that the high energy density of lithium batteries is only needed by mobile applications, while stationary assets can be reasonably replaced with heavier, non-lithium constructs. I think one US company is developing a ferric battery that is super bulky and heavy, but can run for decades with minimal maintenance and hazard. In the case of distributed solar generation as you mentioned, it is not always required to get that fancy tesla wall pack when a big buried box does the same thing but cheaper.

I would absolutely love to hear your input, as a follow up to this video, on other battery technologies like graphene, solid state, nuclear, diamond, and hemp

You are such a good educator! I would love to see a joint video conversation between you and Anton Petrov.

The other thing is the working conditions for lithium and cobalt miners. EV advocates like to ignore the child labor involved in EV production but nothing can stay hidden forever.

One thing to consider is possibly that one EV may require 2 sets of Lithium batteries over its life, so that might double some of your demand projections, if not already considered.

I have great appreciation for the amount of research you put into this. Love your storytelling abilities and caution while extrapolating out the data. I'd love to see a second part of this video digging more into the climate change aspect of this. For example, what would the effect of switching to EV's really actually be for the environment while considering all factors like what it takes to recharge them, the effects of the mining, and the effect of non-recyclable batteries.

Great video. I wonder if non-lithium batteries - like ones with heavier elements (sodium) could be reserved for stationary applications (grid storage) so lithium could be used for high-value and mobile applications like electronics and cars.

Great video and so well researched. Thank you. Some food for thought though: - Lithium mining is devastating to the earth's surface and scenery. - Lithium leech fields are toxic. What happenms to them once the mine is abandoned? - What is to be done with discarded batteries? - The amount of heavy fossil fuel powered equipment used to extract, transport and process lithium renders any carbon reduction to virtually net zero. - The necessary mining is done on the backs of the poor and children in poorer countries as rich countries' dermand increases. Is there a moral cost? - What do we do with unwanted EVs once the battery life is exhausted or the owner wants a newer model? There is no resale market for a car needing a $20k battery replacement. - What happens when an inevitable terror attack on the power grid takes the grid offline for weeks or months? How will that affect the economy when the primary mode of transport is parked? - What happens when electric demand outpaces the ability of municipal power infrastructure to deliver like in California? - Not everyone will be able to afford an EV. If fossil fuel vehicles are "illegal" how will these people get around? - Automobile crashes happen frequently. If batteries are damaged and need replacing at exorbitant costs, what happens to the affordability of car insurance? How will that affect those of lesser means? - If the motivation for widely adopting EVs here in the US is to prevent the dubious idea that climate change will be catastrophic if not controlled, what about the two most populace countries on earth (China and India)? They are poorer countries with combined populations ten times greater than the US and are larger contributors to global carbon emmissions than the US. Us "doing our part" addresses nothing happening in the rest of the world with a more deleterious impact on the macro climate. Sometimes the law of unintended consequences creates a larger problem than the problem being solved.