What might be the environmental side effects of a highly lithium-dependent transportation system?
Toss out the noun “lithium” and the most common association is likely to be lithium carbonate, which has long been used to treat bipolar disorder (the manic episodes; not the depressive ones). There are side effects associated with that medical treatment; and we’d be crazy not to confront the possible future side-effects of a lithium powered fleet so as to better manage those risks. (Some of most dangerous potential side effects – politically and medically toxic things we could end up living with for centuries – are on the public record – and the less visible hazards can be reasonably speculated upon.) As for the good news about lithium, I’ve captured several positive lithium posts from TreeHugger.com and put them at the bottom of this post. US foreign policy is the biggest and closest risk in my view. China, Chile, and Argentina are today’s major world lithium producers. Bolivia, however, is poised to dominate the lithium carbonate supply chain of the transportation industry. China an
