Lithium from clay: Assessing the environmental impacts of extraction

Abstract

The burgeoning electric vehicle (EV) sector in the United States (US) is expected to drive up the demand for lithium, a critical element for EV batteries. Lithium-rich clays in the Nevada desert emerge as a prospective US-based domestic source. This study employs Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to examine the environmental aspects of extracting lithium from this source. Among the two evaluated routes, acid leaching was more energy-efficient (35 MJ/kg LCE (Lithium Carbonate Equivalent) than roasting (200 MJ/kg LCE), based on pilot plant data. When compared to conventional methods like spodumene-based extraction, acid leaching shows reductions across almost every category, with notable decreases in high-magnitude impacts like Global Warming (48 %), Freshwater Ecotoxicity (15 %), and Smog (69 %). Water consumption is the only category that increases, rising by 79 %. Insights from this study on upstream impacts of lithium from clay could help inform sourcing decisions downstream, in the battery and EV sector.