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The rush to ‘go electric’ comes with a hidden cost: destructive lithium mining | Thea Riofrancos | The Guardian

theguardian.com · 1,362 words · saved by 1 readers

As the world moves towards electric cars and renewable grids, demand for lithium is wreaking havoc in northern Chile T he Atacama salt flat is a majestic, high-altitude expanse of gradations of white and grey, peppered with red lagoons and ringed by towering volcanoes. It took me a moment to get my bearings on my first visit, standing on this windswept plateau of 3,000 sq km (1,200 sq miles). A vertiginous drive had taken me and two other researchers through a sandstorm, a rainstorm and the peaks and valleys of this mountainous region of northern Chile. The sun bore down on us intensely – the Atacama desert boasts the Earth’s highest levels of solar radiation, and only parts of Antarctica are drier. I had come to the salt flat to research an emerging environmental dilemma. In order to stave off the worst of the accelerating climate crisis, we need to rapidly reduce carbon emissions. To do so, energy systems around the world must transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy. Lithium

‘The transition to a new energy system is often understood as a conflict between incumbent fossil fuel firms and proponents of climate action.’ A lithium mine on Chile’s Atacama salt flat. Photograph: Iván Alvarado/Reuters View image in fullscreen ‘The transition to a new energy system is often understood as a conflict between incumbent fossil fuel firms and proponents of climate action.’ A lithium mine on Chile’s Atacama salt flat. Photograph: Iván Alvarado/Reuters Opinion Mining This article is more than 5 years old The rush to ‘go electric’ comes with a hidden cost: destructive lithium mini

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