Lithium News

We have been waiting for years for investments from India. There are strategic matters why we should be together, and the most important thing we have to offer is lithium, says Sergio Arispe

India and Bolivia have shared cordial relations for a long time. At a time when India is expanding its sphere of influence across the globe, Bolivia cant be left out from the picture. The country is a gold mine of lithium reserves. India requires a large amount of it to fuel its renewable energy and electric vehicles programme. It  has, in fact, initiated dialogues with the so called ‘lithium triangle’ — a group of countries comprising Chile, Argentina and Bolivia — that sits on the world’s largest lithium deposits, and is seeking investments from Indian businesses to develop some large mines there.

In an exclusive interview with Taniya Tikoo,  Bolivia’s Ambassador to India Sergio Arispe discusses the bilateral ties between the countries, the challenges in improving business relations and Bolivia’s reserves of Lithium. Edited excerpts:

What is your take on the current standing of India-Bolivia bi-lateral relations? Are you satisfied with its trajectory?

If you ask the common folks around what’s the capital of our country, nine out of 10 times they wont know. The sooner we stop seeing each other as exotic destinations, the better we will co-operate. We are the future of the world. We are both really young countries; our future lies with each other. The sooner we realise this, the sooner we will work together. We will start selling and buying in each others markets. We see the future of humanity in countries such as yours. We are expecting our minister of foreign affairs to be here next month. This is our way of enhancing diplomatic and economic ties with India.

What took so long for Bolivia to open up the first embassy in India (in 2012)?

To be honest, we are not quite there yet. India needs to do much more to strengthen its ties with Latin America. Of course, India has strong relations with Latin American countries. You talk about India in Mexico. But who isn’t present in Mexico. Why isn’t India in Bolivia? We have been waiting for years for investments from India. There are strategic matters why we should be together, and the most important thing we have to offer is lithium.

India is going to require lithium in the near future for its energy reserves. We have the largest natural reserves for it. This could be our bonding element.

What are the challenges in improving the ties between the two countries?

I think we must improve in simple steps. The first one of which should be India opening its embassy in Bolivia, and not just have a concurrent embassy, as it has now in Peru. I think, India should expand its presence in the entire region of Latin America. The region is waiting for it. It needs to realise that the business environment in Bolivia is easier than you think. Indian businessmen can perfectly enhance and thrive in a country like Bolivia.

Why is there such a low or almost zero frequency of high-level bi-lateral visits?

We are looking forward to a bi-lateral visit next month. The frequency of visits may not be as high as you might expect, but then again, we are a developing country that is now starting to expand. But to expand from our region to a far off land of Southeast Asia, such as the likes of India, is a much bigger challenge in itself. Slowly, but surely we will be here. When our foreign minister comes here, it will set the grounds for a presidential visit. A presidential visit is much more finely detailed. And I am pretty sure that India would be glad to receive a president such as ours.

What is it that you would want Indian businessmen to experience in Bolivia?

I want the mining sector to come to India to present our vast portfolio. I am sure India could benefit from it, considering the growth rates that you are expressing. In recent times, there has been an increasing interest from leading Indian businessmen from India in Bolivia. There are a large number of businessmen who have been travelling to Bolivia, many of them even have institutional presence there. We are close to closing a deal with Tata in Bolivia. Tata is now going to Bolivia to experience lithium.

University of Texas at Austin and Monash University researchers have recently discovered a new, efficient way to extract lithium and other metals and minerals from water.

With continual technological advancements in mobile devices and electric cars, the global demand for lithium has quickly outpaced the rate at which it can be mined or recycled. The proposed technology may be able to recover enough lithium to power 200 electric cars or 1.6 million smartphones each week from some Texas gas wells.

The working group published their findings in the journal Science Advances.

The team’s technique uses a metal-organic-framework membrane that mimics the filtering function, or “ion selectivity,” of biological cell membranes. The membrane process easily and efficiently separates metal ions, opening the door to revolutionary technologies in the water and mining industries and potential economic growth opportunities in Texas.

The team’s process could also help with water desalination. Unlike the existing reverse-osmosis membranes responsible for more than half of the world’s current water desalination capacity, the new membrane process dehydrates ions as they pass through the membrane channels and removes only select ions, rather than indiscriminately removing all ions. The result is a process that costs less and consumes less energy than conventional methods.

The team’s material operates on principles inspired by highly effective biological cell membranes, whose mechanism of operation was discovered by Roderick MacKinnon and Peter Agre and was the subject of the 2003 Nobel Prize in chemistry.

The natural gas producing Barnett and Eagle Ford shale formations in Texas contain high amounts lithium, and the produced wastewater generated by hydraulic fracturing in those areas has high concentrations of lithium. Instead of discarding the produced water, the team’s membrane filter could extract the resulting lithium and put it to use in other industries.

Each well in the Barnett and Eagle Ford can generate up to 300,000 gallons of produced water per week. Using their new process, Freeman and his team conservatively estimate that from just one week’s worth of produced water, enough lithium can be recovered to power 200 electric cars or 1.6 million smartphones.

Freeman said, “Produced water from shale gas fields in Texas is rich in lithium. Advanced separation materials concepts such as ours could potentially turn this waste stream into a resource recovery opportunity.”

Anita Hill chief scientist at Monash University Department of Chemical Engineering and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization in Australia said, “The prospect of using metal-organic frameworks for sustainable water filtration is incredibly exciting from a public-good perspective, while delivering a better way of extracting lithium ions to meet global demand [that] could create new industries.”

Of interest is the funding for this research was provided by the Australian Research Council, the Australian-American Fulbright Commission, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization and the National Computational Infrastructure in Australia.

Of course, this technology is in its infancy, but its working at lab scale which is a good start. Right now, lithium is worth enough to cause great interest in recovery techniques that could simplify the refining of lithium as well as expose new reserves that are so deep as to defy economical mining.

Not only is this research a new path to recover lithium, it offers a way to clean up water. It also is likely a step into a new field that may show more materials to recover other products from deep in the earth and offer new ways to clean and recycle water.

This is very much – A Grand Discovery. Pretty soon drillers of most all wells for oil and gas might want to get quickly assayed!

Chinese suppliers flooded the US solar market with panels at the end of last year, as customers sought to avoid paying President Donald Trump’s 30 percent import tariff.

Fourth-quarter deliveries from China were almost 11 times higher than in the first nine months of 2017, according to a report Friday by Bloomberg New Energy Finance. Manufacturers also hauled panels and cells across the border from Mexico, Canada and other countries to beat the import duties that were announced last month.

The tariffs don’t apply to the first 2.5 gigawatts of imports this year, and there’s as much as 5 gigawatts of solar equipment already stashed in warehouses and ports around the country. That’s enough to supply US developers for about six months, said Hugh Bromley, a solar analyst at New Energy Finance, undermining the impact of the protectionist policies on manufacturers.

Shipments from exempt suppliers including First Solar Inc. may extend that period to nine months.

“The slow pace of DC bureaucracy has allowed the solar industry to insulate itself from the full impact of the tariffs,” Bromley said in an interview. “They won’t be as damaging as some in the industry have warned.”

The tariffs announced in January came in response to a trade suit filed in April 2017 by a bankrupt U. S. solar manufacturer that argued it had been harmed by a wave of cheap imports, mostly from Asia. The US International Trade Commission agreed in October, paving the way for Trump’s decision.

SunPower Corp, the second-biggest US solar supplier, manufacturers most of its products in Mexico and Asia, and rushed to bring them into the country at the end of last year. The stockpiled inventory will help the San Jose, California-based company buy time as it pursues a request to be excluded from the duties because it uses a technology that’s different from standard photovoltaic panels.

“Of course we accelerated” shipments, Chief Executive Officer Tom Werner said in an interview. “We’re not going to pay tariffs on goods that we already brought to the US.”

The survey, which ran last month ahead of the Vancouver Resource Investment Conference 2018, asked our readers how the materials needed to make batteries for the coming electrical vehicle revolution will fare over the coming years. Key findings were the following:

• Two-thirds of respondents said battery-technology metals will out-perform base metals and precious metals.
• Another two-thirds said battery-technology metals have NOT been over-hyped.
• Fifty percent of respondents said 2025 is the year when battery-technology metal demand really hit the market.
• In regards to investing in the sector, 41% prefer to pick juniors. Another third are putting money into producers.
• Our of the entire battery-material space, readers said lithium and cobalt will be at the head of the pack. At the back of the pack are nickel and graphite.

Results of survey are below. Number of answers per survey questions averaged 50.

---

What sector has furthest to run in 2018? 

---

Do you think battery-technology metal have been over-hyped? 

---

When will battery-technology metal demand really hit the market?

---

How are you investing in battery-technology metals?

---

Rank how each of the battery-technology metals will perform.

Innovation and technical advancement in form factor of batteries is driving the power storage industry globally. The flexible batteries are the primary and secondary batteries which are technologically developed to be flexible and conformal as compared to traditional batteries that are heavy, rigid and generally have fixed form factors. As the form factor of devices like smartphones, tablets and wearable devices is made lighter, thinner and flexible, there is need of flexible and thin battery which can satisfy ever increasing demand for electric power needed to power these device for long period of time. The flexible batteries market is fuelled by demand for flexible batteries for devices like wearable electronics devices, smart cards, transdermal drug delivery patches and flexible displays. Internet of everything is also a factor responsible for driving need for flexible batteries to power portable and handheld consumer devices.

Besides having thin and flexible form factor, flexible batteries offers numerous other benefits. The flexible batteries are long lasting, powerful, and free from safety concerns and made up of inherently safe material to adapt to emerging technologies in flexible electronics. The flexible batteries are made up of polymer with improve conductive property and can be stretched and rolled as per need of the device where it is used. On other hand, there is a need to address some technological issues related to short circuit during flexing.

On the basis of Technology, global flexible battery market can be segmented into – Flexible zinc carbon batteries, flexible lithium ion batteries, flexible lithium polymer batteries, thin flexible supercapacitors, flexible solar batteries and others.

On the basis of Application, global flexible battery market is segmented into – Wearable electronics, consumer electronics, Packaging and transportation, medical, healthcare & cosmetics, & networks and others. Share of wearable device application is expected to dominate the market and Medical, health & cosmetic application is expected to exhibit highest CAGR for the forecast period.

The global flexible battery market is expected to report double digit growth rate within forecasted period. The manufacturers globally are focussing on new product development and technological advancement to ensure reliable and low cost production of flexible batteries .The North America has the highest share contribution in global flexible battery market followed by japan and Asia pacific and continue to dominate the market within forecasted period.

The increasing use of flexible primary and secondary batteries in wearable devices, smartphones, medical skin patches, smart cards and consumer electronics devices and internet of everything is driving the growth of flexible batteries market. Major companies in semiconductor industries are investing a big amount on research and development of flexible electronic products and thereby development of flexible batteries to power those devices. Commercialization of the production of flexible batteries are in process from last ten years. High prices of the flexible battery is a factor that hinders the growth of global flexible battery market. A Large scale mass production of flexible batteries will help to low down the prices of flexible batteries to affordable limits.

Apple Inc., Nokia Technologies, Samsung sdi Co., Ltd, Front Edge Technology, Inc, LG Chem Ltd., STMicroelectronics, Blue Spark Technologies, Inc., Solicore Inc., Cymbet Corporation, Fullriver Battery New Technology Co Ltd, and others are among some of the prominent players of global flexible battery market. The flexible battery market is in its nascent stage and mainly driven by research and development from big brands. These companies follow the strategy of new product development and focus on economy of scale to survive and sustain in the global flexible battery market.

If you’re reading this article on a screen, be it your desktop or laptop or smartphone – or any electronic device – sooner or later, you will be contributing to e-waste.

There are so many things we waste. Food, paper, glass, plastic, and finally the environment; you name it, we’ve wasted it and you know it. Heck, we even waste time. As you may have already guessed, the term “e-waste” is short for electronic waste and describes all the electronic devices that is discarded after use.

Examples of such waste include your grandparents’ old radio, your mom’s previous cellphone, your brother’s fancy wristwatch, and the AA-battery in your toy car. The list goes on and on; look around you, and you will find a number of things that plays this dirty game. And no, nostalgic values don’t help here.

Here’s a fact to rattle your brain: almost 50 million metric tons of e-waste are generated every year around the world, mostly by developed or developing countries. Yes, that is a BIG number for a category of waste which does not receive enough limelight for the threat it possesses. Even worse, only about 12.5 percent i.e. 1/8th of the total e-waste is recycled.Where do the rest of it go?

To know the reality of how e-waste is generated and where its fate lies, we must look at life cycles of electronic products.

Let’s take my smartphone for example. I bought it a little more than a year ago, discarding another set I was using; it wasn’t doing well, performance-wise. I keep it in drawer now – all parts intact and fresh. The newly-bought phone, thanks to the ever-so-advancing technology, might be good for another yearuntil I decide to upgrade to a newer model. Thus, this one too will suffer the same fate as the older one – rotting in dust.

That’s just the tip of the iceberg. The smartphone is loaded with parts that, when evaluated separately, make the case for e-waste even stronger. The lithium-ion battery, the glass panel used for the screen, the detailed circuitry which includes metals and toxic substances [even traces of gold, yes], the plastic body which covers it all, and even the protective cases accumulate to contributing to acute environmental and health deterioration.

If a small mobile phone could do such damage, imagine what larger appliances like old computer monitors and sound systems and refrigerators could do. Even the trusty “energy-saving” bulb contains gases and micro-devices that cause harm when thrown away. As the saying goes – little drops of water make the mighty ocean.

The life cycle doesn’t stop there, no. There are markets that hoardsuch rejected products. Little children and bhangariwalasgo from one house to another looking to buy them for the price of nothing. At the storages, the devices are dismantled for their individual parts and that is their first contact with a neglected form of pollution. It reaches an even higher risk when the unwanted bits are dumped in landfills and sources of water.

The risks posed by e-waste affect not only the environment, but also humans directlyas we breathe the air and the toxicity seeps into our food chain. There have been reported cases over the years of children from the informal sector being victims to diseases like asthma, hearing loss, eyesight problems and even cancer. Exposure to e-waste stimulates infant mortality rates as well.

E-waste does not only generate from home either. The biggest contributor of e-waste in Bangladesh has been its ship-breaking industry, totaling almost 2.5 million metric tons per year. While analysis can be done by studying the life cycles of different materials on board, there is no doubt how this huge revenue-earning industry has caused a number of deaths and given rise to environmental pollution.

As we move forward to a more digital Bangladesh, we must also look at matters that we leave behind. Hence we ask, is there a way to tackle the adverse effects that are generated by e-waste? While it is difficult to place our bets on one correct answer, there are steps that can be taken for prevention.

Relevant authorities and organisations can come together to pinpoint causes and effects of e-waste; policies can be strengthened against ill-use of abandoned electronic devices; recycling can be promoted and sustainable methods developed for better consumption; special attention can be given to industries that rely on collection and production of e-waste – and even then we would still be scratching the surface.

While there are very few alternatives to getting that new phone you’ve been saving up for, do think about your household, the environment, and people around you when making the choice. Just thinking about it could be your first step to a greener lifestyle and a better world to live in.