[HN Gopher] The new 'gold rush' for green lithium
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The new 'gold rush' for green lithium
Author : clouddrover
Score : 62 points
Date : 2020-11-29 08:22 UTC (1 days ago)
(HTM) web link (www.bbc.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.bbc.com)
| forgotmypw17 wrote:
| this page is unreadable on android, the text is positioned off-
| screen
| Solocomplex wrote:
| Page 404s with my old client (Materialistic)
| saiya-jin wrote:
| Whatever keeps them from mining Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia, one of
| nature's magic places. Wikipedia says it contains 50-70% of world
| reserves, and I can't imagine mining wouldn't destroy it
| completely over time.
|
| I truly wish Bolivia to raise itself from poverty, but ideally
| without the destruction of its magical wonders. Damn I miss
| traveling...
| naringas wrote:
| I am pretty sure that evo morales was quickly kicked out of
| there because he wasn't gonna easily let global corporations
| mine in a "cost efficient" way. so now that he's out is only a
| matter of time before there's cheaper lithium in the global
| market.
| simlevesque wrote:
| Elon Musk said that he'd coup whoever he wants in order to
| get lithium... there is a lot at stake.
| thebradbain wrote:
| If it sounds like hyperbole, it's not -- Elon did verbatim
| tweet (and then delete) this:
| https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.truthorfiction.com/did-
| elon...
|
| Maybe it was an attempt at a joke, but considering he's one
| of the richest men in the world who has a _vested_ interest
| in lithium, and considering there _was_ a Bolivian, quasi-
| US-backed coup just this past year for reasons which at
| least partially include these lithium deposits, it's not at
| all funny to joke about.
| grecy wrote:
| Agree 100%. I spent a week driving across the Salar and the
| surrounding desert in 2010 [1], it was one of the most wild and
| unforgettable experiences of my life.
|
| All around the world places have parallels or similarities.
| Patagonia reminds me of Alaska. The Sahara is a bit like the
| Simpson, white sand beaches in Northern Australia are similar
| to those in Thailand or the Bahamas.
|
| Not so with Bolvia. I've _never_ seen anything on the planet
| remotely like the high Altiplano around the Salar and the
| entire South Western part of Bolivia. It 's utterly
| breathtaking and unique.
|
| [1] http://theroadchoseme.com/the-uyuni-salt-flats-to-chile-1
| tspike wrote:
| How would you compare it with the Bonneville Salt Flats in
| Utah?
| trianglem wrote:
| >50-70%
|
| That's incredible. I presume this is because no one has been
| looking for large reserves of lithium until recently.
| HPsquared wrote:
| I don't think it would be possible to destroy a 10,000 sq km
| salt flat if that was even the intention.
| hu3 wrote:
| A total of 11,088 sq km (4,281 sq miles) of rainforest were
| destroyed from August 2019 to July 2020 in Brazil.
|
| https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-55130304
| RC_ITR wrote:
| Never underestimate the ability of unchecked human
| industriousness to turn an unimaginably large resource into a
| rapidly dwindling one.
| bobthepanda wrote:
| Didn't some country offer to not mine their beautiful area if
| they were paid by Western countries an equivalent amount, but
| no one was willing to put their money where their mouth was?
| markdown wrote:
| I don't know about that, but Norway is paying to save
| rainforests:
|
| $1B to Brazil: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-
| climatechange-amazon-norw...
|
| $150M to Gabon: https://qz.com/africa/1714104/gabon-to-
| get-150-million-from-...
|
| Indonesia: https://news.mongabay.com/2020/05/indonesia-
| norway-redd-paym...
|
| Guyana: https://news.mongabay.com/2009/02/norway-to-pay-
| guyana-to-sa...
| cheschire wrote:
| Isn't that the actual definition of extortion? That sounds
| like threatening something of value to the whole world for
| personal gain.
|
| edit: clarity.
| john_minsk wrote:
| Nope. This is capitalism. If you want something to happen -
| pay for it...
| toiletfuneral wrote:
| hell yeah lets destroy natural beauty permanently for the
| immediate gain of a few people, capitalism rules and
| there are no other options
| scythe wrote:
| No, extortion is when you threaten to hurt someone _else_
| for money. Threatening to hurt _yourself_ for money is
| called, I think, livestreaming.
| cheschire wrote:
| Funny comment, but the first part is what I'm driving at.
|
| Does damaging a world heritage site constitute hurting
| someone _else_ or does it constitute only self harm
| because it 's within sovereign borders?
| WJW wrote:
| Elements of both: by their nature world heritage sites
| are deemed of value to everyone and demolishing it would
| (mildly) hurt everyone. On the other hand: on the
| international level there is a treaty that legally
| protects world heritage sites but it carries no penalties
| if a state neglects to do so and UNESCO does not have any
| means to force a sovereign state to perform or cease any
| action.
|
| So unless you can somehow move the worlds' nations to
| enact sanctions or invade, each state is free to mine
| what they want.
| [deleted]
| ianai wrote:
| Going there, I wonder whether there's any nearby to earth
| rocks with large amounts of lithium. That could be a
| potential big thing for space industry.
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(page generated 2020-11-30 23:00 UTC)