Bob Higgins <rj.bob.higg...@gmail.com> wrote: Based on previous energy analyses posted, I am sure Jed would be better > suited to comment on the issue of the lithium economy and "peak lithium". >
I doubt this would be a problem. > Even in lithium batteries, the lithium is not disintegrated when wearing > out the battery. When a Li battery is no longer capable of operating at an > acceptable capacity (usually due to in-optimum re-crystallization on > recharging), the Li could be recovered the way lead is recovered in lead > acid battery recycling industry today. By the time a Li based LENR > technology hits the market, there could be a thousand years worth of Li for > LENR that had already been mined for battery use that could just be > extracted from the Li battery recycling. > The demand for batteries might fall, depending on how responsive the cold fusion reaction is. If you can dial up more heat from instantly then the battery buffer in an automobile would be small, similar to a Prius. If it takes 10 minutes to increase the heat to peak levels, then you need a large battery buffer, similar to that of a plug-in hybrid vehicle. It would have be enough to drive the car for 10 minutes at top speed on batteries alone. The same rule applies to things like home generators. In the distant future I hope we can mind asteroids and other off-earth sources. There is not much lithium in ocean water: http://www.seafriends.org.nz/oceano/seawater.htm 0.170 ppm. Granted, it is a lot more abundant than copper, nickel, gold or palladium. In my book I discussed extracting elements from massive desalination projects. The main ones with commercial value can seen on this table: Mg, S, K, Ca and Br. I guess ordinary salt, as well, NaCl. People already extract that from seawater. Of course that is by far the most abundant chemical in seawater. - Jed
