Will there be enough lithium resources to support increased demand from the use of lithium-ion batteries in electric vehicles? According to researchers from the University of Michigan and Ford there will.
Their prediction suggests that even with a rapid and widespread adoption of electric vehicles there will be enough resources to support demand until at least the end of the century.
Its study assessed the global availability of lithium and compared it to potential demand from large scale use of electric vehicles. It compiled data on 103 deposits containing lithium with an emphasis on 32 deposits with a lithium resource of more than 100,000 metric tons each. Defining a lithium resource as a deposit from which production is currently or potentially feasible economically, they estimated a lithium resource of about 39million tons globally.
Then they looked at lithium demand for the same 90year period with demand estimated to be under the assumption of two different growth scenarios for electric vehicles and other current battery and non-battery applications. The total demand for lithium was estimated to be in the range of 12-20million tons depending on assumptions regarding economic growth and recycling rates.
