REPORT: Bolivia will make its own lithium-ion batteries by 2018
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Asia and Michigan, watch out. It's a long-term goal, but Bolivia is looking to capitalize on its large in-ground lithium supply by producing li-ion batteries by 2018. While lithium might not ever be in short supply, Bolivia certainly has the advantage of not needing to import the valuable material. The country's deputy minister of Science and Technology, Roger Carvajal, said this week that the basic outline of the government strategy to commercialize the lithium deposits (estimated to be about half of the world's supply) have been decided on. They include making lithium carbonate on a commercial scale in 2013 and possibly an electric car factory after that. [Source: Latin American Herald Tribune]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
ziv 9:01AM (10/31/2009)
I wouldn't power my RC airplane with Bolivian batteries, let alone my Volt.
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EC2 10:57AM (10/31/2009)
Well, if lithium will be the future "petroleum", we could "export" peace and democracy in Bolivia like we did in Afghanistan and Iraq! Let me see... we could create a bolivian "Osama". Do you like the idea?
My humble guess is that bolivian government is trying to capitalize on the resources that THEIR land offers to them, preventing others to go there and use them as they want. Bolivians have all the RIGHTS. I would buy bolivian batteries if well constructed. No problem for me.
ziv 11:59AM (10/31/2009)
Evo will do for Bolivian lithium production what Hugo did for
Venezuelan oil production, run it into the ground by kicking out
experts and bringing in his own friends to milk th system. Lithium
production is being slowed in the US by supply outstripping demand,
which means Kings Mountain has stopped producing lithium and Kings
Valley is not ramping up their production very quickly. If Evo does
try to limit the amount Bolivia sells, the prices will go up and
American production will as well. If he tries to build batteries in
Bolivia, he had better get western or asian help or the batteries
will be a miserable failure. I figure that he will try to work a deal
with the chinese, hoping that BYD or another chinese firm will share
the wealth. In all likelihood the chinese will take him to the bank.
When dining with the devil, it is best to sup with a long spoon.
The great thing for the west is that we are moving to a reliance on a recylable product, lithium, instead of a combustible product, oil. Trying to form a cartel for the production of lithium will be like herding cats.
I wish the Bolivian people well, but it seems like there has to be a third way, not Evo and Hugo's crony socialism or the unbridled capitalism that rode roughshod over locals, i.e. Dole in central America.
Tohe 4:46AM (11/01/2009)
In countries with a robin hood mentality, where there are no guarantees, where land and state invasions are encouraged and used for political gain, and where Nationalization is the status quo, it is hard to envision fruitful collaboration, much less the creation of a successful product.
Apparently the Mitsubishi and Bollore bid for the lithium resources in Bolivia were not good enough: http://green.autoblog.com/2009/02/19/bollore-courts-evo-morales-and-bolivias-lithium/ But on the upside those companies are better off walking away.
There is a lot of anti-Americanism in Chavez's Latin America right now. The establishment on an American military based in Colombia have both Chavez and Evo and their grand daddy Fidel Castro on the edge, and I'm afraid they would be willing to tank the lithium market just to take a stab at us.
elponce77 11:08AM (10/31/2009)
Multinational corporations like Chevron have been exploiting oil in South America. They took the oil and left in the region a fraction of the profits, water pollution, soil contamination and deforestation. Hopefully the exploitation of lithium in Bolivia will benefit the world but, for a change, also the people who owns it.
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Chris 11:23PM (10/31/2009)
International companies do it because South American companies cannot. Quit complaining. If it wasn't for us, the oil would still be in the ground.
Tohe 5:05AM (11/01/2009)
I wish the oil was "still in the ground"
@elponce77
The problem has only worsen since these guys have been in power. In the case of Venezuela I can tell you that due to political motivations PDVSA has fired large part of their skilled task force (the ones who voted on a referendum to out Chavez, and the ones that conducted a strike that shut down Venezuelan Oil production for several weeks). The lack of skill set has led to more accidents and by proxy more contamination of the environment. Two wrongs, don't make a right.
Laurens 2:33PM (10/31/2009)
Is Bolivia an OPEC member?
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Tohe 8:21PM (11/01/2009)
No, the only OPEC members from the Americas are Venezuela and Ecuador.
jpm 2:42PM (10/31/2009)
Damn, it's gonna take them 8 years to get the lithium into batts? What are they gonna do... start training their high school kids in math and science and chemistry and hope for the best?
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Joeviocoe 10:18AM (11/01/2009)
LOL... That seems likely. They need to start from scratch alright.
Treehugger 6:45PM (10/31/2009)
good for them and good luck, lithium batteris are higly technical and will constantly evolves in the nex 50 years . so if they can keep pace with the technical race they will sell their battery if they cannot they will sell their lithium only. Honnestly unless they convince a big corporation to install a research center on batteris in Bolivia they don't stand a chance in the process, not the slightest chance
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Joeviocoe 10:26AM (11/01/2009)
"if lithium will be the future petroleum" -EC2
It seems people don't know anything about Litium Ion Batteries here.
Lithium is not a fuel. It is a carrier of energy. It is NOT consumed. A battery pack for an EV requires only a few kilograms of lithium and that is it. At the end of the battery packs life, the battery is recycled and the lithium can be recovered or reused.
Yes, Bolivia has the biggest quantity that is easily extractable. But we can build all the car batteries need in the U.S. from our own sources.
It is a much better argument to analyze how we are going to charge the EV batteries. From nuclear, wind, solar, coal, natural gas, etc. The lithium argument is moot and only appeases those you like to argue international politics rather than from an engineering or economic point of view.
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Johannes 10:54AM (11/02/2009)
How is a backwards poor country gonna compete in battery tech with the rest of the world?
What happens if other battery-types develop that wont require a ounce of lithium?
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alfonso.ibanez 4:11PM (11/10/2009)
Lithium is the future of cars,trains, planes, etc, the need of petroleum will be almost gone in the next 10 years. It turns out that this poor country has 65% of the worlds lithium and all we need to do is to encourage multinationals to exploit this natural resource. I know that in terms of politics Bolivia is not on its best time, but If companies from around the world can assure and convince this country that by exploiting lithium on their territory, the # 1 beneficiary will be Bolivia and not American companies who always want to take advantage of poor countries.Bolivia needs to increase its economy because poverty is almost 60% of the population. I believe that if they run this operation in its most effective manner, in the next 30 years Bolivia wont be a third world country anymore. Im sure they will work something out.
alfonso.ibanez 4:15PM (11/10/2009)
Lithium is the future of cars,trains, planes, etc, the need of petroleum will be almost gone in the next 10 years. It turns out that this poor country has 65% of the worlds lithium and all we need to do is to encourage multinationals to exploit this natural resource. I know that in terms of politics Bolivia is not on its best time, but If companies from around the world can assure and convince this country that by exploiting lithium on their territory, the # 1 beneficiary will be Bolivia and not American companies who always want to take advantage of poor countries.Bolivia needs to increase its economy because poverty is almost 60% of the population. I believe that if they run this operation in its most effective manner, in the next 30 years Bolivia wont be a third world country anymore. Im sure they will work something out
Reply