Arkansas May Have Enough Lithium to Power the World's EVs

Thought Question: What do you imagine the world would be like if we could use clean energy everywhere?

Experts have announced that Arkansas could be sitting on a vast source of lithium. It could be enough to power all of the world’s electric vehicles (EV). It's a major find that could change Earth’s race toward a carbon-free future. Lithium is a vital metal for making electric batteries. The problem is getting it out of the ground.      

Experts say between 5 million and 19 million tons of lithium could be lying in salt water beneath the ground in a region known as the Smackover Formation. That could be enough to supply the world’s EVs nine times over in 2030. The Smackover stretches from Arkansas to Texas and Florida. The region is a major source of gas and oil.    

China leads the world in building EV batteries. It does so using lithium mined mostly in Australia and South America. Tapping into a large source of lithium in the US could be a big deal for the US economy.  

“Lithium is a critical mineral," said David Applegate in a press release. He's the director of the US Geological Survey. He added that finding a large source of lithium in the US could help the country rely less on other countries for the material and create jobs.  

Mining it could be very costly, though. The process takes a long time. A common method of separating lithium from brine is to leave liquid deposits in ponds. The next step is to wait for the water to evaporate. Companies are trying to figure out a new way to speed up that process. One method would use filters and solvents.   

Corporations are spending money on it. Among them is Exxon Mobil. It’s secured drilling rights for roughly 120,000 acres in the Smackover. It plans to start producing lithium by 2027. Exxon aims to produce enough lithium to power more than 1 million EVs each year.   

Photo of EV charging from Unsplash courtesy of Ernest Ojeh.