One of the great things about the renewable energy revolution is that scientists are now studying a thing called " life cycle assessment " where they are studying the whole process from initial mining, manufacturing, usage and recycling. I imagine this process will provide massive efficiencies going forward. Not just in emissions but also in costs.
One of the examples of this is " zero emission lithium mining ".
" We exist to decarbonise the carbon production footprint of lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles by producing a world-first Zero Carbon Lithium® hydroxide monohydrate chemical product from our geothermal lithium_brine project in the Upper Rhine Valley, Germany.
Lithium chemicals are a critical feedstock for manufacturing the batteries in electric vehicles. To fully electrify our cars with lithium-ion batteries, we need a lot of lithium.
The current main pathway for producing and refining lithium, from hard-rock mines, will emit approximately 1.05 billion tonnes of CO2 to produce the quantity of lithium required to electrify all the world’s passenger vehicles.
Unlike current lithium extraction processes, Zero Carbon Lithium® will incur virtually zero disruption to communities or the environment. This means no large open pit mines, no large, unsightly and water-hungry evaporation ponds, or process plants running on fossil fuels. "
