its all good i understand. But you cant just look at Ioneer with its upstream process tho and write lithium off, its really still is in its infancy.
research has already shown that co2 when producing 2 cars 1 as ICE and one as EV is relatively close in most cases. There may actually be more emissions producing an EV. However, after you factor in 5 years of driving around in it, with a lot of battery charge your looking at a far more efficient and reduced co2 EV. Obviously some of this comes down to what energy source you use when charging it from home ie is it straight from the grid or is it from a battery storage from solar panels.
with time I imagine things will improve. I am trying to find a video I watch of Ioneer - Bernard was interviewed with some lady. Bernard suggested the mine may actually end up producing more power than is required by its capture of heat/steam from the leaching process. This could then be pumped back into the grid, tho admitted it wasnt an initial part of the mine plan. Think it was this one? ioneer on path to becoming a major US-based lithium supplier for battery megafactories - YouTube
(20min delay)