Lithium: Powering a Global Revolution

The world is slowly breaking its dependence on fossil fuels. Global policy, along with economic considerations and technological developments, has helped to usher in a new era in which oil will have lost its prominence as the world diversifies its energy sources. Although that day is still at least a decade away, the transition is in progress. And batteries are leading the charge. Today, lithium-ion batteries are the gold standard in battery technology. Demand for the technology is expected to keep growing, and at a rate that will soon outpace current lithium production. The world's lithium resources are almost certainly adequate to satisfy the rising demand for the material. Whether production can keep up, however, will depend on the handful of countries that are poised to dominate the global supply of the world's lightest metal....