The optimism surrounding the potential of electric vehicles to mitigate resource extraction does overlook a few key factors that extend beyond the obvious economic and cultural hurdles. One interesting factor is resources needed; Yes, resources for electric and hybrid vehicles. Such as the need for massive amounts of lithium carbonate. Lithium is the mineral of choice for batteries, and is found in most laptops and mobile phones. It is central to the next generation of hybrid and electric cars and this success will depend upon 5 times the current estimates of lithium worldwide to support the emerging industry.

[Salt mounds harvested, after a night of rain. photo by flickr/kuzquiano.]

Many are turning to Bolivia for clues. With over half of the world's (untapped) lithium reserves found in Bolivia, in the the Uyuni salt plain, the attention is obvious. Uyuni is the largest salt playa in the world, covering nearly 9,000 square kilometers. The salar playas are believed to have been a closed basin for the last 10000 years. Receiving about 300mm/year of rainfall has created a repeated wet/dry cycle and a thick but smooth evaporite of mostly halite.  Besides its fascinating geomorphological history, the Uyuni is also simply a stunning endless mirror landscape of surficial saline waters.

[A $6 million pilot plant for extracting lithium from the salt flats of Uyuni, in the town of Rio Grande, Bolivia. Noah Friedman Rudovsky/AP.]

Recently, the southern Uyuni has been found to contain major lithium deposits, originating from the drainage area of the Rio Grande de Lipez. And with this discoverey comes attention from major companies and developers, such as Mitsubishi, to mine this landscape. Currently Bolivia depends predominantly upon the export of natural gas for economic viability. Pressure to determine the future of this landscape is mounting with economic and environmental concerns complex and contradictory…

related:
Sea Dust, pt 1
Sea Dust, pt 2

It was fascinating to follow João Navalho's transformation of a microalgae field to traditional salt harvesting ponds in Portugal. What was originally a salt pond was converted to microalgae in anticipation of supplying natural orange dye for the organic food market. Later, as the market's interest dwindled, the site became a dumping ground for residential waste. It dawned on him to return the site to its former glory of salt production. In salt production, there are really only two economically viable models: industrial-grade and boutique. Navalho's farm in Olhão (southern tip of Portugal) offers the later boutique model.

[Guérande salt pan divisions. photo by Francis Leroy.]

The holy grail of salt prodction is flor de sal, or "flower of salt." This is hand-harvested salt, using 2000 year old techniques, by skimming the top surface before salt falls to the bottom of large solar pans. This speciality salt is typically found in Brittany, though the Algarve / Olhão region has gained recognition more recently. In Brittany, the Guérande salt pans are the largest fluer-du-sel producer with several hundred smaller pans. This area has been harvesting salt since the mid-800s, as a result of the natural retreat of the Atlantic and resulting floodable pools.

[Guérande salt mound. via flickr/dorsetbays]

On January 21, Thomas L. Viola was charged with the theft of some 135 tons of road salt in Aurora, Illinois. Viola had (intentionally) sold the road salt, which did not belong to him, on October 1 at the bargain price of $9000 (US). He was caught and the salt was recovered / found in a warehouse. Now while the headline "Man Charged With Theft Of 135 Tons Of Road Salt" is certainly more eye-catching than the reality of selling goods that are not your own as thieving, we were struck more with the commodity worthy of such a heist. About 50% of industrialized salt production is used in cold-climate regions for de-icing. Along with that massive seasonally dependent harvest, is the need to store salt (or sand) in a distributed fashion and at a municipal level. Like little salt banks or mail drop-off boxes, salt facilities dot the highway landscape. These often conical containers are perfectly formed to the angle of repose of salt mounds. In a strange twist, the containers are protecting the salt from the weather, while the salt, once dispersed, protects us from the weather.

[Smithfield Salt/Sand storage facility constructed by the Rhode Island Department of Public Works.]

[Salt Lake City salt storage house.]

Toronto, for example, uses about 130,000 – 150,000 tonnes of salt annually with 200 salting trucks to address 130cm of annual snowfall. And Montreal spends about $135 million annually to address its 217cm snowfall. Industrial salt production is a massive enterprise of which less than 10% is for use in de-icing.

The US and China produce about 40% of total world salt production, which globally was about 250 million tons in 2006.

Following a heavy winter last year, many municipalities stocked up on road salt early this year. This drove prices up, and it has created the need for more innovative thinking in terms of ice-melting. One case in point is geomelt, which Chicago is considering. But other options have included garlic salt.

[Houffs 20,000-ton salt storage facility in Weyers Cave, Virginia.]

The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) first opened in 1999 with the ambitions to permanently bury transuranic waste in our post-nuclear production age. Located 26 miles from Carlsbad, New Mexico, WIPP houses barrels of waste 2,150 feet below the surface. This site was chosen not only because of its remoteness but also because waste cold be embedded within a 3000 feet thick salt formation that has been stable for 250 million years. The underground salt formation from an ancient sea is just wet enough to move and seep slowly, therefore sealing the caverns after their construction. However, this also means that they would eventually flood. That is if it doesnt first collapse as it is predicted to do so before its 1000th birthday.

[Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in Carlsbad, NM]

Regardless of floods or collapses, the site is estimated to remain dangerous for 24,000 years. And recently there has been considerable debate on how to mark the site as such long after the surface-based processing buildings are gone. Cave scratchings? Symbols? Words?

[Axonometric of WIPP]

Maybe more significantly to us here is the role of salt (ancient seas) as burial grounds for toxic waste.

[Nullarbor Plains, Australia is a 90m high limestone cliff running for almost 100km.]

Limestone, at high temperatures, breaks down into carbon dioxide and quicklime, in a process that produces greenhouse gas. But dump that quicklime in seawater, and it absorbs roughly twice as much CO2 as was released in the first reaction. This is what the folks at cquestrate hypothesize.

This scheme works off the assumption that regardless of the greenhouse effect, CO2 buildup leads to ocean acidification, which could lead to large-scale oceanic ecosystem collapse. This cocktail of lime and saltwater, however, takes gas out of the air and sequesters it into the ocean, thus making oceans more alkaline. Now whether enough limestone can be sourced and ecologically transported to oceans would be the challenge… the Nullarbor Plains would be a good start.

[A cloud seeding yacht

Another salty vision for earth involves "cloud seeding." This is proposed by John Latham and Stephen Salter, (i know, i know, his last name is perfect!) who suggest to spray droplets of seawater high up into the air, so that the tiny particles of salt from these droplets will make clouds thicker and more reflective.