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40% of US need for lithium could be covered by Pennsylvania's fracking byproduct.
In 2007, a geoscientist at Penn State named Terry Engelder calculated that Pennsylvania could be sitting on more than 50 trillion cubic feet of accessible natural gas deposits. Engelder later revised his calculation upward, to 489 trillion cubic feet, enough to meet U.S. natural gas demand for 18 years. These massive numbers set off the fracking boom in Pennsylvania, leading to drilling across the state. Since the rush began, there have been 13,000 unconventional wells drilled in Pennsylvania.
Now, a new “astounding” calculation has caught the attention of the gas industry: A study from researchers at the National Energy Technology Laboratory shows the wastewater produced by Pennsylvania’s unconventional wells could contain enough lithium to meet 38 to 40 percent of current domestic consumption. Lithium is a critical mineral that’s an “essential component” of many clean energy technologies, including batteries for electric vehicles.
Developing useful goods out of what had been waste products, is one of the most fascinating parts of economic development.
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I agree. And in this field, the raw material is practically free. It's a growing part of the economy with plenty of room for progress. I found some interesting charts.
World maps of waste generation, type, and treatment, 2015 and 2050. National per capita generation values (kg) in greyscale shading, whereas bar charts show total production of waste types and treatments presented for regionally representative countries and regions (in the case of the EU). Bar chart values are in terms of the total amount of waste generated (Mt) for the country/region.
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I expect landfill mining to become a big industry at some point.
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It's incredible to see how Pennsylvania's unconventional wells might play a role in the clean energy transition. Extracting lithium from wastewater could really boost domestic supply for EV batteries and other tech.
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another practical reuse example that wont sufficiently fit the green industrial complex's existing stakeholder schemes, therefore will be rejected or ignored or if actually starts taking market share, will be regulated out of market.