A bi-monthly open thread related to climate solutions. This month will start off with COP-26 and many targets and plans and mechanisms will be proposed and discussed. Look out for the updated impacts of the evolving NDCs such as this one from Climate Resource, suggesting that the world could be on track for just a little less than 2ºC warming (relative to the pre-industrial) (if everyone does what they pledge and we are lucky with respect to climate sensitivity). Please be respectful and constructive.
I can’t get to RealClimate directly anymore. If I search for “RealClimate.org” I don’t get any results. I have to search for “RealCli”. That brings up results that include a link to RC’s front page.
Anyone else is having this problem?
A half hour till midnight.
Thanks for the leeway.
Back to your regularly scheduled program…
Nigel,
You asked about lithium reserves vs fossil fuel reserves.
If a battery lasts twenty years and half of our lithium reserves will be used in the initial build, and we maintain an 80% lithium recovery during recycling, we get…
40 years via mining
32 years via first recycling
25 years
20.
16
12
—
About 144 years. I think there’s enough fossil fuel laying around to match lithium’ s unsustainability. (Hat tip to Killian)
And since biofuels and synfuels can do the longer-term storage thing,
wouldn’t it be prudent to stretch out the lithium thing?
RePete is doing well. When it warms up (two days) I’ll post another Craigslist and I’ll put up a notice in the neighborhood convenience store.